THE PERFECT KING BEE VISIONS OF KINGSHIP IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

This article investigates the portrayal of the king bee by Greek andRoman writers. Their depiction of these creatures was not a scientificone: many aspects of their description were influenced bywidespread Greek and Roman ideas on government, while othersshow even more specific influences from contemporary thinking.At the same time, the hive was used as a model for human society,since bees presented a society that succeeded in living togetherwithout stasis (civil strife), in harmony