How To Build An Empire (And Why It's Probably A Monarchy) | Worldbuilding

Comments · 351

• TH

  @thegrandwombat8797 · 3 years ago

  I'm sad to learn that a Timocracy is not a system in which Tim is in charge

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• XA

  @Xalerdane · 3 years ago

  You used the modern definition of ‘tyranny’.<br><br>During the Bronze Age and Iron Age, Tyrannies were a rather common form of government. The closest modern equivalent, at least in structure, is a dictatorship. &nbsp;While it was rule by a single individual like a monarchy, the Tyrant did not legitimize his rule through claims of divine appointment or descent from a previous ruler. Instead, he either seized it using an army loyal to himself, or convinced the people of the city-state that granting him complete authority over them would help them more than it would hurt them. Since the difference in power between the Tyrant and the people was not as great as it can be today, the Tyrant couldn’t fail to protect and provide for his subjects too much or they and/or the soldiers under his command would off him and replace him with a new Tyrant.

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• SL

  @slvaltva1392 · 3 years ago

  While it&apos;s not common for nomadic societies to quickly evolve into settled ones, it&apos;s not too uncommon for them to conquer and take over their settled neighbors and become a part of this settled culture as a new elite. So if one wants to write about a nomadic society changing, it&apos;s worth looking into such examples.

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• EG

  @Egeslean · 3 years ago

  I came across your &apos;7 metals of fantasy&apos; video earlier today and I binged the entire playlist. I&apos;m invested now.

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• TH

  @thebighurt2495 · 3 years ago

  CGP Grey did a video on why Monarchies exist. They have a consistent chain of change of power, which makes them far more stable than a government type where a new ruler has to be chosen when the last one dies or just loses an election. Granted, that falls apart when the reigning monarch dies &quot;Without Issue.&quot; Nothing ever works perfectly as intended.

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• SU

  @SurinamElephant · 3 years ago

  The ending really brought it all together! Great video

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• DA

  @damonhawkes2057 · 3 years ago (edited)

  History nerd here, just an interesting anecdote: you said democracy usually emerges from other government types, the Celtic and Germanic peoples are an interesting exception to this. There was of course no &quot;standard&quot; political structure in these broad cultural groups, but democratically elected chieftains or councils seem to have been common in these societies, at least during the time of the early roman empire. It is possible that hunter-gatherer tribes that begin settling down do often form democratic (or democratic-adjacent) political structures as a direct evolution of their more loose egalitarian organization. We don&apos;t really know of course because this transition almost always happens before writing has been adopted by a society.<br><br>Anyway it&apos;s an interesting thought, as it seems the more democratic tribes in Gaul and Germania slowly became less democratic as temporarily elected warlords started using their prestige and wealth to hold on to power permanently, thus reshaping their society into a Chiefdom. So in that case you do see proto-democracy first, which then morphs into autocracy.

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• WO

  @Woodledude · 3 years ago

  I&apos;m honestly super excited about the Naquil - I mean, just the idea of a civilization whose main strength is an ability to use other sapient species for their own purposes? There&apos;s so many layers to that. Granted it&apos;s sort of built on a combination of slavery and necromancy, but I mean like... Fictionally speaking, that&apos;s pretty neat anyway.<br><br>Like, are there various subcultures that prioritize different species of host, perhaps? Could there eventually be social castes based on what species your host is, or how healthy they are? What would happen to the culture if they discovered a way to preserve hosts that aren&apos;t actively used/infested, for later re-use? If the Naquil aren&apos;t as long-lived as a particular host species, could a host be inherited?<br><br>So many weird, freaky possibilities. Love it.

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• DI

  @dinomaster337 · 3 years ago

  IDK how I&apos;d send if but if you ever need artwork, I&apos;d be open to contribute! Seriously, this is awesome

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• KE

  @KevinWarburton-tv2iy · 3 years ago

  You forgot about Confederacy ...a looser form of Federation often found in stateless Tribal/Inter-Tribal Alliances but also possible in a State Society.

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• ET

  @ethanjones1770 · 3 years ago

  So funny thing, in my world there is a continent called Kalandria (spelled Kal&apos;andria) which I chose to mean &quot;Shattered Realm&quot; in Elvish. I just wanted to say that cause it was just a funny coincidence

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• BR

  @BreadBox. · 3 years ago

  Very awesome and helpful. I am LOVING your pronunciations of the various species and races in your setting. Those rolled Rs are something else! 😆

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