The conditions are thus given for a religion of simple ancestor worship, such as has existed in very many parts of the world[164] and has often continued to exist alongside of a wider state religion, as for instance in Rome. As a rule however a further step is involved, probably because a simple ancestor worship of this kind is both too indefinite and too individualistic to prove permanently satisfactory, either from the point of view of the individual himself or of the community of which he forms a part. It is too indefinite because it does not provide any sufficiently clear and characteristic object or objects upon which the displaced parent-regarding feelings can be directed; and it is too individualistic because, so long as each family is thrown back solely upon its own ancestors as objects of worship, the religious feelings and tendencies aroused lack the stimulating force which they derive from the co-operation of the herd instinct (in virtue of which the individual is particularly liable to be affected by the emotions to which his fellows give expression)[165] and through which alone, in many cases, religion is able to become a permanent and stable form of expression for the displaced parent-regarding tendencies of childhood and a social force which has proved to be of the greatest importance in the history and development of mankind. [Sidenote: The All-Father] For these and other reasons, ancestor worship is not often found in its pure and simple form, but is usually complicated and modified in at least two important ways:--(1) a single ancestor is selected as the originator and founder of the family, the high patriarchal attributes being for the most part reserved for him alone; (2) this same ancestor is regarded as the founder, not merely of a single family, but of the whole clan, tribe, nation or other social unit, or, by a further extension, of the whole human race, of all living beings or, ultimately, of the whole Universe. There is thus created the notion of a single All-Father, who serves at once as the supreme and most satisfying embodiment of the father-ideal for the individual and as a potent means of strengthening and uniting the community through the sense of brotherhood and loyalty that attaches to a common worship and a common origin from a divine ancestor. The satisfying character of the religious concept that is here reached is apt to be still further increased by a complete or partial fusion of the notion of the divine father with that of the kingly father which we have already discussed. The mythical divine ancestor, the founder of the race, is frequently supposed to have been originally a king also, and it is usual for the reigning line of sovereigns to trace their descent more especially from him. Very often too the kings, or at any rate the greater ones among them, receive divine honours at their death, being then worshipped along with the other illustrious ancestors of the tribe, having but exchanged