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164-617: The title " King of Kings ", often rendered imprecisely in English as " emperor ", dates back to ancient Mesopotamia , but was used in Axum by King Sembrouthes ( c.  250 AD ). However, Yuri Kobishchanov dates this usage to the period following the Persian victory over the Romans in 296–297. The most notable pre-Solomonic usage of the title "Negusa Nagast" was by Ezana of Axum; despite this, prior to

328-549: A broadsword while wearing Scottish garb, or dancing a Highland jig. In the 1770s, Johnson, who had tended to be an opponent of the government early in life, published a series of pamphlets in favour of various government policies. In 1770 he produced The False Alarm , a political pamphlet attacking John Wilkes . In 1771, his Thoughts on the Late Transactions Respecting Falkland's Islands cautioned against war with Spain. In 1774 he printed The Patriot ,

492-574: A name of God . "King of Kings" ( Ancient Greek : βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων , romanized :  basileùs ton basileuónton ) is also used in reference to Jesus Christ several times in the Bible, notably in the First Epistle to Timothy and twice in the Book of Revelation . In Ancient India , Sanskrit language words such as Rājādhirāja and Mahārādhirāja are among the terms that were used for employing

656-638: A šar was traditionally simply the ruler of a city-state . With the formation of the Middle Assyrian Empire , the Assyrian rulers installed themselves as kings over an already present system of kingship in these city-states, becoming literal "kings of kings". Following Tukulti-Ninurta's reign, the title was occasionally used by monarchs of Assyria and Babylon . Later Assyrian rulers to use šar šarrāni include Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC) and Ashurbanipal (r. 669–627 BC). "King of Kings", as šar šarrāni ,

820-526: A Pembroke tutor, and is the earliest surviving publication of any of Johnson's writings. Johnson spent the rest of his time studying, even during the Christmas holiday. He drafted a "plan of study" called "Adversaria", which he left unfinished, and used his time to learn French while working on his Greek. Johnson's tutor, Jorden, left Pembroke some months after Johnson's arrival, and was replaced by William Adams . Johnson enjoyed Adams's tutoring, but by December,

984-650: A Zoroastrian and Iranian nationalist, rebelled against the Samanids in 928 AD, intending to put a crown on himself, set up a throne of gold and make war on the Caliph. More prominently, Mardavij , who founded the Ziyarid dynasty , was also Zoroastrian and actively aspired to restore the old empire. He was quoted as promising to destroy the empire of the Arabs and restore the Iranian empire and had

1148-413: A chain he would wear the rest of his life. When Johnson was three, his brother Nathaniel was born. In a letter he wrote to his mother, Nathaniel complained that Johnson "would scarcely ever use me with common civility." With the birth of Johnson's brother their father was unable to pay the debts he had accrued over the years, and the family was no longer able to maintain its standard of living. When he

1312-669: A child, and his parents, to his later disgust, would show off his "newly acquired accomplishments". His education began at the age of three, and was provided by his mother, who had him memorise and recite passages from the Book of Common Prayer . When Samuel turned four, he was sent to a nearby school, and, at the age of six he was sent to a retired shoemaker to continue his education. A year later Johnson went to Lichfield Grammar School , where he excelled in Latin. For his most personal poems, Johnson used Latin. During this time, Johnson started to exhibit

1476-403: A complete list". In May 1738 his first major work, the poem London , was published anonymously. Based on Juvenal 's Satire III , it describes the character Thales leaving for Wales to escape the problems of London, which is portrayed as a place of crime, corruption, and poverty. Johnson could not bring himself to regard the poem as earning him any merit as a poet. Alexander Pope said that

1640-445: A copious but a miserably ragged one, and all such as he could borrow; which latter, if ever they came back to those that lent them, were so defaced as to be scarce worth owning." Johnson's process included underlining words in the numerous books he wanted to include in his Dictionary . The assistants would copy out the underlined sentences on individual paper slips, which would later be alphabetized and accompanied with examples. Johnson

1804-496: A critique of what he viewed as false patriotism. On the evening of 7 April 1775, he made the famous statement, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." This line was not, as widely believed, about patriotism in general, but what Johnson considered to be the false use of the term "patriotism" by Wilkes and his supporters. Johnson opposed "self-professed Patriots" in general, but valued what he considered "true" patriotism. The last of these pamphlets, Taxation No Tyranny (1775),

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1968-572: A crown identical to the one worn by the Sasanian Khosrow I made for himself. At the time he was murdered by his own Turkic troops, Mardavij was planning a campaign towards Baghdad , the Abbasid capital. Subsequent Ziyarid rulers were Muslim and made no similar attempts. After the death of Mardavij, many of his troops entered into the service of the founder of the Buyid dynasty, Imad al-Dawla . Finally,

2132-456: A degree, his application was passed over on 6 September 1731. At about this time, Johnson's father became ill and developed an "inflammatory fever" which led to his death in December 1731 when Johnson was twenty-two. Devastated by his father's death, Johnson sought to atone for an occasion he did not go with his father to sell books. Johnson stood for a "considerable time bareheaded in the rain" in

2296-453: A failed cataract surgery. Williams, in turn, became Johnson's housekeeper. To occupy himself, Johnson began to work on The Literary Magazine, or Universal Review , the first issue of which was printed on 19 March 1756. Philosophical disagreements erupted over the purpose of the publication when the Seven Years' War began and Johnson started to write polemical essays attacking the war. After

2460-401: A few more were added in subsequent editions, and it sold for the extravagant price of £4 10s, perhaps the rough equivalent of £350 today. An important innovation in English lexicography was to illustrate the meanings of his words by literary quotation, of which there were approximately 114,000. The authors most frequently cited include William Shakespeare , John Milton and John Dryden . It

2624-432: A few volumes of his Shakespeare to prove his commitment to the project. In 1758, Johnson began to write a weekly series, The Idler , which ran from 15 April 1758 to 5 April 1760, as a way to avoid finishing his Shakespeare . This series was shorter and lacked many features of The Rambler . Unlike his independent publication of The Rambler , The Idler was published in a weekly news journal The Universal Chronicle ,

2788-415: A fortification near the fortress of Tušpa mentions King Sarduri I of Urartu as a builder of a wall and a holder of the title King of Kings ; This is the inscription of king Sarduri, son of the great king Lutipri , the powerful king who does not fear to fight, the amazing shepherd, the king who ruled the rebels. I am Sarduri, son of Lutipri, the king of kings and the king who received the tribute of all

2952-462: A freed slave, Francis Barber , as his servant. Johnson's work on The Plays of William Shakespeare took up most of his time. On 8 June 1756, Johnson published his Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, the Dramatick Works of William Shakespeare , which argued that previous editions of Shakespeare were edited incorrectly and needed to be corrected. Johnson's progress on the work slowed as

3116-496: A friend and biographer of Johnson, claims that "the first advances probably proceeded from her, as her attachment to Johnson was in opposition to the advice and desire of all her relations," Johnson was inexperienced in such relationships, but the well-to-do widow encouraged him and promised to provide for him with her substantial savings. They married on 9 July 1735, at St Werburgh's Church in Derby . The Porter family did not approve of

3280-560: A friend and fellow student at the college, offered to make up the deficit. Johnson made friends at Pembroke and read much. His tutor asked him to produce a Latin translation of Alexander Pope 's Messiah as a Christmas exercise. Johnson completed half of the translation in one afternoon and the rest the following morning. Although the poem brought him praise, it did not bring the material benefit he had hoped for. The poem later appeared in Miscellany of Poems (1731), edited by John Husbands,

3444-532: A guarantee of success due to its flexibility and the tolerance of the Achaemenid kings for more-or-less autonomous vassals. The system also had its problems; though some regions became nearly completely autonomous without any fighting (such as Lycia and Cilicia), other regions saw repeated attempts at rebellion and secession. Egypt was a particularly prominent example, frequently rebelling against Achaemenid authority and attempting to crown their own Pharaohs . Though it

