A

acropolis: literally "above the town". The stronghold of the community, usually an elevated, easily defended part of the town.

agora: originally the place where people assembled; later the civic centre of the polis.

artifact:  any physical object made or clearly used by humans, including tools, food remains, and so on.

Alcmeonids: powerful aristocratic clan of Athens

archon: the title archon (ruler) was given to nine men.

areopagus: the "Hill of Ares" (the god of war), north-west from the Acropolis of Athens. The name was also given to the council composed of ex-magistrates who met there. This was the most powerful body in the state during the Archaic period, but the radical reforms of 462-1 B.C. stripped it of political power and left it as a judicial court for trying cases of homicide and certain religious cases.

aristocrat: a person of noble birth.

aristocracy: government where a council of nobles rules. From the Greek: aristo, the best; kratos, rule

B

basileus: Greek word for monarch or ruler

C

chronology: an arrangement of historical events in order of occurrence.

Cleisthenes: Athenian reformer and member of the noble Alcmeonids. Came to power and introduced democratic reforms. Citizenship was no longer defined in terms of the four traditional tribal ties. Ten new tribes were formed, and each tribe was made up of trittyes (thirds), [based on the geographic location: city, inland and coast] and the trittyes were made up of demes. The membership of the deme guaranteed citizenship. The Assembly of 500 was also created during his leadership.

Cleisthenes of Sicyon: Tyrant of Sicyon, not to be confused with the Athenian reformer, Cleisthenes.

Cleomenes: Spartan king involved in the overthrow of the tyrant Hippias and in early attempts to prevent Cleisthenes' rule.

D

Delphic Oracle (also Oracle of Delphi): the oracle of Apollo was located at the shrine at Delphi. The oracle's advice was sought whenever important decisions were to be made. The words spoken by the oracle were interpreted by priests and passed on to the person seeking the oracle's advice.

demes: local communities in Attica (about 175). They replaced the kinship unit as the basis of Athenian democracy in the reforms of Cleisthenes. The deme had its own officials and assembly and had to maintain a registry of citizens who had reached the age of eighteen. Change of residence did not involve a change of deme.

demos: Greek word used to refer to "the people"   

Dracon (also spelt Draco): Athenian "law giver" who was responsible for writing down (or codifying) the laws. Although there are no extant primary sources for Dracon's work, evidence suggests he introduced a codified set of laws in writing and introduced the hoplite franchise. Later, Dracon's name is associated with a cruel system of laws.

draconian: the description given to cruel laws, referring to the system of laws that were attributed to Dracon. 

E

Ephetai: an Athenian jury, 51 in number, selected by lot by citizens over 50, concerned with homicide only.  

G

H

hektemoroi: "sixth-partners", a class of peasants in Athens before Solon, probably small freeholders who had fallen into default and were virtual "slaves" as a result.

Hippias: tyrant of Athens, one of the two sons of the Athenian tyrant, Peisistratus. Hippias' brother, Hipparchus, was assassinated, after which Hippias' rule became harsh and unpopular.

Hipparchus: One of Peisistratus' two sons, assassinated in 514.

hippeis: "horsemen", the title given to the second of Solon's census classes. In classical times the Athenian hippeis were a select cavalry corps of 1000 men who could afford to maintain their own horses.

Homer: epic poet. Tradition places him in the 9th century B.C.   Modern scholarship now suggests he might have been as recent as c.700 B.C. Author of the Iliad and Odyssey.

hoplite: a heavily armed and armoured soldier who fought in a phalanx formation. Named after the hoplon (shield) carried.

K

Kleisthenes: See Cleisthenes.

L

lawgiver: someone appointed by the government to make a set of laws or constitution.

M

metics: foreigners attracted to Athens (important in the reforms of Solon) 

monarch: a king (or queen).

monarchy: government where one king rules.

O

oecist also spelt oekist:  the name given to the person chosen to lead the setting up of a new colony. An official founder.

oligarchy: government where a council of the richest people rule.

oracle: either someone who makes prophecies about the future or one of those prophecies. see Delphic Oracle

ostracism: in Athens in the fifth century B. C. a method of banishing for 10 years a prominent citizen who had become unpopular. If the assembly voted in favour of ostracism, it was held in the agora and the voter wrote on a piece of pottery the name of the man he wished to be banished.

P

pentakosiomedimnoi: "Five Hundred Medimni Men" at Athens, richest of the census classes devised by Solon.  

phratriae: also phratry... "brotherhoods" or groups of clans. In the Archaic period the genos, the phratry and the kinship tribe were the basic divisions of the state. These were replaced in the reforms of Cleisthenes by the deme, the trittyes and the local tribe.

polemarch: one of the nine archons appointed annually. Originally the commander of the army, the polemarch lost military importance when in the early fifth century the command passed to the board of generals. His later duties were primarily judicial, especially concerned with metics and foreigners.

polis (plural poleis, city states): city state; however the word has a wider meaning than this.

politaia: Greek for "constitution" 

S

shards: pieces of pottery....also known as potsherds (see ostraka)

Solon: Athenian reformer. He cancelled all land debts (seisachtheia), freed all debt slaves (hektemoroi), instituted a milder code of laws, and established a redistribution of political powers. He divided the citizens into four property classes, each of which was eligible for certain political offices. He set up the Council of 400 and increased the powers of the assembly.

synoecism: the process whereby towns and villages joined into a single political unit creating the city state or polis.

strategos: general (strategoi in the plural), one of the 10 generals commanding the army following the reforms of Cleisthenes.

T

thetes: hired labour or serf, it was also the name given to Solon's lowest census class.

trittyes: thirty territorial divisions created by Cleisthenes, each of whose ten new phylae contained three, one from each of his three regions of Attica.

tyrant: Someone who takes power by overthrowing the old government (in ancient Greece, not the modern definition.)  The word tyrant ( "tuparros", in Greek or "tyrannos" in English script) often makes people think of cruel, overbearing and unreasonable leaders, perhaps someone who does not respect the people that he rules. However, this was not always the case in Ancient Greece.

Z

zeugitae: At Athens, before the time of Solon, the citizens of moderate means, roughly corresponding to the farmers. Solon used the name for his third census class and they provided the bulk of the hoplites. From the time of Cleisthenes, members of this class could hold major offices and from 457 B.C could be appointed as Archons>.