Western Civ Blog 16

Today in class we learned about warring city states. Some important terms we learned were polis, which means fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside. Politics which are affairs of the cities.,A monarchy is ruled by a single person (a king, in Greece). An aristocracy is ruled by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families. Oligarchy is wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help). Tyrants are powerful individuals 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. Back then, rich people wielded much more influence in society, and held much more governmental power, than the middle class or the poor. Aristocrats are 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 while discussing politics. Draco was the ruler in 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 was 594 BCE, outlaws debt slavery. All Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly. Any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers