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"Tyranny" redirects here. For other uses, see Tyranny (disambiguation).
This page is about a political ruler. For other uses, see Royal (disambiguation).
Look up tyrant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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A tyrant (from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos) 'absolute ruler'), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to repressive means.[1][2] The original Greek term meant an absolute sovereign who came to power without constitutional right,[3] yet the word had a neutral connotation during the Archaic and early Classical periods.[4] However, Greek philosopher Plato saw tyrannos as a negative word, and on account of the decisive influence of philosophy on politics, deemed tyranny the "fourth and worst disorder of a state."[5]

Tyrants lack "the very faculty that is the instrument of judgment"—reason. The tyrannical man is enslaved because the best part of him (reason) is enslaved, and likewise, the tyrannical state is enslaved, because it too lacks reason and order.[5]

The philosophers Plato and Aristotle defined a tyrant as a person who rules without law, using extreme and cruel methods against both his own people and others.[6][7] The Encyclopédie defined the term as a usurper of sovereign power who makes "his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws".[8] In the late fifth and fourth centuries BC, a new kind of tyrant, one who had the support of the military, arose – specifically in Sicily.

One can apply accusations of tyranny to a variety of types of government:

Etymology

The English noun tyrant appears in Middle English use, via Old French, from the 1290s. The word derives from Latin tyrannus, meaning "illegitimate ruler", and this in turn from the Greek τύραννος tyrannos "monarch, ruler of a polis"; tyrannos in its turn has a Pre-Greek origin, perhaps from Lydian.[9][10] The final -t arises in Old French by association with the present participles in -ant.[11]

Definition

"The word 'tyranny' is used with many meanings, not only by the Greeks but throughout the tradition of the great books."[12] The Oxford English Dictionary offers alternative definitions: a ruler, an illegitimate ruler (a usurper), an absolute ruler (despot), or an oppressive, unjust, or cruel ruler. The term is usually applied to vicious autocrats who rule their subjects by brutal methods. Oppression, injustice, and cruelty do not have standardized measurements or thresholds.

Greco-Roman culture

Ancient Greek and Sicilian 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,[13] 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 could come from fellow oligarchs, from the growing middle class or from the peasants who had no land or were in debt to the wealthy landowners.

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.

Archaic tyrants

One of the earliest known uses of the word tyrant (in Greek) was by the poet Archilochus, who lived three centuries before Plato, in reference to king Gyges of Lydia.[14] The king's assumption of power was unconventional.

The heyday of the Archaic period tyrants came in the early 6th century BC, when Cleisthenes ruled Sicyon in the Peloponnesus and Polycrates ruled Samos. During this time, revolts overthrew many governments[15] in the Aegean world. Chilon, the ambitious and capable ephor of Sparta, built a strong alliance amongst neighboring states by making common cause with these groups seeking to oppose unpopular tyrannical rule. By intervening against the tyrants of Sicyon, Corinth and Athens, Sparta thus came to assume Hellenic leadership prior to the Persian invasions. Simultaneously Persia first started making inroads into Greece, and many tyrants sought Persian help against popular forces seeking to remove them.

Corinth

Corinth hosted one of the earliest of Greek tyrants.[16] In Corinth, growing wealth from colonial enterprises, and the wider horizons brought about by the export of wine and oil, together with the new experiences of the Eastern Mediterranean brought back by returning mercenary hoplites employed overseas created a new environment. Conditions were right for Cypselus to overthrow the aristocratic power of the dominant but unpopular clan of Bacchiadae. Clan members were killed, executed, driven out or exiled in 657 BC. Corinth prospered economically under his rule, and Cypselus managed to rule without a bodyguard. When he then bequeathed his position to his son, Periander, the tyranny proved less secure, and Periander required a retinue of mercenary soldiers personally loyal to him.

Nevertheless, under Cypselus and Periander, Corinth extended and tightened her control over her colonial enterprises, and exports of Corinthian pottery flourished. However, tyrants seldom succeeded in establishing an untroubled line of succession. Periander threw his pregnant wife downstairs (killing her), burnt his concubines alive, exiled his son, warred with his father-in-law and attempted to castrate 300 sons of his perceived enemies.[17] He retained his position. Periander's successor was less fortunate and was expelled. Afterward, Corinth was ruled by a lackluster oligarchy, and was eventually eclipsed by the rising fortunes of Athens and Sparta.

