Duplicità regali. Lessico latino, voci del Nord, tipologie

A close examination of the ancient Latin etymologies shows a twofold understanding of the word rex: both «rego» and «rectus» were perceived as ‘root’ of the word, and hence a king was «the one who sets the boundaries and leads his people» and «the one who is following and showing the right path». But in the Indoeuropean languages another idea of «king» emerges in the Old English cyning (Old German kuning): the king is «the one who is the people». The Stoic idea of the wise man as a king meets the Christian doctrine of Christ as king, which in its turn receives and develops the rich Biblical and Middle Eastern cultural tradition. All of this is faithfully mirrored in the Latin liturgical tradition, where the duplicity of kingship and priesthood, and of past (Old Covenant) and present (Christianity) is absorbed in a new unity, which is possible only within an eschatological perspective.