western civ day 17

Warring City-States
- Polis: fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding country side
                                        - 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 nobles, 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 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, meeting where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics
- Politics- an exclusive club
       ~no women
       ~no middle class
       ~no slaves
       ~certain aristocrats (who didn't have the right connections or fell out of favor) were excluded
Tyrants seize control
 - hoplites: well-armed soldiers
 - meaning of Tyrants (modern): an abusive or oppressive leader
 - meaning of Tyrant (Greek): someone who simply seized power

Draco (621 BCE)
- all Athenians (rich or poor) are equal under law
- but death is the punishment for many crimes
- debt slavery is OK (work as a slave to repay debts)

Solon's reform (594 BCE)
- outlaws debt slavery
- all Athenian citizens can speak at assembly
- any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers

Cleisthenes (500 BCE)
- allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly
- created the Council of Five Hundred (members chosen at random)
- only free adult male property owners born in Athens were considered citizens
- no women, slaves and "foreigners"

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