Name:________________________ Date:____________________________
Chapter 26 “The Rise of Democracy”
1. Define: Monarchy : A form of government in which the
ruling power is in the hands of one person.
2. Define: City-State : Early cities that were like small
independent countries with their own laws and
government
3. In a monarchy who holds the Power? One person, a
lawful king (no queens)
4. How was a monarch chosen first? Then how did it
change?
At first kings were chosen by the people. After kings
demanded that their power go to their oldest sons.
5. What are the four powers of a monarch?
 Made laws
 Acted as a judge
 Led army during wars
 Oversaw religious ceremonies
6. Define ARISTOCRAT: A member of the most powerful
class in ancient Greek society.
7. DEFINE OLIGARCHY: A form of government in which the
ruling power is in the hands of a few people.
8. DESCRIBE THE LIFE OF AN OLIGARCH: Very wealthy,
they spent their days hunting and participating in chariot
races. Evenings were spent laying on couches, drinking
wine and having parties with music and dancing.
9. DESCRIBE THE LIFE OF THE POOR: They would work in
the fields all day. They thought their lives were very
unfair since their needs were ignored.
10. What was the problem(s) with an oligarchy
government?
They passed laws that the poor did not like but also
increased their own wealth. They used the army to
enforce the laws. They passed laws forcing farmers to
sell themselves into slavery if they went into debt.
11. What eventually happened to the oligarchs in
Greece?
They were overthrown by leaders who promised to
improve the lives of the poor. These leaders were
generally from the army and used their soldiers to throw
the oligarchs out of power.
12. Define Tyranny: A form of government in which the
ruling power is in the hands of one person who is not a
lawful king.
13. Name 2 ways a tyranny is different from a monarchy:
 A tyrant cannot claim a legal right to rule
 A tyrants son does not usually inherit his fathers
power.
14. How did tyrants rise to power?
They promised more rights and better lives to the poor
and gained their support.
15. Provide 2 examples that support how tyrants ruled
well:
 They made changes that helped the poor
 they cancelled the debts of poor farmers
16. What eventually happened to the Tyrants in Greece?
They would listen only to a small portion of the
population and this caused many people to feel ignored.
Also they created laws to protect themselves and their
power. Think how hippias hired spies to listen for people
who spoke badly about him.
17. Define Democracy: A form of government in which the
ruling power is shared by all citizens.
18. Explain the main difference between a direct and a
representative democracy: A direct democracy is where
all citizens have a chance to vote on all issues. A
representative democracy is where the people vote for a
representative who will vote on their behalf.
19. Define Assembly: A group of citizens in an ancient
Greek Democracy with the power to pass laws. All
citizens who attend can both speak and vote there.
20. Explain why some Greeks did not believe that
democracy was a good type of government? Powerful
speakers sometimes persuaded other voters to vote
unwisely. This caused them assembly to have to reverse
important decisions after just a few weeks. Most city
states would return to earlier forms of government like
dictatorships and oligarchies.