Who were the artistocrats of ancient athens

The rich people and people with power anc potential law making desicions

after the roman empire, the catholic church began to unify by taking on many duties of a government.

judaism, christianity and islam, are all abrahamic religions and therefore have in common the hebrew idea of a single god which is the source of all morality. the idea of the covenant is only related to judaism, while dharma is a concept of indian religions and the four noble truths are basic principles of buddhism.