The concept has arisen in Ancient Egypt, Europe, Asia and Peru, and is encapsulated in the Latin phrase Dominus Mundi (lit.
Critical of the concept in Europe in the Middle Ages were philosophers such as Nicole Oresme[1] and Erasmus;[2] whereas Guillaume Postel[3] was more favourable and Dante was a convinced adherent.
[11] On Abydos Stelae, Thutmose I claimed: "I made the boundaries of Egypt as far as the sun encircles ... Shining like Ra ...
Introduced into the Egyptian tradition in the reign of Unas (2385–2355 BC) of the Fifth Dynasty, the ideological purpose of the genre was to stress the royal universality as the only legitimate king stretching back in an unbroken succession to the time of gods.
[21] Charles V's empire encompassing much of western Europe and the Americas "was the nearest the post-classical world would come to seeing a truly worldwide monarchy, and hence the closest approximation to universal imperium.
[23] Subsequently, the idea of a universal monarchy based on predominance rather than the actual total rule would become synonymous with France attempting to establish hegemony over western Europe, particularly under Louis XIV,[24] exemplified by the concept of Louis XIV as the Sun King around which all the other monarchs became subordinate satellites.
The Russian monarchy was Orthodox, autocratic, and possessed a vast contiguous empire throughout Europe and Asia and can be seen to have similarities and differences with Byzantine rule.
Following the Battle of Jena when Napoleon overwhelmed Prussia, it seemed to Fichte that the universal monarchy was inevitable and close at hand.
Since the title Son of Heaven originated during the Zhou dynasty, the Chinese perceived universal monarchy as the only correct rule.
When George III (1780–1831) proposed them trading contacts, the Chinese declined, because "the Celestial Empire, ruling all within the four seas ... does not have the slightest need of your country's manufactures."
They added that George III must act in conformity with their wishes, strengthen his loyalty and swear perpetual obedience.
The Chinese Son of Heaven also contributed to a counterpart in Japan, but in some aspects, the Japanese made their monarchy more universal.
Crucially, the Caliph is not necessarily a spiritual leader; rather, he is the secular head of the Muslim community and is (theoretically) bound by and subject to Islamic law.
The duties of the Caliph, in theory, include the administration of Islamic law; the enactment of policies for the welfare of Muslims; the custodianship of Islamic holy sites and care of pilgrims; the custodianship of conquered non-Muslims and mediation of their interests relative to those of Muslims; the prosecution of holy wars (both offensive and defensive); and the representation of the diplomatic interests of the global Muslim community, even beyond the borders of the Caliphate's domains (a precedent set during Muhammad's life, with respect to the early Islamic community in Ethiopia).
In the Americas, the Inca monarchy was universal in the sense of a sole rule over the whole contemporary geopolitical area, around which were only unsettled societies.
"In all lands of the world, you set every man in his place, you supply their need, everyone has his food..."[53] The Persian universal monarchs tolerated the cultures, languages, and religions of the subordinated peoples and supported local religious institutions.
Following the rise of Alexander the Great to the universal monarch, Stoicism became the dominant school of Hellenistic philosophy.
The Stoics articulated a form of Greek citizenship that disrespected the walls of the polis hitherto thought to constrain human communities.
"[57] Later Stoic thinker Seneca in his Letter exhorted, "Kindly remember that he whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives, and dies."
Chinese cities became bustling epicenters of commerce and trade, abundant in foreign residents and the plethora of cultural riches that they brought with them.
"In his person Augustus accumulated the pillars of power: armed forces, control of the elite, wealth and patronage of the public clientelae.
700,000 workers worked on the Epang Palace and the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang (Sima Qian I:148, 155), containing Terracotta Army.
The foundation platform of Epang sized 1270 × 426 m. Some estimates make the mausoleum the largest burial complex of a single ruler ever to have been constructed anywhere in the world.
"[70] Following another universal conquest, Alexander the Great broke with much of the Macedonian royal tradition, where kings were mortal like the rest of humans.
In heaven there is only one eternal God; on earth there is only one lord..." Similar proclamations by him and his heirs were issued, alternatively embellished with Quranic, Confucian, or Biblical verses, depending on their prospective audiences.
[91] For ancient Egypt, China, Japan and Inca, the beginning of history was marked by the emergence of universal monarchy.
[92][93][94] German Sociologist Friedrich Tenbruck, criticizing the Western idea of progress, emphasized that China and Egypt remained at one particular stage of development for millennia.
The difference is striking comparing the volumes of historical records of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, China and India, or Rome and the post-Roman Europe.
They did not expect apocalypse or cosmic recycling, nor even lesser disasters like destructive warfare or imperial fall characteristic for Mesopotamian and Hebrew prophetic literature.
The years of the early Roman Principate, especially the rule of Augustus, are witness to the radical increase of references to aeternitas (eternity) especially in Augustan poetry (Virgil, Tibullus, Propertius, Horace and Ovid).