Archontology

Archontology is the study of historical offices and important positions in state, international, political, religious and other organizations and societies. It includes chronology, succession of office holders, their biographies and related records.

Political science and history would be void and misunderstood without naming its chief actors. In many cases, these actors were those who either sat on the throne or enjoyed popular support at election or violently seized the power when circumstances permitted. There have always been those who held important state, public and party offices, those who wielded , those who were limited in their actions by law or tradition. This category colloquially known as "rulers" has been an object of studies in scientific chronology for long ages. An interest in studying the rulers emerged long before it became a part of history and chronology as academic disciplines. This distinctive interest in studying the chronologies of heads of states, governments, ministries and other offices may be rigorously defined as institutional chronology or even as archontology (from Greek, αρχων (archon), meaning ruler; used specifically for supreme magistrates, as in Athens, or even kings, as in the Cimmerian Bosporus).

Institutional chronology as integral part of general chronology dates back to the times of first civilizations. One of the earliest efforts of ancient historians was aimed at compiling the chronology of contemporary rulers and their predecessors. The kinglists, found in most centers of the ancient civilizations (for an example, see the Sumerian kinglist), formed a basis for building more detailed historical accounts and served as a skeleton for further historical studies. It is difficult to imagine what history of Ancient Egypt we would have, if modern historians could not base their research on the tables of rulers by Manetho and the Abydos inscriptions. The history of Rome would be difficult to reconstruct if we did not have the availability of consular lists. The tradition of keeping records of rulers survived through the ages and became a part of modern history and chronology, but in fact it appears as a distinctive field of study and independent discipline closely related to political science and legal studies.

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