In a movie about the Battle of Thermopylae, “300,” Persian ruler Xerxes I says he, who is a conqueror and invader, is a generous god. While there is no historical record that Xerxes I made such a comment, the line captures the king's mood. He tried hard to be a great king. He respected his lieges and maintained his dignity and authority as a king while keeping natural language and behavior. In particular, he was sincerely generous to his enemies who surrendered or exiled. He was also generous in the way he ran the country and his military. He tries to embody all the lessons if there is a textbook about being a good king.
Generosity is an essential virtue to a king. There were over 50 races and tribes in the Persian territory. To rule such diversity, generosity toward it was essential. Is it possible to understand difficult cultures and different sets of values? It is impossible to truly understand everything that happens within Persia, Rome, or the empire. The empire would be filled with blood if only understandable and convincible laws, systems, and common sense were allowed.
There’s a second dilemma for a king. Can you rule with generosity? The fact that incomprehensible differences require the politics of generosity implies that ruling the country with generosity is impossible. While many Persian kings, including Xerxes I, Cyrus II, and Darius II, have legendary stories highlighting their generosity, they were all conquerors who started large wars.
The empire couldn’t have existed without wars. Kings united the public through wars, earned people’s hearts by distributing booty of war, and earned fame by showing generosity to losers and betrayers. Could they have stopped wars by dismantling the empire and building a nation-state? The U.N. was established in place of the empire, but it did not play a more significant role than calling for generosity.
Humanity wants a world where people co-exist in generosity towards each other. However, we have not found how to achieve that. Simply calling for generosity cannot end wars. We shouldn’t stop trying, but this is how far human intelligence has come.
