This (FB&NI) forum has seen many threads dealing with royalty, but few dealing with the aristocracy, which is usually defined as a group of privileged individuals, who inherit their privileges. In a feudal state, power is usually shared between the sovereign and the aristocracy; in a unitary state, such as Britain, power is held almost exclusively by the sovereign.
Because of the circumstances of the formation of Themiclesia, the aristocracy is quite complex; in general, aristocrats not only have certain dignities and prerogatives that others don't have, but also actual political power. Each aristocratic title is associated with a certain piece of land, and that aristocrat exercises political power over it. Initially, in the remote past, the basic political unit was the ki, or city-state; the ruler of such a city was called a luga (plural lugales). As time passed and cities entered into political or military unions with each other, the wanax (plural wanakes) appeared. More recently, the oregs, or king of Themiclesia, emerged as the most powerful and respected of the wakanes. All three levels of aristocracy are still present in Themiclesia. The king of Themiclesia could create a wanax, attached to a new state in Themiclesia, and a wanax could create a luga, attached to a new ki. As of the present, there are five ranks within the wanakes, and three within lugales.
The issue of purchasing titles of nobility rarely occurs, because few noble houses go extinct. The primary source of new wanakes is the king's issue who do not go on to inherit the kingship; as a country that operates under male primogeniture, the eldest male legitimate son could inherit the throne in preference to any other issue. These other offsprings are created new wanakes. The primary source of new lugales is also the side issue of a wanax. Of course, the oregs do create wanakes, or a wanax lugales from distinguished individuals from all walks of life from time to time, but this would be exceptional.
The political power of these nobles who inherited their positions varies. In most states, there are public elections to elect a number of representatives to counsel nobles who prefer to engage in government, or a position similar to the British prime minister may have developed, in states in which the noble distances himself from government. An important secondary function of any luga or wanax is to serve in a superior noble's court; a wanax will always have some of his ministers appointed from within his lugales; the oregs will have a combination of wanakes and lugales at his court. These formal courts work in conjunction with elected representatives to form the basis system of government in modern Themiclesia.
So, NS, what it the aristocracy like in your nation?
