Hunter-gatherers also followed a tribal system, but scarcity and the uncertainty of the life meant that a tribe could only support two or three extended families. The amorous farmers, however, soon found that they could not name everyone in their tribe anymore. In return for the sacrifice of familiarity, people living in these small societies gained the safety of numbers. A well-fed army easily repelled any desperate raiders. In return for this security, the people all paid homage to the lord or king who claimed ownership of the land – which, in essence was the first system of rent. As these farming villages grew into cities, the leading families maintained ownership by right of lineage – their ancestors had clubbed all other challengers senseless – thus becoming the kings, pharaohs, daimyos and the heads of other feudal dynasties.

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