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Democracy | Law and Government in Ancient Greece

Democracy was an invention of the ancient Greeks living in small polis or city-state of Athens. Sparta, another Greek polis, adopted a very different form of government involving kings. Rule by the best, or aristocrats, was common.

Democracy (22) Greek Terms (5) Greek Law (26) Officials (4)

Tyrant
A tyrant in Greece might have popular support.

Ostracism
Part of Athenian democracy was the institution of ostracism whereby the people could temporarily get rid of someone they feared.

Lycurgus of Sparta
Legendary or not, Lycurgus is the name of the person associated with the creation of the laws of Sparta. Lycurgus may have received the law code from the Delphic Oracle.

Hegemony
A hegemon is a leader and hegemony refers to leadership by one city over another.

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Advertising Info \| News & Events \| Work at About \| SiteMap \| Reprints \| Help	Our Story \| Be a Guide
User Agreement \| Ethics Policy \| Patent Info. \| Privacy Policy	©2008 About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.