When we think of royalty, we think of kings, crowns, castles, armor, swords and other symbols of royalty. Edward the Confessor was possibly the first king of England to wear a crown.

In Egypt, Menes was the first Pharaoh of the first dynasty in 3100 BC. It was Menes who united Upper and Lower Egypt. Lower Egypt was the center of Black civilization and preceded the first dynasty by thousands of years with its capital at Thebes, the oldest city in the world. Upper Egypt had existed for centuries and was inhabited by Asian and white peoples. Upper Egypt's capital was Cairo and the land consisted of the area from the Mediterranean Sea to the source of the Nile River.

In Greece, Minoan kings arrived into Greece around 3000 to 1100 BC originating with the legendary king Minos. Minos was the king of Crete and is the earliest personality known in Greek history. King Minos gave the Cretans their first code of laws, established a navy and conquered neighboring islands, creating an Empire of the Sea. He was killed in battle in Sicily. Minos proclaimed that all future kings of Crete would call themselves 'Minos', which was the equivalent of the Egyptian word 'Pharaoh'.

Biblically, Saul was the first king of Israel in 1050 BC. Saul was to be the vicegerent of God, who was head of the nation and the king was to enforce God's law.

The Qin rise to power began in 356 BC when Xiaokong (361-337 BC) began to call himself king as did the Zhou monarch, a rival of Qin. China had consisted of tiny kingdoms ruled by petty kings, calling themselves dukes. The Zhou Dynasty in China ruled from 1046 to 771 BC. The earliest dynasty in China is the Xia Dynasty that ruled 2000 to 1500 BC. In the Huang He, Henan Valley, the cradle of Chinese civilization, the Shang Dynasty ruled from 1700 to 1027 BC.

European kings are relative latecomers in the historical scene as the Celts moved into western Europe from their base in Switzerland around 400 BC. See The Celts for more information on this group of peoples.

In ancient times, tribal leaders were magicians or shamans and held the position of high priest. This high priest was associated with supernatural powers and also claimed divine origin for themselves. These forerunners of kings were followed by warrior kings, which held the concept of protector and leader of his people such as Agamemnon, Charlemagne and Pendragon.

The word 'monarchy' derives from the Greek 'monos archeiri' meaning single or one ruler. Generally succession in Western monarchies was hereditary and in early monarchies, the kingship was patrilineal and fell upon the next oldest son of the deceased king rather than the son of the ruling king. Associated with this type of hereditary monarchy was numerous assasinations, short terms for ruling kings and a kind of chaotic life for the subjects of the kingdom. Many kings ruled for a mere year before their death or usurption. Some kings ruled jointly with brothers or cousins.

Monarchies are one of the oldest forms of government and hail to the days of tribal chiefs. Many societies held the king as the temporary embodiment of a god. In China and other societies, the king ruled until it seemed they had lost the favor of the god or gods, at which time the king was sacrificed in order to regain the god's favor.

In Rome, the title or idea of a king was linked with the vision of the hated Etruscan kings and therefore the Romans established the idea of the republican form of government in which the people made decisions affecting the Empire.