“The frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King. Perceiving their simplicity, he cast down a huge log into the lake. The Frogs were terrified at the splash occasioned by its fall and hid themselves in the depths of the pool. But as soon as they realized that the huge log was motionless, they swam again to the top of the water, dismissed their fears, climbed up, and began squatting on it in contempt. After some time they began to think themselves ill-treated in the appointment of so inert a Ruler, and sent a second deputation to Jupiter to pray that he would set over them another sovereign.
He then gave them an Eel to govern them. When the Frogs discovered his easy good nature, they sent yet a third time to Jupiter to beg him to choose for them still another King. Jupiter, displeased with all their complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till there were none left to croak upon the lake. ” Aesop’s fable tells of a problem that has existed throughout history, the need for supremacy. Someone always has to be the best, the leader, the ultimate judge, and without this ranking, the people are never satisfied.
There is a need for humans to classify others into the general categories of inferior and superior and the ultimate superior is necessary. This tendency has led many nations to create a form of rule with only one leader which although can at times be beneficial is always a waiting disaster. This has been a tendency through out history that has led to the downfall of many civilizations and is also a basis in religion and can be seen in many aspects of today’s society. Before civilization began, humans existed as nomadic wonderers.
People looked nothing like the people of today and they spent their existence surviving. Not only did they look different, they lived differently as well. Very little would be recognizable to the people of today and their way of life was altogether different than the human way of life today. However, supremacy still existed in these nomadic tribes. Evidences have been found, showing there to be a chief or key person who looked over the tribe and served as the ruler. This shows that from the beginning of time people have had this desire to rule or be ruled over.
In the book of Exodus, the writer describes a satisfied, contented nation with political stability, ruled by a group of judges. The nation was ruled this way for nearly 350 years until like the frogs, they became dissatisfied by their form of rule. The people admired the peoples around them and the people of Israel demand to have a king, like the neighboring countries. Saul was appointed to this position as the people had requested but as with the stork, he was a horrible ruler. Saul became possessed by an evil spirit, went into fits of anger and did many horrible things.
For example, he tried to kill David (the famous killer of Goliath) several times and he even threw a spear at his own son Jonathan. Not only did he do these things, but he also broke many of the religious laws of the Israelites and on many instances, he made decisions that hurt the nation. The Roman Empire is another notable example of supremacy within a society. From 509 BC to 27 BC, Rome was governed by a republic. The republic allowed the people to for the most part govern themselves and was remarkably democratic.
Citizens of Rome would meet at assemblies to elect their own officials called consuls. The consuls only had a year of rule and could be easily voted out of office and there were many more groups with power and leadership, including the senate. In this form of government, the power was reasonably distributed and corruption had a harder time working its way into the government but it was still present. The senate was the main place for corruption. It was the only branch of government where the leaders were not recycled regularly and it became a place where only the wealthy voices were heard.
However the natural human instinct for the classification of value among others allowed this corruption to go on. The lower classes, though out numbering the wealthy, seldom questioned the system because of their recognition of their place in the society. This corruption was one of the few downfalls of the Republic and was ultimately the cause of its termination but for the majority of its existence, it served its purpose with only few mishaps and during this period, the Roman Empire went on to become the greatest power in the Mediterranean and in Europe.
However, the Although the Republic was one of the greatest forms of rule in history, the natural tendency for a nation to be ruled by one sole ruler took over. This time however it was as much to do with the drive of the individual as it was the will of the people. As the nation became more and more powerful, the leadership positions became more and more attractive and power-hungry men began to seek sole ruler of the empire. Julius Caesar was one of the first to seek this position but when he proposed it to the senate he was murdered.
However, the very next in line was Augustus Caesar who became the emperor in 27 BC and marked the end of the Republic. Augustus Ceasar is an example of the possible positive outcome of sole leadership. He was a notable emporer with many great achievements who not only set up the empire for his own rule but also set it up for the leaders after him. However, he set up the precedent as well and the leaders following him were not of the same standing. Most of the rulers that followed him did little to advance the empire and ultimately led to its demise.