Title: 
Headings: 

Content: Tyrants became known for holding power through cruel and unfair methods. From about 650 B.C.E. to 500 B.C.E., people in some Greek city-states looked to men who claimed that they wanted to overthrow kings or oligarchs and to make life better for the people. These men became tyrants because they just took over power— usually throwing out the current leader with violence. Even though they both have only one person who rules, a tyranny is different from a monarchy. Tyrants rule by taking over power. They are not given the right to have power (unlike a king who takes power because his father was also king). Most tyrants tried to scare the people into accepting their power. But there were several tyrants who actually did good things for the people. These tyrants ruled by helping the people: • They promised the people more rights • They lowered taxes • They used their army to protect the people 
Even though some tyrants used their power for good, there were always more cruel and harsh tyrants than good ones.