Four Forms
of
Government
in
Ancient Greece
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
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
3)Middle-class demanded political and social
privileges to go with their money, ruling
oligarchs said “no”
3)Some former military people made promises to
middle class that they could help them, so they
took over and reformed some laws
3)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
1)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)