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3608-496: A history of Latin poetry from Petrarch to Poliziano; a Proposal was soon printed, but a lack of funds halted the project. Johnson remained with his close friend Harry Porter during a terminal illness, which ended in Porter's death on 3 September 1734. Porter's wife Elizabeth (née Jervis) (otherwise known as "Tetty") was now a widow at the age of 45, with three children. Some months later, Johnson began to court her. William Shaw ,

3772-446: A letter with the title Shahanshah . When the struggle between Abu Kalijar and Jalal al-Dawla resumed, Jalal, wanting to assert his superiority over Kalijar, made a formal application to Caliph Al-Qa'im for the usage of the title Shahanshah , the first Buyid ruler to do so. It can be assumed that the Caliph agreed (since the title was later used), but its usage by Jalal in a mosque caused outcry at its impious character. Following this,

3936-458: A little heat like what is produced by touching ice." The show eventually ran for nine nights. Tetty Johnson was ill during most of her time in London, and in 1752 she decided to return to the countryside while Johnson was busy working on his Dictionary . She died on 17 March 1752, and, at word of her death, Johnson wrote a letter to his old friend Taylor, which according to Taylor "expressed grief in

4100-468: A matter of importance. When a significant portion of Firuz Khusrau's (laqab Jalal al-Dawla ) army rebelled in the 1040s and wished to enthrone the other Buyid Emir Abu Kalijar as ruler over the lands of the entire dynasty, they minted coins in his name with one side bearing the name of the ruling Caliph ( Al-Qa'im ) and the other side bearing the inscription " al-Malik al-Adil Shahanshah ". When discussing peace terms, Abu Kalijar in turn addressed Jalal in

4264-416: A patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind: but it has been delayed till I am indifferent and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary and cannot impart it; till I am known and do not want it." Chesterfield, impressed by

4428-523: A poem with the title; "Is this a portrait of a shahanshah, inhabitant of the skies / Or is it the rising of the sun and the image of the moon?". The Qajar dynasty was overthrown in 1925, replaced by the Pahlavi dynasty . Both reigning members of this dynasty, Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925–1941) and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (r. 1941–1979), before they too were overthrown as part of the Iranian revolution in 1979, used

4592-560: A poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic , sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer . The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". Born in Lichfield , Staffordshire, he attended Pembroke College, Oxford , until lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London and began writing for The Gentleman's Magazine . Early works include Life of Mr Richard Savage ,

4756-497: A political agenda or support various officials, he was told by Bute that the pension "is not given you for anything you are to do, but for what you have done". On 16 May 1763, Johnson first met 22-year-old James Boswell —who would later become Johnson's first major biographer—in the bookshop of Johnson's friend, Tom Davies . They quickly became friends, although Boswell would return to his home in Scotland or travel abroad for months at

4920-446: A poor country" (which he viewed Iran as being until that time). The current head of the exiled house of Pahlavi, Reza Pahlavi II , symbolically declared himself Shahanshah at the age of 21 after the death of his father in 1980. Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September [ O.S. 7 September] 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson , was an English writer who made lasting contributions as

5084-443: A poor creature up in the street". The family feared that Johnson would not survive, and summoned the vicar of St Mary's to perform a baptism. Two godfathers were chosen, Samuel Swynfen, a physician and graduate of Pembroke College, Oxford , and Richard Wakefield, a lawyer, coroner and Lichfield town clerk. Johnson's health improved and he was put to wet-nurse with Joan Marklew. Some time later he contracted scrofula , known at

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5248-477: A publication supported by John Payne, John Newbery , Robert Stevens and William Faden. Since The Idler did not occupy all Johnson's time, he was able to publish his philosophical novella Rasselas on 19 April 1759. The "little story book", as Johnson described it, describes the life of Prince Rasselas and Nekayah, his sister, who are kept in a place called the Happy Valley in the land of Abyssinia. The Valley

5412-418: A successful teacher if he ran his own school. In the autumn of 1735, Johnson opened Edial Hall School as a private academy at Edial , near Lichfield. He had only three pupils: Lawrence Offley, George Garrick, and the 18-year-old David Garrick , who later became one of the most famous actors of his day. The venture was unsuccessful and cost Tetty a substantial portion of her fortune. Instead of trying to keep

5576-512: A time. Around the spring of 1763, Johnson formed " The Club ", a social group that included his friends Reynolds, Burke , Garrick, Goldsmith and others (the membership later expanded to include Adam Smith and Edward Gibbon , in addition to Boswell himself). They decided to meet every Monday at 7:00 pm at the Turk's Head in Gerrard Street , Soho , and these meetings continued until long after

5740-508: A tolerable Grammar." Johnson's Dictionary offers insights into the 18th century and "a faithful record of the language people used". It is more than a reference book; it is a work of literature. It was the most commonly used and imitated for the 150 years between its first publication and the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1928. Johnson also wrote numerous essays, sermons, and poems during his years working on

5904-599: A translation of Jerónimo Lobo 's account of the Abyssinians . Johnson read Abbé Joachim Le Grand's French translations, and thought that a shorter version might be "useful and profitable". Instead of writing the work himself, he dictated to Hector, who then took the copy to the printer and made any corrections. Johnson's A Voyage to Abyssinia was published a year later. He returned to Lichfield in February 1734, and began an annotated edition of Poliziano 's Latin poems, along with

6068-822: A version that Johnson felt was closest to the original, based on his analysis of the manuscript editions. Johnson's revolutionary innovation was to create a set of corresponding notes that allowed readers to clarify the meaning behind many of Shakespeare's more complicated passages, and to examine those which had been transcribed incorrectly in previous editions. Included within the notes are occasional attacks upon rival editors of Shakespeare's works. Years later, Edmond Malone , an important Shakespearean scholar and friend of Johnson's, stated that Johnson's "vigorous and comprehensive understanding threw more light on his authour than all his predecessors had done". On 6 August 1773, eleven years after first meeting Boswell, Johnson set out to visit his friend in Scotland, and to begin "a journey to

6232-527: Is 'Shahanshah." The condemnation of the title within the Islamic world may stem from that the concept of God alone being king had been prominent in early Islam. Opposing worldly kingship, the use of "King of Kings" was deemed obnoxious and blasphemous. After the end of the Buyid dynasty in 1062, the title of Shahanshah was used intermittently by rulers of Iran until the modern era. The title, rendered as Shahinshah ,

6396-422: Is a place free of problems, where any desire is quickly satisfied. The constant pleasure does not, however, lead to satisfaction; and, with the help of a philosopher named Imlac, Rasselas escapes and explores the world to witness how all aspects of society and life in the outside world are filled with suffering. They return to Abyssinia, but do not wish to return to the state of constantly fulfilled pleasures found in

6560-576: Is known about Johnson's life between the end of 1729 and 1731. It is likely that he lived with his parents. He experienced bouts of mental anguish and physical pain during years of illness; his tics and gesticulations associated with Tourette syndrome became more noticeable and were often commented upon. By 1731 Johnson's father was deeply in debt and had lost much of his standing in Lichfield. Johnson hoped to get an usher's position, which became available at Stourbridge Grammar School, but since he did not have

6724-476: Is no historical evidence supporting the legends or Yekuno Amlak's ancestry. There is no credible basis to the claims that the Aksumite royal house was descended from Solomon (or that any Aksumite king even claimed such an ancestry) or that Yekuno Amlak was descended from the Aksumite royal house. Solomon is dated to the 10th century BCE, hundreds of years before the founding of Aksum. Historian Harold G. Marcus describes

