RSwordsman t1_j3hp2q9 wrote on January 8, 2023 at 5:36 PM

Bureaucracy existed well before the middle ages. It could just be that European systems favored a more centralized government with less delegation structure for their agents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy#History

It's safe to say that after the manorial system, it came about with the rise in republican government as a good way to divide power among several officials.

Bentresh t1_j3ihhvc wrote on January 8, 2023 at 8:29 PM

Yes, as the Wiki article correctly notes, highly complex systems of administration and bureaucracy had already developed by the Bronze Age.

To add a few relevant publications:

Ancient Egyptian Administration edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García
Officials and Administration in the Hittite World by Tayfun Bilgin
Bronze Age Bureaucracy: Writing and the Practice of Government in Assyria by Nicholas Postgate
Mittelassyrische Verwaltung und Sozialstruktur by Stefan Jakob
The Organization of Power: Aspects of Bureaucracy in the Ancient Near East edited by McGuire Gibson and Robert Biggs
In the Service of the King: Officialdom in Ancient Israel and Judah by Nili Fox

megamindwriter OP t1_j3j8crg wrote on January 8, 2023 at 11:15 PM

Thank you.

dutchwonder t1_j3pqtg9 wrote on January 10, 2023 at 5:30 AM

Late Roman empire represents a switch from the very decentralized (and very, very light) bureaucracy to a much more hands on approach that was highly influential.

Problem is, its very expensive, but it was better than going through the third century crisis again.