00 Prologue: The Rise of Democratic Ideas

Question 1

government

Answer 1

the system by which a nation, state, or community is governed

Question 2

monarchy

Answer 2

a form of government with a king or queen at the head

Question 3

aristocracy

Answer 3

a form of government in which power is held by the nobility

Question 4

oligarchy

Answer 4

a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution

Question 5

democracy

Answer 5

a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives

Question 6

direct democracy

Answer 6

a form of government in which citizens rule and make laws directly rather than through representatives

Question 7

republic

Answer 7

a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch

Question 8

senate

Answer 8

the state council of the ancient Roman republic and empire, which shared legislative power with the popular assemblies

Question 9

Solon

Answer 9

a respected Athenian statesman, passed a law outlawing slavery based on debt and canceled the farmers’ debts; established four classes of citizenship based on wealth rather than heredity (the three higher classes were able to hold public office but even the lowest class of citizens could vote in the assembly); introduced the legal concept that any citizen could bring charges against wrongdoers

Question 10

Cleisthenes

Answer 10

leader generally regarded as the founder of democracy in Athens; reorganized the assembly to balance the power of the rich and poor; increased the power of the assembly by allowing all citizens to submit laws for debate and passage

Question 11

Pericles

Answer 11

strengthened Athenian democracy by increasing the number of paid public officials and by paying jurors, which enabled poorer citizens to participate in the government

Question 12

Socrates

Answer 12

encouraged his students to examine their most closely held beliefs

Question 13

Plato

Answer 13

wanted society governed not by the richest and most powerful but by the wisest, whom he called philosopher-kings

Question 14

Twelve Tables

Answer 14

established the idea that all free citizens had the right to protection of the law and that laws would be fairly administered