Title: The City-State and Democracy - 6th Grade Social Studies
Headings: The City-State and Democracy
The City-State and Democracy
The Rise of City-States
Forms of Government
Athens Builds a Limited Democracy

Content: Tyrants Poor people were not part of government in either monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy. Often, the poor came to resent being shut out of power. At times, they rebelled. Sometimes a wealthy person who wanted to seize power made use of that anger. He would ask poor people to support him in becoming a leader. Such leaders were called tyrants. In Greece, a tyrant was someone who took power in an illegal way. Today the term tyrant means a cruel leader. To the Greeks, a tyrant was simply someone who acted like a king without being of royal birth. Some Greek tyrants worked to help the poor.