Four Forms of Government

The Rise of the City-States 1. Isolated villages of Dark Ages grew into cities 2. With more people came more trade A. With people inside and outside cities

3. Cities of Dark Ages grew into city-states A. Sometimes not enough farmland B. This caused fighting between them

4. 600 - 500 BCE; city-states were very successful; Age of Expansion

Four Forms of Government in Ancient Greece

Monarchy 1) Ruling power is in the hands of one person a. Usually a king, helped by a council of advisors

2) Comes from two Greek terms a. Monos = single b. Arkhein = rule

Monarchy

3) Mycenaeans established monarchies a. King lived in fortress in capital of city-states b. Beyond capital were villages of people who paid taxes to king c. People also obeyed his laws and turned to him for protection d. King relied on armed soldiers to enforce laws and make people pay e. Eldest son would take over after his death f. If no male in line, highest military people battle to be new monarch

Monarchy

4) Mycenaean monarchies ended around the 1200’s BCE a. Eastern trade routes began to close because of fighting in Asia Minor b. Mycenaeans couldn’t get raw metals to make weapons to defend themselves c. They slowly destroyed each other d. The Dorians invaded Greece and destroyed the rest of the Mycenaean monarchs

Oligarchy

1) Form of government in which the ruling power is in the hands of a few leaders a. Power rested with a few selected wealthy people and some people who got power by birth

2) Come from the two Greek terms a. Oligos = few b. Arkhein = rule

Oligarchy

3) Began in Greek city-states between 1100 - 800 BCE 4) Oligarchs had good lives, and enforced their rule with military support 5) Citizens in oligarchies had some protections, but lacked full political rights, like voting 6) By the 400’s BCE, oligarchy only existed in one city-state; Sparta

Tyranny

1) Ruling power is in the hands of a person who had seized control, often illegally a. Tyrants known for holding power by cruel and abusive means 2) Comes from the Greek word tyrannos, means “usurper with supreme power”

Tyranny

3) Arose in Greece in the mid 600’s BCE 4) Middle-class demanded political and social privileges to go with their money, ruling oligarchs said “no” 5) Some former military people made promises to middle class that they could help them, so they took over and reformed some laws 6) Once in power, the tyrant received gifts from the middle class and became rich

Tyranny

7) Last important tyrant in mainland Greece was Hippias of Athens a. in 510 BCE Hippias was forced to resign by Athenians and Spartan invaders

Democracy

1) Ruling power is in the hands of all the people 2) Comes from two Greek terms a. demos = people b. kratos = power

Democracy

3) Arose in Greece around 500 B.C. 4) Main governing body was the Citizen Assembly a. All 30,000 adult male citizens were invited, only about 5,000 came b. Both rich and poor could attend c. Decisions reached through public debate and vote 5) Council of 500 in charge of day-to-day running of the state a. This group chosen by an annual lottery

Democracy

6) Pericles was a democratic leader in Athens. 7) Under his rule, nearly all gov’t officials were paid: both poor and rich males could participate in gov’t 8) Pericles’ Four Principles of Democracy: a. Personal freedom (to make choices) b. Opportunity to get ahead through one’s ability, not social class born into c. Equality before the law d. Majority Rule (what most people want)