In the De regno, ad regem Cypri, an unfinished work, Thomas Aquinas planned to discuss two topics: the origin of kingly government and the things which pertain to the office of a king. In other words, it was to be both theoretical and practical. The idea of the origin of kingly government was not to be a historical discussion; rather it encompasses the problem of the rational 'origin' of monarchy. Thomas' intention is to answer the question, Why should one man in a given society be set over all other men. The theoretical section of the treatise also contains a long 'digression' on the reward of a king who performs his duty well and, correspondingly, on the punishment of a tyrant who fails to do so.