Hellenistic origins of the political tradition of imposture and its spread in Russia in the 17th-18th centuries

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of the spread of imposture as a serious political phenomenon in Russia in the XVII-XVIII centuries. (on the eve of the era of Catherine the Great). The author discovers the origins of the political tradition of imposture in the political traditions of the Hellenistic world (False Philip, False Alexander II), perceived by the Romans (False Nerons, falsification of the genealogy of Constantine the Great) and influenced the Byzantine political system (False Theodosius, False Tiberius, False Diogenes, etc.). Conclusions are drawn about the dynamics of Byzantine imposture and its influence on the development of the phenomenon in Europe of the Late Middle Ages (XIV-XV centuries) (False John the Posthumous in France, False Edward V in England), on the intensity of the development of imposture in Russia during the Time of Troubles (False Dmitry, False Peter) and in subsequent decades (False Aleksey Alekseevich, False Aleksey Petrovich, False Peter Petrovich, etc.), about the key importance of the history of the conflict between Emperor Peter III and Empress Catherine II for the escalation of social conflict and reanimate imposture during the reign of Catherine II (Pugachev, False Ioanna Antonovich, Princess Tarakanova). The article opens a series of publications devoted to the problems of the political history of Russia in the XVIII century.