THE ARISTOCRATS Part -2

THE ARISTOCRATS

Aristocrats in ancient Greece were noblemen, born into the upper class. The aristocrats believed that some people were superior to others and it was only through heredity that you could gain such a title. The aristocrats aimed for a society in which the ruling class designated by heredity stayed in power forever. Aristocracy could not be earned within a lifetime, but only through birth.

Origins: The aristocratic order developed to replace kings, after the end of the Mycenaean civilization period around 1200-1100 B.C., and they ruled until the beginning of democracy in Athens, and in other city-states until the time of Alexander the Great, around 337 B.C. Power was divided up and distributed to a very small group of people who gained this right through noble birth. The aristocrats controlled the land, money, military offices, religious offices, and also the political offices. They had a complete economical advantage over the lower classes, primarily through the ownership of land.

Place in Society: An aristocrats place in society was determined by whether or not he had to work to support his household or if he was able to hire someone else to do this for him. Heracleides Ponticus wrote in his treatise, On Pleasure, that pleasure and luxury are the only things that can calm and strengthen the mind; people who work, slaves, and poor people, have smaller minds because they have shrunken from all the hard labor. The aristocrats believed that some people were naturally better than others and this was due to their heredity. Through heredity they created a closed society in which there was no chance of social mobility. The only way to live a privileged life was to own property. The property was the main control that the aristocrats held over the lower class citizens. It gave the Greek aristocrats the opportunity to have the life they chose without having to be bothered by working to support it. This opportunity made it possible for the upper class citizens to devote more time to their hobbies such as hunting, athletics and music, which were necessary activities to participate in to be considered gentlemen.

Education: The success of a young aristocrat depended on whether or not he had been given the proper education by a successful father. A typical education would generally consist of philosophy, athletics, horsemanship, music and hunting. The highest status men would be politicians, but it was not guaranteed that he would be successful. He would not even have a chance if he had not had the correct family background and already had the right political knowledge.

Owners of the Production Means: A large number of the aristocrats owned medium to large farms, on which slaves worked under a slave bailiff, whom was usually a slave put in charge of the other slaves. Others leased out their land for money; some were owners of slave workshops, in which the slaves worked to make things under a slave master who was also a slave, or a freed slave. Some leased out their mines. Others owned merchant ships which they could rent out or use for their own personal trading business. Some had large sums of money which they chose to lend out at very high interest rates. The laws of debt were extremely severe. They permitted types of debt bondage (which is where a person would have to work for the aristocrat a certain amount of time before they were free of their debts, usually seven years and mostly depending on the size of the debt.) and even enslavement for their debts.

Members of the Upper Class: To be considered a member of the upper class in ancient Greece during the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, meant having a great deal of land. During these periods, the people who controlled the government were almost always the people that owned the greatest amount of land. The reason for this is that land was very scarce and the only means of production. The only people that could own land were wealthy male citizens and not very often foreigners (metics) would get the privilege through the right of ges enktesis. During the time of aristocratic rule wealth was not measured by the amount of money one gained or had. The way they measured wealth so that they could collect taxes was to take a portion of the crops or some type of levy, usually around ten percent.

Revolts: Throughout the Classical period, 480-323 B.C., most of the Greek city-states tried to keep peace, but there were many revolts against the aristocrats, most ending violently. Adult male citizens were the only people who were generally involved in political class struggles.

Oligarchies: When it was possible for the upper class citizens to have oligarchies, they set them up so that owning land was a requirement, therefore taking away all possibility of the lower class citizens' participation in government. When the city-states were ruled by oligarchies it created a distinct line between the upper and lower class citizens, the upper class being extremely wealthy and the lower class being extremely poor (*oligarchies: a small, closed group of citizens ruling the entire population).

Democracy: Throughout the seventh, sixth, and fifth centuries B.C. there was a shift towards the lower class citizens wanting to have a voice in government. The aristocrats tried to find ways to keep the lower class citizens away from power. In some city-states they succeeded, but in others such as Athens during the fifth century, the aristocrats could not keep the lower class citizens out of the government. Through the constitution of Cleisthenes in 508/7, Athens gained a full democracy.

Almost all of the Greek aristocrats were against any form of democracy. The aristocrats that ruled, ruled in the interest of the smallest amount of people, always supporting their own interests. The upper class citizens looked at themselves as the best and most competent class of people to rule, and believed that they were given this right through their noble birth.