 Besides the historical arguments there were theological or philosophical arguments. If “there is no power but from God”  (Romans 13:1,  §2.1 above) and the pope is God’s representative on earth, then it seems that power comes to Christian kings through the pope. Medieval writers were not well acquainted with Plato’s notion of a “philosopher king”  (Republic, 473d),  since very little of Plato had been translated into  Latin,[48]  but in effect pro-papal theologians were arguing that the pope was a “theologian king”, an expert on the meaning of life whose guidance was authoritative in all matters.