It demanded that persons swearing the oath renounce the power of any foreign authority or potentate and repudiate any oath previously made to such an authority.
An extortionate tax system supported his ambitious and successful foreign policies of expansion, as well as his numerous bribes and gifts to various potentates.
He not only consolidated his rule at home by the subjugation of his foes, but sought extension of territory by encroachments upon the lands of foreign potentates.
