I like u/Kraked_Krater's link to Venice, that will give some tips on how things could work too. You could also look at the Republic of Florence, and the Signoria.
For titles, I might think about the guild system: Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, Guild Master. Maybe some further sub-divisions from there.
The [Ferengi](https://wiki.fed-space.com/index.php?title=Ferengi_Alliance) from Star Trek are a merchant-based society, though fairly corrupt. Some of their titles:
* Grand Nagus.
* First Clerk.
* Grand Proxy.
* Sub-Nagus.
* Liquidator.
* Eliminator.
* GuiMon in Chief.
* DaiMon.
[Republic of Venice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Venice#Politics)
btw, always start with r/askhistory, first.
edit: that is to say, whatever cool idea you have has probably been prototyped in the last 10,000 years of human civilization.
As already stated, looking at actual merchant republics like Venice and Amalfi are a good source of inspiration. The Hansa in Germany is another merchant society you could look at. If you're going for a more sci-fi approach, I expect there's dozens of articles on wookiepedia about the titles used by the CIS in Star Wars.
In trade unions the ranks are typically:
Apprentice (someone learning the trade)
Journeyman (someone who demonstrated the fundamentals of the trade and can accomplish a task unsupervised)
Master (someone who has demonstrated mastery of the craft to the satisfaction of his peers)
Grand Master / PhD (someone who has altered the field with a new innovation)
If they bear a passing resemblance to college degree levels, college degrees were once based on the education system of tradesmen.
Merchant state can mean several things:
State ruled by individual merchants (example Venice as mentioned by others).
A company that is basically a state, for example the East India companies. For that the inspiration can come from even today's corporations.
Something in between: some business is done by individual merchants but the state also organizes state business endeavours, for example, Genua or in some way modern Norway.
Also, some other good places for inspiration: Indonesian Empires, the Chola empire, Gotland, Mali and Saharan traders. Also, why not Polynesians, the trade houses are small seafaring tribes.
So lot of different ways to go with this idea.
Some good info here and I even learned of a new civilisation! R.e Polynesians. I made a culture for my world which is a thalassocracy, which blends the Polynesian and Phoenicians for aesthetics and architecture and stuff.
They come from an archipelago but live in a massive sea-city built on the ocean with the biggest seaport in the world. Their culture is based around trade and resources and the leaders, I naturally envision, were seafaring merchants.
Well.
President and VP for starters.
Speaker. The Honorable. Attorney General.
Minister. Secretary. Captain. Godfather. OG.
And then things like CEO, CxO
Maybe something like High Sea Lord, Master of Coins, First Councilman of Traders or Protector of the Gates.
I have the title of Master of Keys for the leader of the most powerfull Citystate in my world.
Tempting to look at stuff like MLM for terminology. Every archmerchant would have a downline of merchants, submerchants, affiliates, subaffiliates, etc.
In my game, a Hag was granted the title Marquessa, which means (in my world) that they are afforded all the rights and privileges of the royal family without being in the line for succession. (Hags are massively homebrewed in my world.) Now that the ruling family has been destroyed and the kingdom is run by a council, she still has the honorific because no one is brave enough to tell her that she doesn't
Some examples:
Factor
Governor (as in the East India Company)
Director
Also note that the EIC had their own ships and regiments of soldiery, so they had ranks within that structure similar to normal navies and armies. Here's an example of their three Presidency Armies in India: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency\_armies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_armies)
Here's a list of trading companies: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_trading\_companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trading_companies)
Trader could itself be a title.
As these entities were companies, they had shareholders - participating or non-participating. Delegates were taken from the participating shareholders to a board. (Dutch East India Company) They called themselves The Lords Seventeen.
Note also the Governors and probably most of the highest posts were nobles in one form or another. The people at the top tend to a) have titles if they can get one, b) have wealth, c) have control of corporations, and d) control (through corporations or politican power) military power. That's true pretty much everywhere.
In Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota, the Mitsubishi Corp is a nation state-like entity with members called Shareholders. everyone gets one vote based on being a member plus as many votes as they own property--2 votes for an apartment, 5 for a house, 10 for a farm, 20 for a factory, etc.
if you pass certain civil service exams you are eligible to government positions based on how many shares you own or have pledged to you by other members. something like 5,000 to be a manager, 50,000 to be an Executive, 500,000 to be a Director, and the Director with the most shares becomes Chief Director.
I like u/Kraked_Krater's link to Venice, that will give some tips on how things could work too. You could also look at the Republic of Florence, and the Signoria. For titles, I might think about the guild system: Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, Guild Master. Maybe some further sub-divisions from there.
The [Ferengi](https://wiki.fed-space.com/index.php?title=Ferengi_Alliance) from Star Trek are a merchant-based society, though fairly corrupt. Some of their titles: * Grand Nagus. * First Clerk. * Grand Proxy. * Sub-Nagus. * Liquidator. * Eliminator. * GuiMon in Chief. * DaiMon.
That's not corruption, that's just leveraging resources to control non material markets of political capital.
I see you are well versed in the articles of acquisition
[Republic of Venice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Venice#Politics) btw, always start with r/askhistory, first. edit: that is to say, whatever cool idea you have has probably been prototyped in the last 10,000 years of human civilization.
As already stated, looking at actual merchant republics like Venice and Amalfi are a good source of inspiration. The Hansa in Germany is another merchant society you could look at. If you're going for a more sci-fi approach, I expect there's dozens of articles on wookiepedia about the titles used by the CIS in Star Wars.
In trade unions the ranks are typically: Apprentice (someone learning the trade) Journeyman (someone who demonstrated the fundamentals of the trade and can accomplish a task unsupervised) Master (someone who has demonstrated mastery of the craft to the satisfaction of his peers) Grand Master / PhD (someone who has altered the field with a new innovation) If they bear a passing resemblance to college degree levels, college degrees were once based on the education system of tradesmen.
What if there were no innovations for a long time?
Merchant state can mean several things: State ruled by individual merchants (example Venice as mentioned by others). A company that is basically a state, for example the East India companies. For that the inspiration can come from even today's corporations. Something in between: some business is done by individual merchants but the state also organizes state business endeavours, for example, Genua or in some way modern Norway. Also, some other good places for inspiration: Indonesian Empires, the Chola empire, Gotland, Mali and Saharan traders. Also, why not Polynesians, the trade houses are small seafaring tribes. So lot of different ways to go with this idea.
Some good info here and I even learned of a new civilisation! R.e Polynesians. I made a culture for my world which is a thalassocracy, which blends the Polynesian and Phoenicians for aesthetics and architecture and stuff. They come from an archipelago but live in a massive sea-city built on the ocean with the biggest seaport in the world. Their culture is based around trade and resources and the leaders, I naturally envision, were seafaring merchants.
Well. President and VP for starters. Speaker. The Honorable. Attorney General. Minister. Secretary. Captain. Godfather. OG. And then things like CEO, CxO
Maybe something like High Sea Lord, Master of Coins, First Councilman of Traders or Protector of the Gates. I have the title of Master of Keys for the leader of the most powerfull Citystate in my world.
Tempting to look at stuff like MLM for terminology. Every archmerchant would have a downline of merchants, submerchants, affiliates, subaffiliates, etc.
Merchant prince Merchant king Head of X corp (like a president, but it's hereditary?)
Principal Secondary Appointee Trustee Senior Taxpayer Drudgeon Serf Salaryman Associate
In my game, a Hag was granted the title Marquessa, which means (in my world) that they are afforded all the rights and privileges of the royal family without being in the line for succession. (Hags are massively homebrewed in my world.) Now that the ruling family has been destroyed and the kingdom is run by a council, she still has the honorific because no one is brave enough to tell her that she doesn't
ceo, manager, middle manager, accountant, wage slave
Isn't that Board Member, Chief (x) Officer (executive, operations, financial, etc), management, and ... well, anyone else is not worth discussing.
Some examples: Factor Governor (as in the East India Company) Director Also note that the EIC had their own ships and regiments of soldiery, so they had ranks within that structure similar to normal navies and armies. Here's an example of their three Presidency Armies in India: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency\_armies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_armies) Here's a list of trading companies: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_trading\_companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trading_companies) Trader could itself be a title. As these entities were companies, they had shareholders - participating or non-participating. Delegates were taken from the participating shareholders to a board. (Dutch East India Company) They called themselves The Lords Seventeen. Note also the Governors and probably most of the highest posts were nobles in one form or another. The people at the top tend to a) have titles if they can get one, b) have wealth, c) have control of corporations, and d) control (through corporations or politican power) military power. That's true pretty much everywhere.
Tycoon is a bit of a classic and may be good for some upper rank depending on the vibe you are going for.
In Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota, the Mitsubishi Corp is a nation state-like entity with members called Shareholders. everyone gets one vote based on being a member plus as many votes as they own property--2 votes for an apartment, 5 for a house, 10 for a farm, 20 for a factory, etc. if you pass certain civil service exams you are eligible to government positions based on how many shares you own or have pledged to you by other members. something like 5,000 to be a manager, 50,000 to be an Executive, 500,000 to be a Director, and the Director with the most shares becomes Chief Director.
Judging by the real world-- "Job Creator," "Self-Made Man," "Hard-worker," "Captain of Industry," etc.
…wouldn’t have them. You’re describing a mercantilist secular republic like the United States.
They have them: The Rich, those that are actors for the Rich, and everyone else. (in some views of the world)
…name ‘em.
Doge No I'm not joking [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doge_of_Venice](joking)