ABSTRACT
What effects did the great monotheistic religions have on the style and aims of kingdoms and empires? The Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions bring monotheistic religions into the question of how to rule. This chapter looks back to the ancient Jewish kingdoms and the example they set; to Byzantium, especially during the age of Justinian I; and then to the major rivals of the Christian empires, the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. These empires produced important ideas about statecraft and rulership, and they leave us with principles of government and law that are still important, even when the state defines itself to be separate from religious institutions. They introduced principles that both legitimise and limit the ruler and that uphold a socially just government. They also produced a question as to whether secular and religious authority should be combined under one person or two people – and, if the latter, did one have higher authority than the other, or did they rule independently in their different domains?