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6888-699: Is possible that the Seleucid usage indicates that the title no longer implied complete vassalization of other kings but instead a recognition of suzerainty (since the Seleucids were rapidly losing the loyalty of their vassals at the time). In the Ptolemaic Kingdom , Caesarion was proclaimed "King of Kings" in the Donations of Alexandria . After the Parthian Empire under Mithridates II defeated Armenia in 105 BC,

7052-695: Is possible that the title was also used by the rulers of the Median Empire , since its rulers borrowed much of their royal symbolism and protocol from Urartu and elsewhere in Mesopotamia. The Achaemenid Persian variant of the title, Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām , is Median in form which suggests that the Achaemenids may have taken it from the Medes rather than from the Mesopotamians. An Assyrian-language inscription on

7216-464: Is the finest gentleman I have ever seen.' Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson Johnson's edition of Shakespeare was finally published on 10 October 1765 as The Plays of William Shakespeare, in Eight Volumes ;... To which are added Notes by Sam. Johnson in a printing of one thousand copies. The first edition quickly sold out, and a second was soon printed. The plays themselves were in

7380-607: Is used on some of the coins of Alp Arslan ( r.   1063–1072), the second sultan of the Seljuk Empire . The title was adopted by Ismail I ( r.   1501–1524), the founder of the Safavid dynasty . Upon his capture of Tabriz in 1501, Ismail proclaimed himself the Shāh of Iran and the Shahanshah of Iran. The term šāhanšāh-e Irān, King of Kings of Iran, is richly attested for

7544-785: The Shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire as their equals. The last reigning monarchs to use the title of Shahanshah , those of the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran (1925–1979), also equated the title with "Emperor". The rulers of the Ethiopian Empire used the title of Nəgusä Nägäst (literally "King of Kings"), which was officially translated as "Emperor". Sultan of Sultans is the sultanic equivalent of King of Kings. In Judaism, Melech Malchei HaMelachim ("the King of Kings of Kings") came to be used as

7708-616: The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia confirmed the abolition of the monarchy. King of Kings King of Kings was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent . Commonly associated with Iran (historically known as Persia in the West ), especially the Achaemenid and Sasanian Empires , the title was originally introduced during

7872-726: The Bagratuni dynasty from the reign of Ashot III 953–977 AD to the dynasty's end in 1064 AD revived the title, rendering it as the Persian Shahanshah . King of Kings was revived in the Kingdom of Georgia by King David IV (r. 1089–1125 AD), rendered as mepet mepe in Georgian . All subsequent Georgian monarchs, such as Tamar the Great , used the title to describe their rule over all Georgian principalities, vassals and tributaries. Their use of

8036-563: The Ethiopian Empire , which existed from 1270 to 1974 AD, also used the title of Nəgusä Nägäst , sometimes translated to "King of the Kingdom", but most often equated to "King of Kings" and officially translated to Emperor. Though the Ethiopian Emperors had been literal "Kings of Kings" for the duration of the Empire's history, with regional lords using the title of Nəgus ("king"), this practice

8200-518: The French and Indian War was a conflict between "two robbers" of Native American lands, and that neither deserved to live there. After the signing of the 1783 Treaty of Paris , marking the colonists' victory over the British, Johnson became "deeply disturbed" with the "state of this kingdom". Mr Thrale's death was a very essential loss to Johnson, who, although he did not foresee all that afterwards happened,

8364-587: The League of Nations , but aid from the League was not forthcoming. Italy added Ethiopia to its already existing colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somalia, creating the new dependent state of Italian East Africa and was the first to associate Ethiopia as part of the Horn of Africa . On 9 May 1936, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy proclaimed himself emperor of Ethiopia, replacing Haile Selassie. Victor Emmanuel's claim to emperorship

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8528-459: The Middle Assyrian Empire by king Tukulti-Ninurta I (reigned 1233–1197 BC) and was subsequently used in a number of different kingdoms and empires, including the aforementioned Persia, various Hellenic kingdoms , India , Armenia , Georgia , and Ethiopia . The title is commonly seen as equivalent to that of Emperor , both titles outranking that of king in prestige, stemming from the late antique Roman and Eastern Roman emperors who saw

8692-513: The New Testament : once in the First Epistle to Timothy (6:15) and twice in the Book of Revelation (17:14, 19:11–16); ... which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ... "These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are

8856-631: The Pala Empire and the Salasthamba dynasty . The Vijayanagar rulers assumed the imperial title of Maharajadhiraj . The title of King of Kings ( rajadhiraja ) was also common among the rulers of the Kushan Empire . The title King of Kings was first introduced by the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (who reigned between 1233 and 1197 BC) as šar šarrāni . The title carried a literal meaning in that

9020-559: The Roman Empire (which resulted in the incorporation of new non-Iranian lands into the empire). This variant, Shahanshah of Iranians and non-Iranians , appear on the coinage of all later Sasanian kings. The final Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire was Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651 AD). His reign ended with the defeat and conquest of Persia by the Rashidun Caliphate , ending the last pre-Islamic Iranian Empire. The defeat of Yazdegerd and

9184-565: The Sasanian dynasty of Ardashir I , creating the Sasanian Empire . Ardashir himself used a new variant of the title, introducing "Shahanshah of the Iranians" (Middle Persian: šāhān šāh ī ērān ). Ardashir's successor Shapur I introduced another variant; "Shahanshah of the Iranians and non-Iranians" (Middle Persian: šāhān šāh ī ērān ud anērān ), possibly only assumed after Shapur's victories against

9348-543: The posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome , a condition not defined or diagnosed in the 18th century. After several illnesses, he died on the evening of 13 December 1784 and was buried in Westminster Abbey . In his later life Johnson became a celebrity, and following his death he was increasingly seen to have had a lasting effect on literary criticism, even being claimed to be the one truly great critic of English literature. A prevailing mode of literary theory in

9512-409: The tics that would influence how people viewed him in his later years, and which formed the basis for a posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome . He excelled at his studies and was promoted to the upper school at the age of nine. During this time, he befriended Edmund Hector, nephew of his "man-midwife" George Hector, and John Taylor, with whom he remained in contact for the rest of his life. At

9676-484: The 13th century until 1974. The Amhara warrior turned emperor, Kassa of Qwara , Gonder , in 1855 took complete control over Ethiopia and was crowned Emperor Tewodros II . Of the valley nobility, he claimed paternal descent from Emperor Fasilides, by way of one of the aforementioned emperor's daughters. After Emperor Tewodros' reign, one of the many rebels leaders that helped the British in their expedition into Abyssinia

9840-417: The 20th century drew from his views, and he had a lasting impact on biography. Johnson's Dictionary had far-reaching effects on Modern English , and was pre-eminent until the arrival of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later. Boswell's Life was selected by Johnson biographer Walter Jackson Bate as "the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature". Samuel Johnson

10004-503: The 24-year-old King George III granted Johnson an annual pension of £300 in appreciation for the Dictionary . While the pension did not make Johnson wealthy, it did allow him a modest yet comfortable independence for the remaining 22 years of his life. The award came largely through the efforts of Sheridan and the Earl of Bute . When Johnson questioned if the pension would force him to promote

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10168-728: The Americans had no more right to govern themselves than the Cornish , and asked "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes ?" If the Americans wanted to participate in Parliament, said Johnson, they could move to England and purchase an estate. Johnson denounced English supporters of American separatists as "traitors to this country", and hoped that the matter would be settled without bloodshed, but he felt confident that it would end with "English superiority and American obedience". Years before, Johnson had stated that

10332-526: The Arsacid ( Parthian ) kings while in Babylon was Aršaka šarru ("Arsacid king"), King of Kings (recorded as šar šarrāni by contemporary Babylonians) was adopted first by Mithridates I (r. 171–132 BC), though he used it infrequently. The title first began being consistently used by Mithridates I's nephew, Mithridates II , who after adopting it in 111 BC used it extensively, even including it in his coinage (as

