The human history has evidenced various systems of hierarchy and power in different spheres of social life. The relations of hierarchy and power penetrate the whole of social life but naturally they are most visible in the political sphere. The careful study of each particular case of such relations is of great significance. In the meantime it is very important to see both the general features typical for all or most of the hierarchy and power forms, and their variation. Among all the systems of power and submission the ancient and medieval systems are of special interest in certain respects, as they are characterized by tremendous variation, and also because among them one can find especially pure cases of natural evolution of power and hierarchy structures. In this volume the relations of hierarchy and power are studied with respect to representative samples of premodern states and societies. These interesting and revealing cases cover a wide range both in time and space, as well as different types of the relations of hierarchy and power in the history of ancient and medieval civilizations.
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