Reading the newspaper on Saturday I came across an
article about the Japanese imperial family. This family is on the throne
for a 125 generations, but now, for the first time in history, the family is
about to die out. There are only seven males left, of which only one is younger
than 45. If Prince Hisahito (now 5) doesn’t have any sons, he would be the last
one on the throne. This due to a law which only allows male to sit on the Chrysanthemum
Throne and excludes females after marriage. This narrows the line of succession
to a minimum.
A Roman family; a relief from the Ara Pacis (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) |