Western Civilization I / Unit 3 WC1 0209 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Tyranny in the Greek Sense, and Oligarchy After 500
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The idea
By the seventh century hoplites demanded a voice, and cities appointed tyrants: rulers without legal right, usually aristocrats answering to hoplites, chosen to avert civil war. The Age of Tyrants ran about six fifty to five hundred.
In practice
Land grants, public works; then oligarchy, office for the wealthy under law.
Where people slip
A Greek tyrant is defined by how he held power, not cruelty.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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