10496-414: The Buyid Emir Panāh Khusraw, better known by his laqab (honorific name) of 'Adud al-Dawla , proclaimed himself Shahanshah after defeating rebellious relatives and becoming the sole ruler of the Buyid dynasty in 978 AD. Those of his successors that likewise exercised full control over all the Buyid emirates would also style themselves as Shahanshah . During times of Buyid infighting, the title became

10660-409: The Council of Trent (1619), which Cave did not accept until months later. In October 1737 Johnson brought his wife to London, and he found employment with Cave as a writer for The Gentleman's Magazine . His assignments for the magazine and other publishers during this time were "almost unparalleled in range and variety," and "so numerous, so varied and scattered" that "Johnson himself could not make

10824-413: The Day of Resurrection, will be (that of) a man calling himself Malik Al-Amlak (the king of kings)." The Prophet said, "The most awful (meanest) name in Allah's sight." Sufyan said more than once, "The most awful (meanest) name in Allah's sight is (that of) a man calling himself king of kings." Sufyan said, "Somebody else (i.e. other than Abu Az-Zinad, a sub-narrator) says: What is meant by 'King of Kings'

10988-474: The Derg – refused to return to Ethiopia to rule. The Derg abolished the monarchy on 21 March 1975. In April 1989, Amha Selassie was proclaimed emperor in exile at London, with his succession backdated to the date of Haile Selassie's death in August 1975 rather than his deposition in September 1974. In 1993 a group called the " Crown Council of Ethiopia ", which included several descendants of Haile Selassie, affirmed Amha as emperor and legal head of Ethiopia. However,

11152-426: The East). Odaenathus son, Herodianus (Hairan I) was acclaimed as his co-monarch, also given the title King of Kings. Usage of the title was probably justified through proclaiming the Palmyrene kingdom as the legitimate successor state of the Hellenic Seleucid empire, which had controlled roughly the same territories near its end. Herodianus was crowned at Antioch , which had been the final Seleucid capital. Though

11316-413: The Ethiopian sense of nationhood. This and the dynasty's continued propagation of the myth was reflected in the 1955 Ethiopian constitution , which declared that the emperor "descends without interruption from the dynasty of Menelik I, son of Queen of Ethiopia, the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Jerusalem". The Solomonic dynasty , which claimed descent from the old Aksumite rulers, ruled Ethiopia from

11480-434: The Greek BAΣIΛEΥΣ BAΣIΛEΩN) until 91 BC. It is possible that Mithridates II's, and his successors', use of the title was not a revival of the old Achaemenid imperial title (since it was not used until almost a decade after Mithridates II's own conquest of Mesopotamia) but actually stemmed from Babylonian scribes who accorded the imperial title of their own ancestors onto the Parthian kings. Regardless of how he came to acquire

11644-598: The Happy Valley. Rasselas was written in one week to pay for his mother's funeral and settle her debts; it became so popular that there was a new English edition of the work almost every year. References to it appear in many later works of fiction, including Jane Eyre , Cranford and The House of the Seven Gables . Its fame was not limited to English-speaking nations: Rasselas was immediately translated into five languages (French, Dutch, German, Russian and Italian), and later into nine others. By 1762, however, Johnson had gained notoriety for his dilatoriness in writing;

11808-567: The Latin title rex . As such, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων in the Byzantine Empire would have meant "Emperor of Emperors". The Byzantine rulers only accorded the title of Basileus onto two foreign rulers they considered to be their equals, the Kings of Axum and the Shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire, leading to "King of Kings" being equated to the rank of "Emperor" in the view of the West. Following

11972-681: The Safavid period and for the preceding Timurid period (when it was not in use). Nader Shah , founder of the later Afsharid Dynasty , assumed the title šāhanšāh in 1739 to emphasize his superiority over Muhammad Shah of the Mughal Empire in India. The title Shahanshah is also attested for Fath-Ali Shah Qajar of the Qajar dynasty (r. 1797–1834). Fath-Ali's reign was noted for its pomp and elaborate court protocol. An 1813/1814 portrait of Fath-Ali contains

12136-605: The Western Islands of Scotland . Near the end of his life came a massive, influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets of the 17th and 18th centuries. Dr Johnson was a devout Anglican , and a committed Tory . Though tall and robust, he displayed gestures and tics that disconcerted some on meeting him. Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson , along with other biographies , documented Johnson's behaviour and mannerisms in such detail that they have informed

12300-473: The Zagwe dynasty (which ruled from c.  900 AD ), and was first practiced on Debre Damo , which was captured by the 10th-century queen Yodit or " Gudit ", who then isolated 200 princes there to death; however, Pakenham also notes that when questioned, the abbot of the monastery on Debre Damo knew of no such tale. Taddesse Tamrat argues that this practice began in the reign of Wedem Arad (1299–1314), following

12464-500: The age of 16, Johnson stayed with his cousins, the Fords, at Pedmore , Worcestershire. There he became a close friend of Cornelius Ford, who employed his knowledge of the classics to tutor Johnson while he was not attending school. Ford was a successful, well-connected academic, and notorious alcoholic whose excesses contributed to his death six years later. After spending six months with his cousins, Johnson returned to Lichfield, but Hunter,

12628-512: The author "will soon be déterré" (unearthed, dug up), but this would not happen until 15 years later. In August, Johnson's lack of an MA degree from Oxford or Cambridge led to his being denied a position as master of the Appleby Grammar School. In an effort to end such rejections, Pope asked Lord Gower to use his influence to have a degree awarded to Johnson. Gower petitioned Oxford for an honorary degree to be awarded to Johnson, but

12792-464: The beginning of the Solomonic Dynasty , most Axumite and Zagwe rulers went by negus . Its use meant that both subordinate officials and tributary rulers, notably the gubernatorial vassals of Gojjam (who ranked 12th in the states non-dynastic protocol as per 1690), Welega , the seaward provinces and later Shewa , received the honorific title of nəgus , a word for "king." The consort of

12956-453: The best that occurred, and I took it." These essays, often on moral and religious topics, tended to be more grave than the title of the series would suggest; his first comments in The Rambler were to ask "that in this undertaking thy Holy Spirit may not be withheld from me, but that I may promote thy glory, and the salvation of myself and others." The popularity of The Rambler took off once

13120-483: The called and chosen and faithful." And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. ... And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Some Christian realms ( Georgia , Armenia and Ethiopia ) employed

13284-632: The character Mr. Glanville says, "you may sit in Judgment upon the Productions of a Young , a Richardson , or a Johnson . Rail with premeditated Malice at the Rambler ; and for the want of Faults, turn even its inimitable Beauties into Ridicule." (Book VI, Chapter XI) Later, the novel describes Johnson as "the greatest Genius in the present Age." His necessary attendance while his play was in rehearsal, and during its performance, brought him acquainted with many of

13448-456: The constitutions adopted during the reign of Selassie: the one adopted on July 16, 1931 ; and the revised one of November 1955 . Haile Selassie was the last Solomonic monarch to rule Ethiopia. He was deposed by the Derg , the committee of lower-ranking military and police officials on September 12, 1974. The Derg offered the throne to Selassie's son Amha Selassie , who – understandably mistrustful of

13612-426: The contemporary poet Churchill teased Johnson for the delay in producing his long-promised edition of Shakespeare: "He for subscribers baits his hook / and takes your cash, but where's the book?" The comments soon motivated Johnson to finish his Shakespeare , and, after receiving the first payment from a government pension on 20 July 1762, he was able to dedicate most of his time towards this goal. Earlier that July,

13776-502: The country who supported their claim to the Imperial throne; the combined military and religious strength would use their influence to contain and put down any competing claims. The second involved interning all of the emperor's possible rivals in a secure location, which drastically limited their ability to disrupt the empire with revolts or to dispute the succession of an heir apparent . Ethiopian traditions do not all agree as to exactly when

