On Kings
By the 27th century of the Early Age, patriarchal gender roles in the Mashendian city-states were beginning to erode, especially in the higher classes. A Marosaptish man named Heshinia found this trend troubling. He wrote down his arguments for patriarchal monarchy in a book called On Kings (Sto Fore). Later, Krijha and Aronma, a political couple from Karoseth, would write their response, arguing for oligarchy and gender equality, in On Cities.
Document Structure
Clauses
The book is divided into the following sections.
Happiness
Heshinia asserts that people have a natural desire to follow powerful patriarchs. Citing the festivities of kingdoms, and the love and respect he's seen people express for their monarchs, he argues that people are happier under a king.Glory
He argues that a single, powerful figurehead is more glorious than a group of faceless rulers, and that a male ruler is more glorious than any other. He gives anecdotes that indicate warriors are made braver in battle when a king fights with them, and that citizens are likewise prouder of their homeland under a monarch. Citizens have a stronger, more unified sense of national identity under a king, he says, as the monarch becomes one person to represent the whole unit. The nation and the king become one.Order
Heshinia criticizes the inefficiency, lack of unity, and instability of oligarchies, contrasting it with the orderly, consistent transfer of power from king to oldest son, and the quickness with which a single man can make laws and pass orders.Nature
He makes an argument for the fundamental, separate natures of men and women, that men and women are each best suited for different sorts of tasks, and that the role of ruler is most appropriately suited to men. In defense of this last point, he heavily draws from examples of life under the Arrothi matriarchy, making special note of the cruelty and indignity suffered by boys and men.Practices
Heshinia makes some overarching recommendations for best practices of running a kingdom, and suggests several methods for turning the current oligarchies of Mashendia into monarchies, along with the potential downsides for each method. He ultimately, though reluctantly, concludes the most practical approach may be a hostile takeover by a powerful patriarch of the city. He regrets the violence and crudeness of such a method, and strongly encourages any such patriarch to be an exceedingly good, fair, and generous king, lest the power not stick and embittered rivals take him off his throne. While softer revolutions may be possible, he worries that gradual change will move towards a monarchy but never fully arrive at its destination.Historical Details
Public Reaction
While On Cities turned out to be initially much more popular than On Kings, the latter did grow in popularity again after the fall of the Pirimian Empire many centuries later. On Kings became an influential document during the Kingdom Wars and their revolutions, with a number of kings from this time citing the philosophical work as a source of inspiration.
Legacy
During the Kingdom Age, many cultures — especially in Mashendia — developed cultural attitudes that were a hybrid of both philosophical works: With a preference for monarchy and loose gender norms (On Kings), but openness to men and women taking any social role they are individually fit for (On Cities).
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