Lese majeste is the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state. This behavior was first classified as a criminal offense against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome. In time, as the Emperor became identified with the Roman state (the empire never formally became a monarchy), it was essentially applied to offenses against his person. Though legally the princeps civitatis (his official title, roughly 'first citizen') could never become a sovereign, as the republic was never abolished, emperors were to be deified as divus, first posthumously but ultimately while reigning, and thus enjoyed the legal protection provided for the divinities of the state cult; by the time it was exchanged for Christianity, the monarchical tradition in all but name was well established. Narrower conceptions of offenses against Majesty as offences against the crown predominated in the European kingdoms that emerged in the early medieval period.

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