13940-578: The custom started of imprisoning rivals to the throne on a "Mountain of the Princes". One tradition credits this practice to the Zagwe king Yemrehana Krestos (fl. 11th century), who allegedly received the idea in a dream; Taddesse Tamrat discredits this tradition, arguing that the records of the Zagwe dynasty betray too many disputed successions for this to have been the case. Another tradition, recorded by historian Thomas Pakenham , states that this practice predates

14104-473: The day Johnson's brother died. He was penniless and pessimistic about their travel, but fortunately for them, Garrick had connections in London, and the two were able to stay with his distant relative, Richard Norris. Johnson soon moved to Greenwich near the Golden Hart Tavern to finish Irene . On 12 July 1737 he wrote to Edward Cave with a proposal for a translation of Paolo Sarpi 's The History of

14268-780: The deaths of the original members. On 9 January 1765, Murphy introduced Johnson to Henry Thrale , a wealthy brewer and MP , and his wife Hester . They struck up an instant friendship; Johnson was treated as a member of the family, and was once more motivated to continue working on his Shakespeare . Afterwards, Johnson stayed with the Thrales for 17 years until Henry's death in 1781, sometimes staying in rooms at Thrale's Anchor Brewery in Southwark . Hester Thrale's documentation of Johnson's life during this time, in her correspondence and her diary ( Thraliana ), became an important source of biographical information on Johnson after his death. During

14432-524: The degree of Master of Arts . He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1765 by Trinity College Dublin and in 1775 by the University of Oxford. In 1776 he returned to Pembroke with Boswell and toured the college with his former tutor Adams, who by then was the Master of the college. During that visit he recalled his time at the college and his early career, and expressed his later fondness for Jorden. Little

14596-528: The dictionary. In 1750, he decided to produce a series of essays under the title The Rambler that were to be published every Tuesday and Saturday and sell for twopence each. During this time, Johnson published no fewer than 208 essays, each around 1,200–1,500 words long. Explaining the title years later, he told his friend and portraitist Joshua Reynolds : "I was at a loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bedside, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its title. The Rambler seemed

14760-448: The disadvantages in a comparable length of time." Johnson's constant work on the Dictionary disrupted his and Tetty's living conditions. He had to employ a number of assistants for the copying and mechanical work, which filled the house with incessant noise and clutter. He was always busy, and kept hundreds of books around him. John Hawkins described the scene: "The books he used for this purpose were what he had in his own collection,

14924-514: The emperor of Ethiopia had theoretically unlimited power over his subjects, his councillors came to play an increasing role in governing Ethiopia, because many emperors were succeeded either by a child, or one of the incarcerated princes, who could only successfully leave their prisons with help from the outside. As a result, by the mid-18th century the power of the emperor had been largely transferred to his deputies, like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray ( c.  1691 – 1779), who held actual power in

15088-427: The emperor was referred to as the ətege . Empress Zewditu used the feminized form nəgəstä nägäst ("Queen of Kings") to show that she reigned in her own right, and did not use the title of ətege . On the death of a monarch any male or female descendant of the various dynastic lines could claim succession to the throne. Though in many cases the practice favoured primogeniture for at least one subsequent succession to

15252-506: The empire and elevated or deposed emperors at will. The emperors of Ethiopia derived their right to rule based on two dynastic claims: their descent from the kings of Axum , and their descent from Menelik I , the legendary son of Solomon and Makeda, Queen of Sheba . The claim to their relationship to the Kings of Axum derives from Yakuno Amlak's claim that he was the descendant of Dil Na'od , through his father, although he defeated and killed

15416-720: The empire of the old Shahanshahs, they at no point seriously questioned the suzerainty of the Caliphs and actively promoted Arabic culture. Though the Samanids and the Saffarids also actively promoted the revival of the Persian language, the Samanids remained loyal supporters of the Abbasids and the Saffarids, despite at times being in open rebellion, did not revive any of the old Iranian political structures. The Shi'a Buyid dynasty , of Iranian Daylamite origin, came to power in 934 AD through most of

15580-403: The failing school going, Johnson began to write his first major work, the historical tragedy Irene . Biographer Robert DeMaria believed that Tourette syndrome likely made public occupations like schoolmaster or tutor almost impossible for Johnson. This may have led Johnson to "the invisible occupation of authorship". Johnson left for London with his former pupil David Garrick on 2 March 1737,

15744-775: The fall of the Sasanian Empire in 651 AD, the title of Shahanshah was sternly criticized in the Muslim world . It was problematic enough that the adoption of Shahanshah by the Shia Buyid dynasty in Persia required a body of jurists to agree on its lawfulness and the title itself (both as King of Kings and as the Persian variant Shahanshah ) is condemned in Sunni hadith , a prominent example being Sahih al-Bukhari Book 73 Hadiths 224 and 225; Allah's Apostle said, "The most awful name in Allah's sight on

15908-476: The fall of the Sasanian Empire was a blow to the national sentiment of the Iranians, which was slow to recover. Although attempts were made at restoring the Sasanian Empire, even with Chinese help, these attempts failed and the descendants of Yazdegerd faded into obscurity. The title Shahanshah was criticized by later Muslims, associating it with the Zoroastrian faith and referring to it as "impious". Following

16072-638: The fall of the Sasanian Empire, Iran was part of the early caliphates. From the 9th century on, parts of Iran were ruled by a series of relatively short-lived Muslim Iranian dynasties; including the Samanids and Saffarids . Although Iranian resentment against the Abbasid Caliphate was common, the resentment materialized as religious and political movements combining old Iranian traditions with new Arabic ones rather than as full-scale revolts. The new dynasties do not appear to have had any interest in re-establishing

16236-606: The grounds that "in those times nothing had been written in the Earse [i.e. Scots Gaelic] language". There were heated exchanges between the two, and according to one of Johnson's letters, MacPherson threatened physical violence. Boswell's account of their journey, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1786), was a preliminary step toward his later biography, The Life of Samuel Johnson . Included were various quotations and descriptions of events, including anecdotes such as Johnson swinging

16400-630: The headmaster, "angered by the impertinence of this long absence", refused to allow Johnson to continue at the school. Unable to return to Lichfield Grammar School, Johnson enrolled at the King Edward VI grammar school at Stourbridge . As the school was located near Pedmore, Johnson was able to spend more time with the Fords, and he began to write poems and verse translations. However, he spent only six months at Stourbridge before returning once again to his parents' home in Lichfield. During this time, Johnson's future remained uncertain because his father

16564-650: The heir to the Armenian throne, Tigranes , was taken hostage and kept at the Parthian court until he bought his freedom in 95 BC (by handing over "seventy valleys" in Atropatene ) and assumed the Armenian throne. Tigranes ruled, for a short time in the first century BC, the strongest empire in the Middle East which he had built himself. After conquering Syria in 83 BC, Tigranes assumed the title King of Kings . The Armenian kings of

16728-431: The imperial throne, it often, as in the case of Emperor Yohannes IV of Tigray's claim to the throne after the death of Emperor Tewodros II from Gondar , would leave the direct lineage of one royal family in favor of another. The system developed two approaches to controlling the succession: the first involved the selection of emperors by a council of vassal regional royals and powerful clergy members from throughout

16892-426: The issues were collected in a volume; they were reprinted nine times during Johnson's life. Writer and printer Samuel Richardson , enjoying the essays greatly, questioned the publisher as to who wrote the works; only he and a few of Johnson's friends were told of Johnson's authorship. One friend, the novelist Charlotte Lennox , includes a defence of The Rambler in her novel The Female Quixote (1752). In particular,

17056-521: The king Darius I was "great king, king of kings, king in Persia , king of the countries, Hystaspes ' son, Arsames ' grandson, an Achaemenid". An inscription in the Armenian city of Van by Xerxes I reads; I am Xerxes, the great king, the king of kings, the king of the provinces with many tongues, the king of this great earth far and near, son of king Darius the Achaemenian. The standard royal title of

