It is well known today that the king, in the past, was the absolute ruler of his country; nobody could call him to account for his ways, nor could anybody disobey or disagree with him. Yet, the king was only one man; even he could not do everything by himself, let alone rule the vast country just by himself. Besides, the king was many a time, inept; he had been born into the position, not fought for it, so he did not know what would make his country tick. Thus, the credit for the florishing of the empire, should go not only to the king, but also to a group of extremely important people--his advisors and officials.

It is interesting to note the differences of officials during the Mesoamerican period. The highest authority during the Mayan civilization, besides the king, was the ahau (lord or noble). Heads of state were designated by the k'ul ahau (supreme ruler). He was one of the rulers of the four provinces, and within his own government, he was supreme; he was chosen from the descendants of the four royal families. A lower-ranking official would be that of the rulers of towns and villages, the difference being that these were not descended from royal blood. The king's personal advisors was the Council, that consisted of priests and lords. The king himself relied heavily on the high priest (another heriditary position) for advice. As for the lords in the council, these were in actual fact, military commanders, who were in charge of their own respective districts. Unlike other officials, they received no salary.

The Egyptians officials were handpicked by the pharaoh. These were men who were top ranked in their own occupations in medicine, priesthood or engineering. Being a scribe was the starting point for all three occupations. Their duties included recording harvests to keeping accounts. Those who did well were promoted to become priests, doctors or engineers. The typical advisors for the pharaoh included the high priests and noblemen, with the advisor closest to the pharaoh known to be the vizier.

The Chinese basically had two kinds of officials, the scholar ('wen') and the general ('wu'). Officially, these positions were not heriditary; the king had to approve the appointing of these people. However, the route to becoming an official usually started off with a close relative or family member making a recommendation for the person in question to take up a particular post to the Emperor. Thus, although posts were not heriditary, cronyism did not hinder either.

An interesting point of the Chinese civilization is their recognition of the importance of education for their people. The Chinese believed that education could make a person cultured, refined, and thus, learned. A man who was highly educated in China, was respected, regardless of his birth. This was because education was usually only available to the rich and influential, and the peasant was too poor to afford his meals for his children, let alone engage tutors. However, all was not lost to the commoner for there was a route for him to gain an official post--through the imperial examinations. These exams, which started in the Han dynasty, continued through most of the dynasties. If a man could get past his village exams, then his provincial exams, and finally, the final exam held at the capital and emerge as the most brilliant, he became known as the Imperial Scholar, and would be automatically given an official post. Such a road was long, hard and tedious, and there were many who tried but failed. This, again, became another reason why the Chinese respected the the scholar so much. Producing an Imperial Scholar in one's village, town or province, was often a great source of honour to its inhabitants.

So, after reading about the various kinds of officials in the ancient times, has your perception of how an official actually was improved? Compared to modern day society, how much has the role of the official changed? Do you think the official we have today are like the officials that we had in the past? What are their similarities, and what are their differences?

Roman Magistrate

Greek Warrior

The Egyptian priest, whose duty is to offer food and drink to the soul of the pharaoh each day.

An Egyptian Scribe