more Greece

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Here are the notes I took from today:


  • polis: fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside
    • politics (affairs of the cities), policy, political, etc.
  • monarchy: rule by a single person (a king, in Greece)
  • aristocracy: rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families
  • oligarchy: wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help)
  • tyrant: powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support 
  • During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece

  • Aristocrats: members of the ruling class
  • they attended symposiums, meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics
Politics:
  • no women (except the “entertainment”)
  • no middle class
  • certainly, no slaves
  • sometimes, even certain aristocrats (who didn’t have the right connections or who fell out of favor) were excluded
  • sometimes aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers), and set up an alternative form of gov’t called a tyranny
  • tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polis
  • modern meaning of tyrant: an abusive or oppressive ruler
  • the Greek meaning of tyrant: someone who simply seized power (usually with hoplite help)


Rulers:
  • Draco (621 BCE)
    • all Athenians (rich or poor) are equal under the law
    • but death is the punishment for many crimes
    • debt slavery is OK (work as a slave to repay debts)
  • Solon’s reforms (594 BCE)
    • outlaws debt slavery
    • all Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly
    • any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers

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