17220-709: The kings. Sarduri, son of Lutipri, says: I brought these stone blocks from the city of Alniunu. I built this wall. The Achaemenid Empire, established in 550 BC after the fall of the Median Empire, rapidly expanded over the course of the sixth century BC. Asia Minor and the Lydian Kingdom were conquered in 546 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC, Egypt in 525 BC and the Indus River region in 513 BC. The Achaemenids employed satrapal administration, which became

17384-497: The lands of the monarchy – which however is contrary to keeping the country undivided. The potential royal rivals were incarcerated at Amba Geshen until the site was destroyed in 1540 during the Ethiopian-Adal war ; then, from the reign of Fasilides (1632–1667) until the mid-18th century, at Wehni . Rumors of these royal mountain residences were part of the inspiration for Samuel Johnson 's short story, Rasselas . Although

17548-504: The language, kept the letter displayed on a table for anyone to read. The Dictionary was finally published in April 1755, with the title page noting that the University of Oxford had awarded Johnson a Master of Arts degree in anticipation of the work. The dictionary as published was a large book. Its pages were nearly 18 inches (46 cm) tall, and the book was 20 inches (51 cm) wide when opened; it contained 42,773 entries, to which only

17712-468: The last Zagwe king in battle. His claim to the throne was also helped by his marriage to that king's daughter, even though Ethiopians commonly do not acknowledge claims from the distaff side. The claim of descent from Menelik I is based on the assertion that the kings of Axum were also the descendants of Menelik I; its definitive and best-known formulation is set forth in the Kebra Nagast . However, there

17876-513: The male-line Solomonic tradition, for which he adopted the throne name of Menelik II. The Emperor Tewodros spent his youth fighting with invading Ottoman Egyptians (termed 'Turks' by the Ethiopians), then unifying the empire after the dark age of the ' Zemene Mesafint ' (Era of the Princes). Emperor Yohannes IV defeated an invading Egyptian army in modern day Eritrea and died while working to address

18040-452: The match, partly because of the difference in their ages: Johnson was 25 and Elizabeth was 46. Elizabeth's marriage to Johnson so disgusted her son Jervis that he severed all relations with her. However, her daughter Lucy accepted Johnson from the start, and her other son, Joseph, later came to accept the marriage. In June 1735, while working as a tutor for the children of Thomas Whitby, a local Staffordshire gentleman, Johnson had applied for

18204-559: The matter was raised to a body of jurists assembled by the Caliph. Though some dissented, the body as a whole ruled that the usage of al-Malik al-Adil Shahanshah was lawful. Alexander the Great 's conquests ended the Achaemenid Empire and the subsequent division of Alexander's own empire resulted in the Seleucid dynasty inheriting the lands formerly associated with the Achaemenid dynasty. Although Alexander himself did not employ any of

18368-469: The months passed, and he told music historian Charles Burney in December 1757 that it would take him until the following March to complete it. Before that could happen, he was arrested again, for a debt of £40, in February 1758. The debt was soon repaid by Jacob Tonson , who had contracted Johnson to publish Shakespeare , and this encouraged Johnson to finish his edition to repay the favour. Although it took him another seven years to finish, Johnson completed

18532-479: The motley circle then to be found there. Mr. David Hume related to me from Mr. Garrick, that Johnson at last denied himself this amusement, from considerations of rigid virtue; saying, 'I'll come no more behind your scenes, David; for the silk stockings and white bosoms of your actresses excite my amorous propensities. Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson Not all of his work was confined to The Rambler . His most highly regarded poem, The Vanity of Human Wishes ,

18696-538: The old Iranian heartland. In contrast to earlier dynasties, ruled by emirs and wanting to appease the powerful ruling Abbasid caliphs, the Buyids consciously revived old symbols and practices of the Sasanian Empire. The region of Daylam had resisted the Caliphate since the fall of the Sasanian Empire, attempts at restoring a native Iranian rule built on Iranian traditions had been many, though unsuccessful. Asfar ibn Shiruya ,

18860-465: The old Persian royal titles, instead using his own new title "King of Asia" ( βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἀσίας ), the monarchs of the Seleucid Empire more and more aligned themselves to the Persian political system. The official title of most of the Seleucid kings was " Great King ", which like "King of Kings", a title of Assyrian origin, was frequently used by the Achaemenid rulers and was intended to demonstrate

19024-474: The performers of both sexes, which produced a more favourable opinion of their profession than he had harshly expressed in his Life of Savage. With some of them he kept up an acquaintance as long as he and they lived, and was ever ready to shew them acts of kindness. He for a considerable time used to frequent the Green Room, and seemed to take delight in dissipating his gloom, by mixing in the sprightly chit-chat of

19188-577: The poems London and The Vanity of Human Wishes and the play Irene . After nine years of effort, Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language appeared in 1755, and was acclaimed as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". Later work included essays, an annotated The Plays of William Shakespeare , and the apologue The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia . In 1763 he befriended James Boswell , with whom he travelled to Scotland, as Johnson described in A Journey to

19352-405: The position of headmaster at Solihull School . Although Johnson's friend Gilbert Walmisley gave his support, Johnson was passed over because the school's directors thought he was "a very haughty, ill-natured gent, and that he has such a way of distorting his face (which though he can't help) the gents think it may affect some lads". With Walmisley's encouragement, Johnson decided that he could be

19516-624: The reigns of the early Seleucid kings. The title was evidently quite well known to be associated with the Seleucid king, the usurper Timarchus (active 163–160 BC) called himself "King of Kings" and the title was discussed in sources from outside the empire as well. Some non-Seleucid rulers even assumed the title for themselves, notably in Pontus (especially prominently used under Mithridates VI Eupator ). Pharnaces II had appeared as King of Kings in inscriptions and royal coins, and Mithridates Eupator had appeared as King of Kings in an inscription. It

19680-536: The same title was used by Odaenathus second son and successor following the deaths of both Odaenathus and Herodianus, Vaballathus and his mother Zenobia soon relinquished it, instead opting for the Roman Augustus ("Emperor") and Augusta ("Empress") respectively. The title King of Kings was used by the rulers of the Aksumite Kingdom since the reign Sembrouthes c.  250 AD . The rulers of

19844-427: The school, and by June 1732 he had returned home. Johnson continued to look for a position at a Lichfield school. After being turned down for a job at Ashbourne School, he spent time with his friend Edmund Hector, who was living in the home of the publisher Thomas Warren . At the time, Warren was starting his Birmingham Journal , and he enlisted Johnson's help. This connection with Warren grew, and Johnson proposed

20008-746: The situation regarding the Mahdist presence in Ethiopia. Emperor Menelik II achieved a major military victory against Italian invaders in March 1896 at the Battle of Adwa and conquered the modern borders of Ethiopia. Italy under Benito Mussolini attacked Ethiopia in 1935, starting the Second Italo-Ethiopian War . Italian successes in the war caused the emperor Haile Selassie to be voted into exile by his nobles in 1936; he pled Ethiopia's case against Italy before

20172-500: The spot his father's stall used to be. After the publication of Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, a statue was erected in that spot. Johnson eventually found employment as undermaster at a school in Market Bosworth , run by Sir Wolstan Dixie , who allowed Johnson to teach without a degree. Johnson was treated as a servant, and considered teaching boring, but nonetheless found pleasure in it. After an argument with Dixie he left

20336-510: The stories of the Kebra Nagast as a "pastiche of legends" created to legitimize Yekuno Amlak's seizure of power. David Northrup notes that the Kebra Nagast's imaginative and emotive account of a line of descent from Solomon and Sheba to the kings of Aksum and the new Solomonic dynasty is highly improbable and unsupported by evidence. It is a myth. Although the story originated as a medieval political myth, it nevertheless became embedded in

