ABSTRACT
Modern historians often claim that the real protagonists of history are the people and not, as it was once assumed, their kings and generals. Historians also tend to assume that the common people are basically reasonable and virtuous, while it is their shortsighted, corrupt, and malicious rulers who are to blame for great misfortunes. It is easier to condemn the visible power-holders than to put the blame on the amorphous masses, which may mean ourselves. Yet these assumptions contradict each other. If the people are the movers of history, they should be blamed for its tribulations; alternatively, if the people are victims of their rulers' manipulations, then it is the rulers who shape history and who deserve our attention.
