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Book contents
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Antiquity in Global Context
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Leadership in Third-Millennium Mesopotamia
- Chapter 2 Leadership in Rural Pharaonic Egypt
- Chapter 3 The Importance of Religion in Achaemenid Leadership
- Chapter 4 Leadership in Ancient China
- Chapter 5 Public Generosity and Models of Leadership in Classical Athens
- Chapter 6 Divine Kingship as Reflected in Deuterocanonical Literature
- Chapter 7 Cicero, Octavian and the Failure of Republican Leadership
- Chapter 8 Ciceronian Aspects of Leadership in Livy’s Ab Vrbe Condita
- Chapter 9 Imperial and Episcopal Leadership Networks in the Later Roman Empire
- Chapter 10 Concluding Remarks
- General Index
- References
Chapter 1 - Leadership in Third-Millennium Mesopotamia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 September 2025
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Book contents
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Antiquity in Global Context
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Leadership in Third-Millennium Mesopotamia
- Chapter 2 Leadership in Rural Pharaonic Egypt
- Chapter 3 The Importance of Religion in Achaemenid Leadership
- Chapter 4 Leadership in Ancient China
- Chapter 5 Public Generosity and Models of Leadership in Classical Athens
- Chapter 6 Divine Kingship as Reflected in Deuterocanonical Literature
- Chapter 7 Cicero, Octavian and the Failure of Republican Leadership
- Chapter 8 Ciceronian Aspects of Leadership in Livy’s Ab Vrbe Condita
- Chapter 9 Imperial and Episcopal Leadership Networks in the Later Roman Empire
- Chapter 10 Concluding Remarks
- General Index
- References
Summary
The concept of leadership has not received much attention in Assyriology as it was overshadowed by the concept of kingship and its omnipresence in ancient Mesopotamia. As the available sources mostly are written from the perspective of the leader – in the case of ancient Mesopotamia this is the king or the city ruler – also Assyriologists mostly took this standpoint and wrote ‘history from above’. Much scholarly effort was invested in the study of various aspects of kingship. Because of the scarceness of sources discussing the experience of the ruler’s leadership and the abundance of royal inscriptions, we usually do not take the perspective – to use a widespread political metaphor – of the sheep, but only that of the shepherd. Nevertheless, there are some texts that critic the leadership of kings. These texts are mostly of literary nature but they allow us at least a partial ‘view from below’, as they describe the problems of people living under a powerful king.
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- Leadership in the Ancient WorldConcepts, Models, Theories, pp. 14 - 33Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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