Similarities Between Ancient Greek Government

Ancient Greek Governments

Ancient Greece was not a country in the way modern countries are organized today. This is because, rather than one unified government throughout the land, each city state in Ancient Greece had its own form of government and laws, quite independent of their neighbours. The poleis even created their own colonies. This paper will outline some of the similarities and differences between the various governmental styles in Ancient Greece.

Monarchy

The etymology of the English word monarchy is the Greek word monarkhia. The roots of the word are two Greek words: monos meaning "alone" and arkhein meaning "to rule" (Harper, 2016). This is the essence of a monarchy: one person in rule. Monarchies have been around almost

as long as recorded history. Mesopotamia, considered to be the "cradle of civilization" (Mark, 2009), had monarchies as early as 3600 BCE. Monarchs the kings and sometimes queens, lead the people until death, and then the crown is passed to their firstborn son. Some cultures considered the monarch's rule "by divine right," meaning that there was a direct line drawn from their god to the king to the people. What the king decreed was their god's own words. As such, monarchies tended to unify their citizens.
Macedonia is an example of a monarchial government in ancient Greece. It was this monarchy, under the rule of Phillip II, which crushed Athens' democracy in 338 BCE. Sparta, on the other hand, while it had two kings, was not a good example of a monarchy because the kings had very little say in the laws and governing of the time. Instead, their job was to lead the armies into battle.
Aristocracy
Before Athens chose its famous democracy, it was considered to be an aristocracy. It was then, "from the 8th to the 6th century" (American School of Classical Studies at Athens, n.d.) BCE that the upper class ruled the polis. The aristocrats were not only the most wealthy but also the most educated and cultured men in the land. After all, the etymology of the word "aristocracy" is from the Greek word aristokratia meaning "government or rule of the best" (Harper, 2016). I would think this would give them a definitive advantage over the common man, able to confuse and beguile with their superior language and critical thinking skills. It also helped that the aristocrats held the commoners in their grasp by putting them in serious debt, so much so that they would sell their families and themselves into slavery to escape it (Brand, n.d.). Many famous men of the age were aristocrats: Plato the philosopher and Solon the political reformer being just two examples. Aristocrats tended to pass down their rule to their heirs, keeping power in their families.
Tyranny
Tyranny comes from the Greek word tyrannia meaning "rule of a tyrant, absolute power" (Harper, 2016).

Tyrannies have occurred throughout history and were popular in Ancient Greece. One leader or another would overtake the government, be it a monarchy, aristocracy or some other style, and rule the people with an iron fist. An example of a tyranny in Ancient Greece was Cypselus of Corinth. Corinth, a polis mid way between Athens and Sparta, was ruled by a family, the aristocratic Bacchiadae, from 747 BCE until around 658 BCE (Martin, n.d.) when Cypselus rallied the demagogues and overthrew the family. Cypselus "then ruthlessly suppressed rival aristocrats, but his popularity with the people remained so high that he could govern without the protection of a bodyguard" (Martin, n.d.). Although his rule was passed down to his son, Periander, like a monarchy, it was not considered to be one as he never declared himself

king.
Oligarchy
Although Sparta had two kings, it wasn't truly a monarchy; it was in fact ruled by a group of men called an oligarchy.

These men were members of the Gerousia which, as we learned from Brand, were a group of powerful men who had survived the many wars and achieved the age of 60. Although similar to an aristocracy where a wealthy group governed, the appointment of the 28 Gerousia was not due to their class or families, as they were appointed by their peers.

From the Greek word oligarkhia, an oligarchy is "rule of a few" (Harper, 2016). It is interesting to note that "for the Greeks (or more particularly the Athenians) any system which excluded power from the whole citizen-body and was not a tyranny or monarchy was described as an oligarchy" (Cartwright, 2013). Thus, an oligarchy was almost, but not quite, a democracy.

Democracy

Athens was the prototypical democracy of its day. From the Greek words demos and kratos, the word literally translates to rule of the common people (Harper, 2016). Of course, in Athens, the "common people" were not very common: only free, native-born men were allowed to vote and thus rule. But it was as close as a system to modern-day democracy as ancient Greece could be. Ancient Greek democracy was not a perfect system. After all, it was the democracy that executed Socrates, otherwise known as the father of Western philosophy. But it was a form of self-government that the people

needed.
Conclusion
I believe it is noteworthy that all these forms of government had their start in ancient Greece at one time or another. As I have demonstrated, all the English words derive from Greek terms. Greece, and especially Athens, is considered to be the birthplace of democracy but I believe its citizens should also be known as the great experimenters in government and governing. I would like to be able to say that later monarchs, aristocrats, tyrants, oligarchs and democracies learned from the mistakes of the noble Greeks, but, alas, history tends to repeat itself and humanity has yet to perfect its government.