daftone

I read something once.

There are 4 men in a room, a king, a priest, a merchant and a soldier. The king turns to the soldier and says if you kill the other 2 for me I'll grant you lands and titles and make you second only to me.

The priest says to the soldier kill the other 2 and I shall give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. You shall not fear death and will spend eternity in happiness.

The merchant says to the soldier kill the other 2 and I shall give you untold riches. You will have enough wealth to setup your own kingdom.

King, priest, merchant and soldier. Who holds the power?

The man with the sword.

I was just wondering how many rulers over the years have been supported by hidden powers and who those powers were. Who held the true power in their country.

The big one I can think of is the praetorian guard in Rome. They assassinated several emperors and replaced them with their choices.

Eumenes

The Streltsy had a similar relationship with the Russian throne until Peter the Great destroyed them, as did the Janissary and Sipahi corps in the Ottoman Empire.

okamido

I would simply think of how many Roman Emperors were actually deposed by the Praetorian Guard for not paying their salaries or promised bonuses. Another example could be the number of Abbasid Caliphs that had been overthrown by their Turkish gaurds, the ghilman.