20500-662: The streets until dawn because they had no money. During this period, Johnson and Savage worked as Grub Street writers who anonymously supplied publishers with on-demand material. In his Dictionary, Johnson defined "grub street" as "the name of a street in Moorfields in London, much inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and temporary poems, whence any mean production is called grubstreet." Savage's friends tried to help him by attempting to persuade him to move to Wales, but Savage ended up in Bristol and again fell into debt. He

20664-466: The strongest manner he had ever read". Johnson wrote a sermon in her honour, to be read at her funeral, but Taylor refused to read it, for reasons which are unknown. This only exacerbated Johnson's feelings of loss and despair. Consequently, John Hawkesworth had to organise the funeral. Johnson felt guilty about the poverty in which he believed he had forced Tetty to live, and blamed himself for neglecting her. He became outwardly discontented, and his diary

20828-443: The struggle for succession that he believes lies behind the series of brief reigns of the sons of Yagbe'u Seyon (reigned 1285–1294). A constructivist approach states that the tradition was used on occasion, weakened or lapsed sometimes, and was sometimes revived to full effect after some unfortunate disputes – and that the custom started in time immemorial as Ethiopian common inheritance patterns allowed all agnates to also succeed to

20992-458: The supremacy of its holder over other rulers. "Great King" is prominently attested for both Antiochus I (r. 281–261 BC) in the Borsippa Cylinder and for Antiochus III the Great (r. 222–187 BC) throughout his rule. In the late Seleucid Empire, "King of Kings" even saw a revival, despite the fact that the territory controlled by the Empire was significantly smaller than it had been during

21156-522: The throne, with most combat in Ethiopia ending in 1941. The Armistice of Cassibile was signed in September 1943 with the Kingdom of Italy's surrender, and Victor Emmanuel III officially renounced his title as emperor of Ethiopia in November 1943. In January 1942, Haile Selassie was officially reinstated to power in Ethiopia. The position of the emperor and the line of succession were strictly defined in both of

21320-425: The time as the "King's Evil" because it was thought royalty could cure it. Sir John Floyer , former physician to King Charles II , recommended that the young Johnson should receive the " royal touch ", and he did so from Queen Anne on 30 March 1712. However, the ritual proved ineffective, and an operation was performed that left him with permanent scars across his face and body. Queen Anne gave Johnson an amulet on

21484-487: The title "Queen of Kings", while others simply used the masculine title "King of Kings". In Judaism , Melech Malchei HaMelachim ("the King of Kings of Kings") came to be used as a name of God , using the double superlative to put the title one step above the royal title of the Babylonian and Persian kings referred to in the Bible. "King of Kings" ( βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων ) is used in reference to Jesus Christ in

21648-648: The title and it was part of the motto of the Byzantine Emperors of the Palaiologan period , Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων Βασιλεύων Βασιλευόντων ( Basileus Basileōn, Basileuōn Basileuontōn , literally "King of Kings, ruling over those who rule"). In the Byzantine Empire the word Βασιλεὺς (Basileus), which had meant "king" in ancient times had taken up the meaning of "emperor" instead. Byzantine rulers translated "Basileus" into "Imperator" when using Latin and called other kings rēx or rēgas ( ρήξ, ρήγας ), hellenized forms of

21812-432: The title of maharajadhiraja (great king of kings) instead of raja-di-raja . The early kings of Champa before decentralization referred themselves by several different titles such as mahārāja (great king), e.g. Bhadravarman I (r.380–413), or campāpr̥thivībhuj (lord of the land of Champa) used by Kandarpadharma (r. 629–640). The feminine form of "King of Kings" is "Queen of Queens", but some female monarchs assumed

21976-478: The title of Shahanshah . Although Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had reigned as Shah for twenty-six years by then, he only took the title of Shahanshah on 26 October 1967 in a lavish coronation ceremony held in Tehran . He said that he chose to wait until this moment to assume the title because in his own opinion he "did not deserve it" up until then; he is also recorded as saying that there was "no honour in being Emperor of

22140-675: The title of the King of Kings . These words also occur in Aitareya Aranyaka and other parts of Rigveda (1700 BC – 1100 BC). The monarchs of the Gupta Empire assumed the imperial title of Maharajadhiraja . The Gurjara-Pratihara monarch in the tenth century was titled the Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta . The imperial title of Maharajadhiraja was used by rulers of the Pallava dynasty ,

22304-516: The title probably derived from the ancient Persian title. After a successful campaign against the Sasanian Empire in 262 AD, which restored Roman control to territories that had been lost to the Shahanshah Shapur I , the ruler of the city of Palmyra, Odaenathus , founded the Palmyrene kingdom. Though a Roman vassal, Odaenathus assumed the title Mlk Mlk dy Mdnh (King of Kings and Corrector of

22468-467: The title, Mithridates II did undertake conscious steps to be seen as an heir to and restorer of Achaemenid traditions, introducing a crown as the customary headgear on Parthian coins and undertaking several campaigns westwards into former Achaemenid lands. The title was rendered as šāhān šāh in Middle Persian and Parthian and remained in consistent use until the ruling Arsacids were supplanted by

22632-453: The two became friends. Soon after, Johnson met and befriended the painter Joshua Reynolds, who so impressed Johnson that he declared him "almost the only man whom I call a friend". Reynolds's younger sister Frances observed during their time together "that men, women and children gathered around him [Johnson]", laughing at his gestures and gesticulations. In addition to Reynolds, Johnson was close to Bennet Langton and Arthur Murphy . Langton

22796-453: The war began, the Magazine included many reviews, at least 34 of which were written by Johnson. When not working on the Magazine , Johnson wrote a series of prefaces for other writers, such as Giuseppe Baretti , William Payne and Charlotte Lennox. Johnson's relationship with Lennox and her works was particularly close during these years, and she in turn relied so heavily upon Johnson that he

22960-620: The western islands of Scotland", as Johnson's 1775 account of their travels would put it. That account was intended to discuss the social problems and struggles that affected the Scottish people, but it also praised many of the unique facets of Scottish society, such as a school in Edinburgh for the deaf and mute. Also, Johnson used the work to enter into the dispute over the authenticity of James Macpherson 's Ossian poems, claiming they could not have been translations of ancient Scottish literature on

23124-426: The whole of the interview, Johnson talked to his Majesty with profound respect, but still in his firm manly manner, with a sonorous voice, and never in that subdued tone which is commonly used at the levee and in the drawing-room. After the King withdrew, Johnson shewed himself highly pleased with his Majesty's conversation and gracious behaviour. He said to Mr Barnard, 'Sir, they may talk of the King as they will; but he

23288-404: The work in three years, he did manage to finish it in eight. Some criticised the dictionary, including the historian Thomas Babington Macaulay , who described Johnson as "a wretched etymologist," but according to Bate, the Dictionary "easily ranks as one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship, and probably the greatest ever performed by one individual who laboured under anything like

23452-488: The work, Chesterfield wrote two anonymous essays in The World recommending the Dictionary . He complained that the English language lacked structure and argued in support of the dictionary. Johnson did not like the tone of the essays, and he felt that Chesterfield had not fulfilled his obligations as the work's patron. In a letter to Chesterfield , Johnson expressed this view and harshly criticised Chesterfield, saying "Is not

23616-453: Was "the most important single fact in Mrs Lennox's literary life". He later attempted to produce a new edition of her works, but even with his support they were unable to find enough interest to follow through with its publication. To help with domestic duties while Johnson was busy with his various projects, Richard Bathurst, a physician and a member of Johnson's Club, pressured him to take on