Athens

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

Athens hosted its tyrants late in the Archaic period.[18] In Athens, the inhabitants first gave the title of tyrant to Peisistratos (a relative of Solon, the Athenian lawgiver) who succeeded in 546 BC, after two failed attempts, to install himself as tyrant. Supported by the prosperity of the peasantry and landowning interests of the plain, which was prospering from the rise of olive oil exports, as well as his clients from Marathon, he managed to achieve authoritarian power. Through an ambitious program of public works, which included fostering the state cult of Athena; encouraging the creation of festivals; supporting the Panathenaic Games in which prizes were jars of olive oil; and supporting the Dionysia (ultimately leading to the development of Athenian drama), Peisistratus managed to maintain his personal popularity.

He was followed by his sons, and with the subsequent growth of Athenian democracy, the title "tyrant" took on its familiar negative connotations. The murder of Peisistratus' son, the tyrant Hipparchus by Aristogeiton and Harmodios in Athens in 514 BC marked the beginning of the so-called "cult of the tyrannicides" (i.e., of killers of tyrants). Contempt for tyranny characterised this cult movement. Despite financial help from Persia, in 510 the Peisistratids were expelled by a combination of intrigue, exile and Spartan arms. The anti-tyrannical attitude became especially prevalent in Athens after 508 BC, when Cleisthenes reformed the political system so that it resembled demokratia. Hippias (Peisistratus' other son) offered to rule the Greeks on behalf of the Persians and provided military advice to the Persians against the Greeks.[19]

The Thirty Tyrants whom the Spartans imposed on a defeated Attica in 404 BC would not be classified as tyrants in the usual sense and were in effect an oligarchy.

Sicilian tyrants

The best known Sicilian tyrants appeared long after the Archaic period.[20] The tyrannies of Sicily came about due to similar causes, but here the threat of Carthaginian attack prolonged tyranny, facilitating the rise of military leaders with the people united behind them. Such Sicilian tyrants as Gelo, Hiero I, Dionysius the Elder, Dionysius the Younger, and Agathocles of Syracuse maintained lavish courts and became patrons of culture. The dangers threatening the lives of the Sicilian tyrants are highlighted in the moral tale of the "Sword of Damocles".

Later tyrants

Under the Macedonian hegemony in the 4th and 3rd century BC a new generation of tyrants rose in Greece, especially under the rule of king Antigonus II Gonatas, who installed his puppets in many cities of the Peloponnese. Examples were Cleon of Sicyon, Aristodemus of Megalopolis, Aristomachus I of Argos, Abantidas of Sicyon, Aristippus of Argos, Lydiadas of Megalopolis, Aristomachus II of Argos, and Xenon of Hermione.

Against these rulers, in 280 BC the democratic cities started to join forces in the Achaean League which was able to expand its influence even into Corinthia, Megaris, Argolis and Arcadia. From 251 BC under the leadership of Aratus of Sicyon, the Achaeans liberated many cities, in several cases by convincing the tyrants to step down, and when Aratus died in 213 BC, Hellas had been free of tyrants for more than 15 years. The last tyrant on the Greek mainland, Nabis of Sparta, was assassinated in 192 BC and after his death the Peloponnese was united as a confederation of stable democracies in the Achaean League.

See also: List of ancient Greek tyrants

Roman tyrants

Roman historians like Suetonius, Tacitus, Plutarch, and Josephus often spoke of "tyranny" in opposition to "liberty".[21] Tyranny was associated with imperial rule and those rulers who usurped too much authority from the Roman Senate. Those who were advocates of "liberty" tended to be pro-Republic and pro-Senate. For instance, regarding Julius Caesar and his assassins, Suetonius wrote:

Therefore the plots which had previously been formed separately, often by groups of two or three, were united in a general conspiracy, since even the populace no longer were pleased with present conditions, but both secretly and openly rebelled at his tyranny and cried out for defenders of their liberty.[22]

Citizens of the empire were circumspect in identifying tyrants. "...Cicero's head and hands [were] cut off and nailed to the rostrum of the Senate to remind everyone of the perils of speaking out against tyranny."[23] There has since been a tendency to discuss tyranny in the abstract while limiting examples of tyrants to ancient Greek rulers. Philosophers have been more expressive than historians.

Josephus identified tyrants in Biblical history (in Antiquities of the Jews) including Nimrod, Moses, the Maccabees and Herod the Great. He also identified some later tyrants.

