Rex (title)
The Latin word rex (plural: reges , from regere to direct, to direct ) has denoted men since ancient times who are the sole holders of a military command. The exact competencies differ greatly depending on the context. Often the title is translated as “ king ”, although, similar to the case of the Greek basileus , this is not without problems, since not every rex can be addressed as a monarch .
Roman reges
Roman historiography called the men who, according to tradition, ruled Rome and other communities in Italy before the founding of the res publica libera (" Republic , Free State ") as reges . Most of these appear to have been general leaders (" warlords ") chosen by the warriors ; the later attested office of the rex sacrorum indicates that they also had religious duties and competencies, as Livy communicates. In order to ensure the continued existence of the republic in the long term, Brutus made the people swear, according to a later legend, "not to tolerate anyone ruling Rome as king". As a result, the word rex had a predominantly negative connotation in the political discourse of the upper class during the period of the classical and late republic ; it now usually referred to an autocratic ruler and was associated with tyranny and bondage. This thinking was one of the reasons why the Roman monarchy founded by Augustus had certain peculiarities (see Principate ). Due to Christian influence, among other things, the words rex and regnum increasingly lost their negative connotation in late antiquity ; It is true that emperors were never referred to as rex , but rather as imperator , but now informally, probably because of the uncommon feminine imperatrix , as regina .
Migration period reges
But the title rex became more important in connection with the so-called migration of the peoples : the leaders of non-Roman warrior associations, who often entered the imperial service as foederati , usually called themselves that; Examples are Geiserich , Childerich I , Clovis I or Theodoric the Great . While it was assumed for a long time that there was an old, sacredly legitimized kingship , especially among the Teutons , on whose tradition one had built, the position is increasingly prevailing in the latest research that the regna on the right bank of the Rhine are usually rather under Roman Influence emerged. Whether the late antique Germanic military leaders can actually be called "kings" in today's literal sense is as controversial as the question of whether the title necessarily meant a claim to sovereignty . Regional rulers also appeared as so-called " petty kings " (as with the Franks ). What is certain is that over the years kingdoms developed from the often very unstable regna of the Migration Period, in which Germanic rulers first appeared primarily as army kings (which even more recent research does not deny), so that one in the context of the European In the Middle Ages, rex can usually translate as "king" without hesitation.
reguli
The reguli mentioned in various ancient and medieval sources represent a special case , see Kleinkönig .
literature
- Matthias Becher : "Rule" in the transition from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. From Rome to the Franks. In: Theo Kölzer , Rudolf Schieffer (ed.): From late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. Continuities and breaks, concepts and findings (lectures and research 70). Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2009, pp. 163–188.
- T. Cornell: Rex. In: S. Hornblower, A. Spawforth (Eds.): The Oxford Classical Dictionary . 4th edition, Oxford 2012, p. 1272 f.
- S. Dick: The Myth of the "Germanic" Royalty. Studies on the organization of rule among the Germanic barbarians up to the beginning of the migration period. Berlin 2008.
- Karl-Ludwig Elvers : Rex. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01480-0 , column 935 f.
- N. Fustel de Coulanges: Regnum, Rex. In: C. Daremberg (ed.): Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines d′après les Textes et les Monuments. Paris 1909, p. 821 ff.
- C. Smith: Thinking about kings . In: BICS 54 (2011), p. 21 ff.