23780-562: Was Dejazmatch Kassa, he was rewarded with articles of war for his services and went on to assume power through his claim of Solomonic descent from his mothers Gondarian ancestry and was crowned Emperor Yohannes IV . Sahle Maryam of Shewa, who descended from Solomonic emperors directly paternally through the Shewan Branch (junior only to the Gondar line), ascended the imperial throne following Emperor Yohannes IV's death and thus, purporting to restore

23944-548: Was a child in petticoats, and had learnt to read, Mrs. Johnson one morning put the common prayer-book into his hands, pointed to the collect for the day, and said, 'Sam, you must get this by heart.' She went up stairs, leaving him to study it: But by the time she had reached the second floor, she heard him following her. 'What's the matter?' said she. 'I can say it,' he replied; and repeated it distinctly, though he could not have read it more than twice. Boswell's Life of Johnson Johnson displayed signs of great intelligence as

24108-644: Was a defence of the Coercive Acts and a response to the Declaration of Rights of the First Continental Congress , which protested against taxation without representation . Johnson argued that in emigrating to America, colonists had "voluntarily resigned the power of voting", but they still retained " virtual representation " in Parliament. In a parody of the Declaration of Rights, Johnson suggested that

24272-490: Was a scholar and an admirer of Johnson who persuaded his way into a meeting with Johnson which led to a long friendship. Johnson met Murphy during the summer of 1754 after Murphy came to Johnson about the accidental republishing of the Rambler No. 190, and the two became friends. Around this time, Anna Williams began boarding with Johnson. She was a minor poet who was poor and becoming blind, two conditions that Johnson attempted to change by providing room for her and paying for

24436-425: Was already a quarter behind in his student fees, and was forced to return to Lichfield without a degree, having spent 13 months at Oxford. He left behind many books that he had borrowed from his father because he could not afford to transport them, and also because he hoped to return. He eventually did receive a degree. Just before the publication of his Dictionary in 1755, the University of Oxford awarded Johnson

24600-424: Was also distracted by Tetty's poor health as she began to show signs of a terminal illness. To accommodate both his wife and his work, he moved to 17 Gough Square near his printer, William Strahan. In preparation, Johnson had written a Plan for the Dictionary . Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield , was the patron of the Plan , to Johnson's displeasure. Seven years after first meeting Johnson to go over

24764-535: Was among the many titles of the last Neo-Babylonian king, Nabonidus (r. 556–539 BC). Boastful titles claiming ownership of various things were common throughout ancient Mesopotamian history. For instance, Ashurbanipal's great-grandfather Sargon II used the full titulature of Great King , Mighty King , King of the Universe , King of Assyria , King of Babylon , King of Sumer and Akkad . The title of King of Kings occasionally appears in inscriptions of kings of Urartu . Although no evidence exists, it

24928-549: Was born on 18 September 1709 to Sarah Johnson (née Ford) (1669–1759) and Michael Johnson (1656–1732), a bookseller. His mother was 40 when she gave birth to Johnson in the family home above his father's bookshop in Lichfield , Staffordshire. This was considered an unusually late pregnancy, so precautions were taken, and a man-midwife and surgeon of "great reputation" named George Hector was brought in to assist. The infant Johnson did not cry, and there were concerns for his health. His aunt exclaimed that "she would not have picked such

25092-477: Was committed to debtors' prison and died in 1743. A year later, Johnson wrote Life of Mr Richard Savage (1744), a "moving" work which, in the words of the biographer and critic Walter Jackson Bate , "remains one of the innovative works in the history of biography". In 1746, a group of publishers approached Johnson with the idea of creating an authoritative dictionary of the English language. A contract with William Strahan and associates, worth 1,500 guineas ,

25256-440: Was critically celebrated but it failed to become popular, and sold fewer copies than London . In 1749, Garrick made good on his promise that he would produce Irene , but its title was altered to Mahomet and Irene to make it "fit for the stage." Irene, which was written in blank verse, was received rather poorly with a friend of Boswell's commenting the play to be "as frigid as the regions of Nova Zembla: now and then you felt

25420-527: Was deeply in debt. To earn money, Johnson began to stitch books for his father, and it is likely that Johnson spent much time in his father's bookshop reading and building his literary knowledge. The family remained in poverty until his mother's cousin Elizabeth Harriotts died in February 1728 and left enough money to send Johnson to university. On 31 October 1728, a few weeks after he turned 19, Johnson entered Pembroke College, Oxford. The inheritance did not cover all of his expenses at Pembroke, and Andrew Corbet,

25584-433: Was ended by Haile Selassie (r. 1930–1974 AD), who somewhat paradoxically still retained the use of Nəgusä Nägäst . From the 7th century to 15th century, grand rulers of Chamic -speaking confederation of Champa , which existed from 3rd century AD to 1832 in present-day Central Vietnam , employed titles raja-di-raja (king of kings) and pu po tana raya (king of kings). However, some, such as Vikrantavarman II , held

25748-415: Was eventually defeated, the Great Satraps' Revolt of 366–360 BC showed the growing structural problems within the Empire. The Achaemenid Kings used a variety of different titles, prominently Great King and King of Countries , but perhaps the most prominent title was that of King of Kings (rendered Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām in Old Persian ), recorded for every Achaemenid king. The full titulature of

25912-437: Was filled with prayers and laments over her death which continued until his own. She was his primary motivation, and her death hindered his ability to complete his work. On 16 March 1756, Johnson was arrested for an outstanding debt of £5 18 s . Unable to contact anyone else, he wrote to the writer and publisher Samuel Richardson. Richardson, who had previously lent Johnson money, sent him six guineas to show his good will, and

26076-432: Was not entirely accepted, with the Soviet Union never considering the Italian conquest legitimate, and Haile Selassie continuing to contest the occupation from exile in the United Kingdom. With Italy's entry on the side of the Axis Powers in World War II , the African part of the British Empire aided Haile Selassie and anti-Italian Ethiopian forces in the East African campaign . Italy was defeated and Selassie restored to

26240-510: Was not the first, nor was it unique. Other dictionaries, such as Nathan Bailey 's Dictionarium Britannicum , included more words, and in the 150 years preceding Johnson's dictionary about twenty other general-purpose monolingual "English" dictionaries had been produced. However, there was open dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period. In 1741, David Hume claimed: "The Elegance and Propriety of Stile have been very much neglected among us. We have no Dictionary of our Language, and scarce

26404-447: Was signed on the morning of 18 June 1746. Johnson claimed that he could finish the project in three years. In comparison, the Académie Française had 40 scholars spending 40 years to complete their dictionary, which prompted Johnson to claim, "This is the proportion. Let me see; forty times forty is sixteen hundred. As three to sixteen hundred, so is the proportion of an Englishman to a Frenchman." Although he did not succeed in completing

26568-625: Was told that it was "too much to be asked". Gower then asked a friend of Jonathan Swift to plead with Swift to use his influence at Trinity College Dublin to have a master's degree awarded to Johnson, in the hope that this could then be used to justify an MA from Oxford, but these efforts were again in vain, and unforthcoming. Between 1737 and 1739, Johnson befriended poet Richard Savage . Feeling guilty of living almost entirely on Tetty's money, Johnson stopped living with her and spent his time with Savage. They were poor and would stay in taverns or sleep in "night-cellars". Some nights they would roam

26732-436: Was written with such "extraordinary speed" that Boswell claimed Johnson "might have been perpetually a poet". The poem is an imitation of Juvenal's Satire X and claims that "the antidote to vain human wishes is non-vain spiritual wishes". In particular, Johnson emphasises "the helpless vulnerability of the individual before the social context" and the "inevitable self-deception by which human beings are led astray". The poem

26896-399: Was years before Johnson's Dictionary , as it came to be known, turned a profit. Authors' royalties were unknown at the time, and Johnson, once his contract to deliver the book was fulfilled, received no further money from its sale. Years later, many of its quotations would be repeated by various editions of the Webster's Dictionary and the New English Dictionary . Johnson's dictionary

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