Greek political thought

The Greeks defined both usurpers and those inheriting rule from usurpers as tyrants.[4] Polybius (~150 BC) indicated that eventually, any one-man rule (monarchy/executive) governing form would become corrupted into a tyranny.[24]

The Greek philosophers stressed the quality of rule rather than legitimacy or absolutism. "Both Plato and Aristotle speak of the king as a good monarch and the tyrant as a bad one. Both say that monarchy, or rule by a single man, is royal when it is for the welfare of the ruled and tyrannical when it serves only the interest of the ruler. Both make lawlessness – either a violation of existing laws or government by personal fiat without settled laws – a mark of tyranny."[12]

In the classics

Tyranny is considered an important subject, one of the "Great Ideas" of Western thought. The classics contain many references to tyranny and its causes, effects, methods, practitioners, alternatives... They consider tyranny from historical, religious, ethical, political and fictional perspectives. "If any point in political theory is indisputable, it would seem to be that tyranny is the worst corruption of government – a vicious misuse of power and a violent abuse of human beings who are subject to it."[12] While this may represent a consensus position among the classics, it is not unanimous – Thomas Hobbes dissented, claiming no objective distinction, such as being vicious or virtuous, existed among monarchs. "They that are discontented under monarchy, call it tyranny; and the

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See also

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tyrant" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 548.: "TYRANT (Gr. τύραννος, master, ruler), a term applied in modern times to a ruler of a cruel and oppressive character."
  2. ^ Compare: "Tyrant". Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert – Collaborative Translation Project. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2015-04-01. [...] today by tyrant one understands, not only a usurper of sovereign power, but even a legitimate sovereign who abuses his power in order to violate the law, to oppress his people, and to make his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws.
  3. ^ "tyrant". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
  4. ^ a b Kagan, Donald (1998). Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy. Simon and Schuster. p. 250. ISBN 9780684863955. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Constitutional Rights Foundation". crf-usa.org. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  6. ^ "Politics by Aristotle". classics.mit.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21 – via Internet Classics Archive, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  7. ^ "The Republic, by Plato". Retrieved 2019-05-21 – via Project Gutenberg.
  8. ^ Compare: "Tyrant". The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Thomas Zemanek. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2009 (Translation of "Tyran", Encyclopédie Ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, Vol. 16. Paris, 1765). 6 November 2009. hdl:2027/spo.did2222.0001.238. [...] today by tyrant one understands, not only a usurper of sovereign power, but even a legitimate sovereign who abuses his power in order to violate the law, to oppress his people, and to make his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws.
  9. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary".
  10. ^ R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, pp. 1519–20.
  11. ^ tyrant, Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition
  12. ^ a b c Adler, Mortimer J., ed. (1952). "95: Tyranny". Great Books of the Western World. Vol. 3: The Great Ideas: II. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.
  13. ^ Forrest, George "Greece, the history of the Archaic period" in Boardman, John et al. (1986), The Oxford History of the Classical World (OUP)
  14. ^ Roberts, J.W., ed. (2005). "tyranny". The Oxford dictionary of the classical world. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280146-3. Based on Herodotus, The History 1.7–14
  15. ^ Langer, William L., ed. (1948). An Encyclopedia of World History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 48.
  16. ^ Freeman, Charles (1999). The Greek achievement: the foundation of the Western world. New York: Viking. pp. 72–73, 99–100. ISBN 978-0670-885152.
  17. ^ Durant, Will (1939). The Life of Greece. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 90–91.
  18. ^ Langer, William L. (1948), pp. 50–52
  19. ^ Durant, Will (1939). The Life of Greece. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 235.
  20. ^ Langer, William L. (1948), pp. 57, 66
  21. ^ Beard, Mary (2015). SPQR – A History of Ancient Rome. New York: Liveright. pp. 393, 421–428. ISBN 978-0-87140-423-7.Beard says that most accounts of the period were written from the senatorial perspective (described at length). Tacitus was mentioned by Beard in this context, perhaps because he was a senator (the others were aristocrats of a lower rank). The senate discussed a return to the liberty of the republic almost 70 years into the empire (based on Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XIX, Chapter II). Adler cites Tacitus and Plutarch on liberty.
  22. ^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Julius Caesar 80
  23. ^ Ryan, Alan (2012). On politics: a history of political thought from Herodotus to the present. New York: Liveright. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-87140-465-7.
  24. ^ Polybius. The Rise of the Roman Empire: Book 6. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (1979). Penguin; London.
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