When Machiavelli wrote of whether it was more important to be feared
than loved, he had definitely studied the cases brought up in this paper. He
talked of how politics and power were all that a real leader should be
concerned with, and, if he isn't how he will not be a strong leader. When
Machaivelli writes of being loved, he may have had the love for the gods in
mind, as is the case of the examples given in the assignment. The main
difference between the law and conceptions of law held by the ancient
Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, and Hebrew leaders versus rule by a band of
thieves, is just that- a distinction between love versus power.
All conceptions of law in ancient civilizations had one thing in
common: they were all supposed to be enforced by a more supreme being.
For the Egyptians that being was the Pharaoh; for the Mesopotamians, the
Gods and the rulers descended from them; and for the Jews, their God.
Gods and sodas
All Giza Pyramids in one shot. Русский: В...
An inscription of the Code of Hammurabi.The
people and the rulers both believed that if you violate the rules, then the
Gods would punish you. If you followed the Gods, then, conversely, they
would see to it that you were rewarded. In rule by a band of thieves, you
may have small amounts of love for the leaders, but the real reason that
keeps you following them is fear.
In ancient Egypt, rule was kept by a class of people known as
Pharaohs. These men were seen to have been descended from God, so they
were considered more than men- but just short of real gods. The earliest
Pharaohs were seen as some kind of shaman, or holy men with almost
mystical powers, sometimes wearing animal tails and 'the beard of their
goat-flocks'(Course Packet, 6). Their conceptions of law...