Love it. Great insight. Had never thought of it that way before. I am sure it has always been that way. The Roman emperors claimed to be gods (copying the Egyptian pharaohs). And Caesar held the power of life and death over the plebs through gestures like the thumbs up/down in the Colosseum. Shakespeare's plays are replete with allusions to contemporary court intrigue and rumor. Dante's Inferno draws heavily on the political scandals of his day. There certainly seems to be a deep connection between the classics and the court.