The imperial family were catered for by vast armies of servants - cooks, concubines, eunuchs, officials and soldiers - who pampered them while also scheming to improve their own positions.
In 1900, there were about 1.75 million domestic servants, the vast majority women.
The government hopes that its vast army of civil servants will not only plough a bit of extra cash back into the economy, but that the increase will encourage them to be honest.
The vast mansions, armies of servants, and huge yachts of the 1920s were no more; by 1955 the typical executive, Fortune claimed, lived in a smallish suburban house, relied on part-time help and skippered his own relatively small boat.
"The vast majority of civil servants work outside Whitehall, and one of the very best bits of my job has been travelling around the country visiting civil servants where they work.
The vast majority of civil servants I encountered in my five years in office were hard-working, thoughtful and driven by a quiet, if fiercely held belief in public service.
Over the years, several generations of kings and their queens lived in this complex, with a vast retinue of officials, servants, horses and elephants.
The Prose Edda details that Hel rules over vast mansions with many servants in her underworld realm and plays a key role in the attempted resurrection of the god Baldr.
Abandoning completely Harrisons concept of bedrooms set in terraces beneath the corp de logis, Blore's assistant architect, Hunt, opted for the typical vast sprawling wings and servants' quarters of the 19th century English country house.
Here again, is a commentary from Kathimerini The vast majority of Greek civil servants and others working in public enterprises are guaranteed lifetime employment.
