Emperors in ancient times – Medieval or Renaissance era – were very powerful. They exercised absolute powers in political, legal, financial, military, and religious matters. They were said to hold both imperium maius (supreme power of command) and tribunician potestas (tribunician power).
In Rome during the period of Emperor Augustus, the tribunician power permitted him to dictate to the civil apparatus and preside over as well as dominate the Assemblies and the Senate. The Emperors of Old were the state and they were second only to God. That is why in Oriental civilizations like Japan and China, they were referred to as “the Son of Heaven”
Among those who enjoyed such absolute, imperial powers were Genghis Khan of the Mongol Empire (1162 – 1227), Augustus Caesar of the Roman Empire (63 BC- AD 14), Ashoka the Great of the Maurya Empire (India) (c.268 BCE – c. 232 BCE), Charlemagne of the Carolingian Empire (c. 742 – 814) and Kublai Khan, also of the Mongol…