Counted across the seventy-two spirits of the Ars Goetia as this atlas records them, nine hold the rank of King. They command 634 legions between them, an average of just over seventy each, which is the highest average of any rank in the catalogue.
The averages conceal a wide spread, and the spread is the interesting part. Paimon commands 200 legions, far more than any other spirit at any rank. Beleth has 85 and Belial 80. At the other end, Purson, a King, commands 22, and Zagan 33, both of which are below what several Dukes and Presidents are given. A reader who assumed that the title predicted the force would be wrong about a third of the time.
That matters for how the catalogue should be read. Rank and legions are two independent columns, not one fact stated twice. Rank appears to record precedence and the manner of address, the protocol of the conjuration, while the legion count records something closer to reach. A spirit can be high and small, or low and large.
The kings are also where the catalogue is at its most inconsistent about titles. Vine is given as a King and an Earl together in the Ars Goetia text, and this collection files him under the first of the two, as it does with every spirit carrying a compound rank.
The nine are Bael, who opens the catalogue, Paimon, Beleth, Purson, Asmoday, Vine, Balam, Zagan and Belial, who is very nearly the last of the seventy-two and is described in terms that make him the most dangerous entry in the book.