aristocrats
rich landowners or nobles
aristocracy
society ruled by rich landowners
oligarchy
A government in which only a few people have power
tyranny
Unjust use of power or in ancient Greece a government run by a strong ruler.
direct democracy
A government in which citizens take part directly in the day-to-day affairs of government.
monarchy
A form of government in which a state is ruled by a monarch.
monarch
A king or queen.
tyrant
A cruel and oppressive ruler or in ancient Greece a ruler who takes power by force.
dictatorship
Absolute or supreme power exercised by a dictator.
dictator
A ruler who has absolute power.
Rule of Law
principle that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern
Pericles
Athenian leader who ruled at the height of Athenian democracy
representative democracy
Democracy in which people elect representatives to make the nations laws.
citizens
people with the right to participate in government
citizenship
Membership in a state or community which gives a person civil and political rights and obligations.
civil rights
The rights of people to political and social freedom and equality.
political rights
The rights to vote or run for office, which give you control over your government.
obligation
Something you must do because of a law, rule or promise; something you do because it is morally right.
constitution
System of basic rules and principles by which a government is organized.
alliance
an agreement to work together
The Persian Wars (500-479 BC)
War between the Greeks and the Persians.
It began due to the rebellious Greeks in Persian ruled Ionia (Asia Minor) who were joined by Greeks on the mainland. Persians were eventually defeated by the Greeks.
Peloponnesian War
a war that emerged after the Persian Wars between the two great Greek city-states, Athens and Sparta, in the 400s BC
Philip II
powerful king of Macedonia
phalanx
a group of warriors who stood close together in a square
Alexander the Great
king of Macedonia who built the largest empire the world had ever seen
Hellenistic
The name for the blended culture, Greek-like, that developed in Alexander's empire.