GOVERNMENT

Ancient Greece was divided into many city-states because of its geography. Ancient Greek government evolved slowly. Before 800 BC, kings ruled Greece. Some kings built large palaces. The Acropolis was built by a king. Sparta had two kings, unlike other city -states that had only one. Usually the kings in Sparta were brothers or cousins. Kingship ended in the Dark Ages, except for Sparta.

Aristocracy was started by a small clique of wealthy families. They ran the government.

In Athens in about 500 BC, democracy began. Men gathered to vote on things of importance.

Jurymen, officials and council members were elected into positions in government.Voting was the way the Athenians chose their governments way of running things.

Tyrants were people who ruled any way they wanted and they took power by force. There was a wise saying "power corrupts" meaning too much power is a bad thing. Between 600 BCE and 500 BCE the most important city-states were ruled by tyrants.

There were no lawyers in ancient Greece, an orator was able to state your case if you couldn't.

Aside from kings in Sparta there were 5 other officials called ephors (F-ers).