Title: Tyranny in Ancient Greece and Rome – Brewminate
Headings: Tyranny in Ancient Greece and Rome
Tyranny in Ancient Greece and Rome
Peisistratus, copper engraving, 1832 / Wikimedia Commons
Introduction
Etymology and Definition
Harmodius and Aristogeiton murdering Hipparchus, the brother of Hippias, tyrant of Athens. / Wikimedia Commons
Historical Forms
Overview
Aesymnetes
Populism
Archaic Tyrants
Sicilian Tyrants
Later Tyrants
Roman Tyrants
In the Classics
Enlightenment
Methods of Obtaining and Retaining Power
Overview
Obtaining
Retaining
Notes
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Content: The historical definition is best understood from their historical perspective. A sculptural pairing of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who became known as the tyrannicides after they killed Hipparchus and were the preeminent symbol of Athenian democracy. / Photo by Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Wikimedia Commons
In ancient Greece, tyrants were influential opportunists that came to power by securing the support of different factions of a deme. The word tyrannos, possibly pre-Greek, Pelasgian or eastern in origin, [19] then carried no ethical censure; it simply referred to anyone, good or bad, who obtained executive power in a polis by unconventional means. Support for the tyrants came from the growing middle class and from the peasants who had no land or were in debt to the wealthy landowners. It is true that they had no legal right to rule, but the people preferred them over kings or the aristocracy. The Greek tyrants stayed in power by using mercenary soldiers from outside of their respective city-state. To mock tyranny, Thales wrote that the strangest thing to see is “an aged tyrant” meaning that tyrants do not have the public support to survive for long. Aesymnetes
Bust of Pittacus, Roman copy of a Greek original of the Late Classical period, / Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons
An aesymnetes (plural aesymnetai) had similar scope of power to the tyrant, such as Pittacus of Mytilene (c. 640–568 BC), and was elected for life or for a specified period by a city-state in a time of crisis – the only difference being that the aesymnetes was a constitutional office and were comparable to the Roman dictator.