The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton [327]
Federalist 14
p. 97. Germany, wherea diet representing the whole empireis continually assembled…: The imperial diet (Reichstag) was a meeting of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire for the purpose of advising and assisting the emperor in his administrative duties. After 1489, it consisted of three imperial estates (Reichsstande): the six electors; the princes (including prelates, counts, and lords); and representatives of the free cities. Although in principle the diet represented the German nation, in practice the estates were often divided internally and opposed to one another. The diet was summoned by the emperor (later, only with consent of the electors) to hear an imperial proposition. The estates then consulted and voted on the points raised by the proposition and issued a recess (Abschied), which became the law of the empire. This procedure, although frequently violated, persisted until 1653, after which imperial legislation emanated from the emperor’s chancellory.
p. 97. Poland before the late dismemberment…. Publiusr efers to the first of three annexations of Polish territory by foreign powers during the eighteenth century. The first (1772) resulted from a Prussian-brokered agreement to forestall war between Russia and Austria over disputed Turkish territory. The second (1793) occurred when Polish conservatives invited Russia and Prussia to assist in the installation of a reactionary regime. The third (1795) followed the suppression of a rebellion led by Poles angered at the outcome of the second partition. In 1795, Poland ceased to exist as an independent state, and did not reemerge until after the First World War.
Federalist 15
p. 103. They still, in fine, seem to cherish…the political monster of animperium in imperio: An "empire within an empire" is monstrous in the same manner as a body that has two heads.
Federalist 16
p. 108. the Lycian and Achaean leagues, as far as there remain vestiges of them…: The Achaean league, founded around 453 BC, was a confederation of twelve cities of Achaea, an ancient territory located in the northernmost portion of the Peloponnesian peninsula. The members were originally independent, but fell under Spartan influence during the Peloponnesian War. By the third century, membership had extended to non-Achaean cities. At this time, there were common coinage and uniform standards of citizenship, among other indications of federal organization. The confederation subsequently dissolved but was revived in the early third century. Under the leadership of Aratus of Sicyon in the third century, the league expanded to include non-Achaean cities. Its ambitions alarmed Sparta, however, whose opposition induced the league to ally with Macedon. The Achaeans defeated Sparta in 222 BC and remained loyal to Macedon until compelled to switch sides and join the Roman cause toward the end of the Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC). As an ally of Rome, and under the direction of Philopoemen, the league expanded to include most of the cities of the Peloponnesus. The sudden expansion gave rise to tensions within the federation that eventually antagonized Rome and led to the Achaean War (146 BC). Rome won the war, destroyed the city of Corinth, partially dismembered the league, and put an end to Achaean political independence. The Lycian Confederacy, established about 200 BC, was an organization of small Hellenistic communities located in the ancient country of Lycia in southwest Asia Minor (modern Turkey), opposite the island of Rhodes. Individual communities were represented in the federal council in proportion to their size and importance. Until it came under the influence of Rome in AD 43, the confederacy functioned in many ways like a sovereign state, freely declaring war and peace