Greek Political Systems

Greek Political Systems

By Chandler Gorham

Monarchy

• A monarchy is a political system ​where the king or queen has all the power to rule

• When a king or queen died, their son or daughter would be in power

• ​During the Mycenean period, most Greek city-states were ruled by a monarchy

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Oligarchy

• Oligarchies are governments ​where a few of the people hold the power. These people were usually the wealthy

• ​Around 800 BCE, many Greek city-states overthrew the monarchies and established oligarchies

• ​Oligarchies became problematic because a few people had a lot of the wealth while most people had little

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Tyranny

• A tyrant, in ancient Greece, was a leader who overthrew the previous government . Not all Greek tyrants were bad, many improved the lives of their people

• ​Around 600 BCE, many oligarchies were overthrown

• Previous governments were often overthrown by men in the military

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Democracy

• The road to democracy first begins in ​510 BCE when an Athenian tyrant, Hippias, was overthrown by a Spartan

• The Spartan wished to establish an oligarchy but the people of Athens resisted

• In 580 BCE, ​the Athenian people established a democratic government

• In a democracy, all citizens share the power of ruling and voting

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Democracy

• Democracy brought important changes to Athens

  • People could not be enslaved due to debt​

  • Allowed people to appeal decisions made by the government

• ​Members of the top three classes of Athens were able to hold positions of power

• ​Any Athenian could speak, vote, or serve in the assembly

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