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In Chapter 25, you learned how the steep mountains of Greece led peopleto settle in isolated communities. Because settlements were separated fromeach other, they developed in different ways. One important difference washow they governed themselves. In this chapter, you will learn how ancientGreek communities tried different forms of government.

The ancient Greeks knew they had many things in common. For exanaple,they all spoke the same language. But they did not thiiik of themselves as onecountry. Instead, every Greek identified with a hometown that he or she called"the city." The city included both a settlement and its surrounding farmland.

Most Greeks were fiercely proud of their cities. Each city had its ownlaws, its own army, and its own money. Most important, each city had itsown form of government. For this reason, ancient Greek cities are calledcity-states.

In this chapter, you will explore the four forms of governinent thatdeveloped in the Greek city-states: monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny,and democracy. You'll discover why unhappiness with one form of ruleled the Greeks to try another.

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moniaroh a single ruler, suchas a king, queen, or emperor,who holds all the power in acountry or empirearistocraS a member of themost powerful class in ancientGreek society

Agesilaus II was king of thecity-state of Sparta.

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From about 2000 to 800 B.C.E., most Greek city-states wereruled by a mesins^h,, or king. In a monarchy, the ruling power isin the hands of one person, usually a king. Greek settlements didnot have queens.At first, Greek kings were chosen by the people of a city-state.When the king died, another leader was selected to take his place.Eventually, though, kings demanded that their power go to theirchildren after their death, usually their oldest son. In a monarchy,then, rulers inherit their power.The kings of ancient Greece had many powers. They madelaws and acted as judges. They conducted religious ceremonies.They even led the army during wars. They used armed soldiers topunish people who disobeyed the laws or didn't pay their taxes.

Kings had councils of are®!'®-crafts to advise them. The wordaristocrat is formed from a Greekword that means "best." To theGreeks, the "best" people werewealthy men who had inheritedlarge pieces of land.

At first, councils of aristocrats hadno real power. But kings dependedupon aristocrats for help during wars,since only the wealthy could affordhorses and armor. The aristocrats soonrealized that, as a group, they werestronger than the Idng. They wanteda share in the king's power.

In some city-states, aristocratsinsisted that the king should be elect-ed instead of inheriting his crown.Then they said the Idng could ruleonly for a certain number of years.Eventually, aristocrats in most city-states overthrew the monarchy andtook the power for themselves. By

800 B.C.R, kings no longer ruled most jGreek city-states.

254 Chapter 26

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26.3 OiagarclBV: A Few People

By 800 B.C.E., most Greek city-states were ruled by a smallgroup of wealthy men. These men were called ollrigairclhs;,, froma Greek word that means "few." In an oligarchy, the ruling poweris in the hands of a few people.

Most Greek oligarchs were aristocrats, men who had inheritedland from their families. A few were wealthy merchants.

Compared to the poor, oligarchs had very comfortable lives.They spent their days hunting and taking part in chariot races.In the evenings, they lay on couches and drank wine. They hadparties where slaves andhired professionals enter-tained guests with music,dance, and acrobatics.

Meanwhile, the poor hadto work all day in the fields.The hardworking poor sawthe difference between their

lives and the easy lives ofthe wealthy, and theythought it was very unfair.

To make matters worse,

the oligarchs ignored theneeds of most of the people.They passed laws that thepoor did not like, and theyused the army to force peo-pie to obey them. Many oftheir laws protected andincreased their own wealth.

In some city-states, oligarchspassed laws forcing farmersto sell themselves into slavery if they could not pay their debts.

Under the oligarchs, the rich became richer and the poorbecame poorer. Many people who weren't wealthy came to hatethe oligarchs. Eventually, the poor turned to leaders who prom-ised to improve their lives. These leaders were usually in thearmy. Backed by the people, they used their soldiers to throw theoligarchs out of power.

©Biggjrcg-E! one of severalpeople who rule a country orempire together, sharing thepower

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Most tyrants were forced out ofpower by the people. The artworkon this vase shows the killing ofthe Greek tyrant Hipparchus.

256 Chapter 26

During the mid 600s B.C.E., people in many Greek city-statesturned to men who promised to change the government. The menwho forced the oligarchs from power were called t'y'j'ant's. In atyranny, the ruling power is in the hands of one person who is nota lawful Idng.

A tyranny is different from a monarchy in two ways. First, atyrant cannot claim that he hasa legal right to rule. Second, atyrant's son does not usuallyinherit his father's power.

Tyrants usually took andkept control by force. But thatdoesn't mean they were alwaysunpopular. Most Greek tyrantswere military leaders whogained the support of the peo-pie by promising them morerights. And once they were incontrol, many Greek tyrantsruled well. They made changesthat helped the poor. Some can-celed the debts of poor farmers.Others were hostile to aristo-

crats and may have taken awaytheir land.

Other tyrants, though, didnot use their power to help thepeople. Hippias, the last tyrantin the city-state of Athens, isone example. Along with hisbrother, Hipparchus, Hippiasruled well at first. Then twoenemies of the brothers mur-

dered Hipparchus. After that,Hippias ruled more harshly.

He paid spies to report anyone who criticized him. As his rulebecame more and more unbearable, he was finally forced to leavepower. Soon Athens would try another form of government, onethat shared power among all citizens.

26.5 DemocB-acy:Share Power

Around 500 B.C.E., the people of Athens decided to trygoverning themselves. They developed democracy, or "ruleby the people." In a democracy, all catBzesTi® share in themling power.

Ancient Greek democracy was different from democracytoday. The government of Athens wasa direct democracy. In this type ofgovernment, every citizen can voteon every issue. Unlike Athens, theUnited States is a representativedemocracy. In this type of govern-ment, people vote for representativeswho. decide issues in their name.

How did direct democracy work inAthens? The city had an asseBiralsSy,or lawmaking group. Any free mancould speak in the Assembly and voteon a new law or a proposal to go towar. Free men also ran the city's day-to-day business.

Not all Greeks believed that democracy was a good type ofgovernment. Powerful speakers sometimes persuaded ordinarycitizens to vote unwisely. Often, the assembly reversed impor-tant decisions after just a few weeks. Because of problems likethese, most city-states returned to earlier forms of government,such as dictatorships and oligarchies.

But the idea that people should rule themselves would sur-vive. In time, the ideal of democracy would become one of thegreat gifts of ancient Greece to the modern world.

26.6 Chapter Sumrrfia@ayIn this chapter, you read how the city-states of ancient

Greece developed four very different forms of government.Early monarchies gave way to oligarchies. In turn, manyoligarchies were replaced by tyrannies. Finally, Athensdeveloped democracy.

The next chapter compares Athens with its great rival,Sparta. Unlike Athens, Sparta remained an oligarchy. You'llsee how two different forms of government led to two verydifferent ways of life.

©etisea'B a member of a

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assembSy a group of citizens

in an ancient Greek democracywith the power to pass laws

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The Rise of Democracy 257