this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2024
34 points (94.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27268 readers
2059 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected] or [email protected]


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

This was always an issue in Rome. People were afraid their heirs would turn out to secretly be wannabe dictators, and you couldn't do anything about it since you were dead. How would you go about making sure your heir was as close to your vision as possible, both outwardly and in their desires should they be emperor?

all 16 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago

I would hope you would pick someone you know well enough to feel comfortable with them taking over.

Of course, power corrupts even the most well intentioned, so there's always a chance, but you can't predict that no matter what games you play.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This was always an issue in Rome.

Most of the Roman emperors followed the tradition of getting murdered by their successor.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You write as if there any other ways to decide a successor.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Well, yes, I have heard about the who-wants-to-marry-my-daughter method. But I am not sure if it's ever been done or maybe it's just a fairy tale.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

As in a marriage auction to see who had the largest "bid" or dowry? That would be wild if it were true.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Anything I could do to make sure my heir continued on with my vision would not be guarunteed, and it would only be temporary. As the saying goes, you're putting all of your eggs in one basket, from one ruler to the next.

A more permanent solution would be to overhaul the current system and setup checks and balances so that no one person could have too much power.

You could divide up power between an Executive Branch, a Legislative Branch, and a Judicial Branch. Then you put in place like-minded groups of people in each of those branches and voilà.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Why would I care? I’ll be dead.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

idc, I’m dead

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

I forget which king it was (I'm sure someone here will tell me) but his solution was to divide his kingdom among his two heirs.

So the idea was that one heir would do the dividing and the other heir would then pick which kingdom they wanted.

This is a great solution to making sure people share a cookie / snack / etc fairly. The divider has an incentive to keep things as fair as possible.

I think this ended in civil war though, so your mileage may vary

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

Meritocracy is the only way of success. The only question is by what or who's measuring stick. I would look amongst the judiciary for those with a good record, a history of wealth without exploitation and a long history of selfless idealist altruism put into practice for the benefit of the majority and in opposition to corrupting pressures.

With so much power, coalition building is less important. Selfless altruism is the best case scenario in my opinion.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago
  1. form a religion based on me
  2. establish assassins within that religion
  3. make sure some of them are named Ezio
  4. sleep well knowing my plan will succeed
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Pay the Assassins Guild to keep an eye on them.