people-king

Updated: October 19, 2025

But death lurked beneath this excess of strength and glory. Seven hundred and thirty years of monarchy and republic had sufficed to make Rome great; and in five centuries of imperial sway the people-king was to be devoured down to its last muscles.

Émile Zola - The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete: Lourdes, Rome and Paris

He was not the son of god or goddess, destined, after removal from this sphere, to shine with planetary lustre, among other constellations, upon the scenes of mortal action. Those of us who are willing to rise-or to descend if the phrase seems wiser to the idea of a self-governing people must content ourselves, for this epoch, with the fancy of a hero-people and a people-king.

John Lothrop Motley - History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce — Complete (1584-1609)

But death lurked beneath this excess of strength and glory. Seven hundred and thirty years of monarchy and republic had sufficed to make Rome great; and in five centuries of imperial sway the people-king was to be devoured down to its last muscles.

Émile Zola - The Three Cities Trilogy: Rome, Complete