Rule by One, Few or Many: A Museum Gallery

Tour a museum gallery and compare monarchy, oligarchy, Athenian democracy and the Roman Republic.

Tour the gallery

Read the gallery guide and the case labels. Then answer the questions.

Gallery 4: Who Holds Power?

1Welcome to Gallery 4 of the Riverbend Museum of World History. More than 2,000 years ago, Greek thinkers asked two questions about every government: How many people rule, and whom do they rule for? This gallery follows the first question. Each room shows a different answer.

2Room A: Monarchy in Egypt. For most of its long history, ancient Egypt was ruled by a pharaoh. A pharaoh usually ruled for life, and power usually passed to a son or another family member. Egyptians believed the pharaoh was connected to the gods. Through his officials he collected taxes, directed building projects and commanded the army.

3Room B: Oligarchy in Sparta. Sparta had two kings at the same time, who mostly led the army in war. A council of 28 elders, all over age 60, prepared proposals together with the two kings. Five officials called ephors, elected each year, watched over the kings. Spartan citizen men met in an assembly, but they could only shout yes or no to proposals, without debating them. Full citizens were a small share of the people; many more were helots, enslaved workers who farmed the land.

4Room C: Direct democracy in Athens. About 508 BCE, a leader named Cleisthenes changed how Athens was governed. Citizens met in the Assembly on a hillside called the Pnyx, where any citizen could speak, propose a law and vote on it. A Council of 500 prepared the Assembly's business, and its members were chosen by lot. Citizens were free adult men born to Athenian families; women, enslaved people and foreign residents could not vote.

5Room D: The Roman Republic. In 509 BCE, Romans drove out their last king and formed a republic. Citizens voted in assemblies to elect officials. Two consuls led the government and the army for one year, and either one could block the other with a veto. The Senate, made up mostly of men from wealthy families who served for life, advised the consuls and controlled public money. Over time, plebeians, the ordinary citizens, won the right to elect tribunes, who could veto actions that harmed them.

Exhibit case labels

Case 1. Seated statue of a pharaoh, Egypt. Carved for a temple; shows the king wearing a crown and holding royal symbols.

Case 2. Bronze figure of a Spartan soldier. Spartan citizen men trained for war from about age 7.

Case 3. Piece of a kleroterion, Athens. A stone slab with slots for citizens' name tokens; it picked men at random to serve as jurors and officials.

Case 4. Ostraka (broken pottery), Athens. Each piece is scratched with a leader's name; citizens voted on which leader to send away from Athens for ten years.

Case 5. Silver coin, Roman Republic, about 63 BCE. Shows a citizen dropping a voting tablet into a ballot box.

Case 6. Stone carving of the fasces. A bundle of rods around an axe, carried in front of the consuls as a sign of their power.

Which two cases give the best evidence that ordinary Athenian citizens took part in government directly? Choose two.

A. Case 1
B. Case 3
C. Case 4
D. Case 5

Case 6 shows the fasces, a sign of the consuls' power. Which detail from Room D should a visitor keep in mind when reading this symbol?

A. Consuls held real power, but one-year terms and the veto limited it.
B. The fasces were used to count the votes in Rome's assemblies.
C. Consuls ruled for life, so the symbol shows power that had no limit.
D. Consuls were chosen by lot, so any ordinary man could carry the fasces.

Circle the sentence from Room B that best shows ordinary Spartan citizens had little say in making laws.

Sparta had two kings at the same time, who mostly led the army in war.Five officials called ephors, elected each year, watched over the kings.Spartan citizen men met in an assembly, but they could only shout yes or no to proposals, without debating them.Full citizens were a small share of the people; many more were helots, enslaved workers who farmed the land.

A visitor says, "Athens was a democracy, so everyone who lived there could vote." Which detail from the gallery best corrects the visitor?

A. Citizens could vote to send a leader away for ten years.
B. Members of the Council of 500 were chosen by lot.
C. The Assembly met outdoors on a hillside called the Pnyx.
D. Only free adult men from Athenian families could vote.

Compare the governments

Use the gallery guide and the cases.

Each made-up city below has one form of government from the gallery. Sort each city by its form of government.

Velos: a queen rules until she dies, and then her daughter takes the throne.Dorikon: 40 of the richest landowners write the laws; other citizens may only accept or reject them.Phaleron: offices are filled by drawing lots, and all citizens vote on every law in a mass meeting.Ostria: citizens elect two leaders for one-year terms, and a council of former officials advises them.Saris: the ruler's son inherits the throne, and officials collect taxes in the ruler's name.Brannos: a council of 30 elders from old families chooses all officials and decides about war.Lirae: voters elect officials who make the laws, and an elected official can veto unfair actions.Thera Nova: any citizen may stand up in the assembly, propose a law and vote on it.

Monarchy	Oligarchy	Direct democracy	Republic

Compare Room A and Room D. Which statement best describes a key difference in how leaders got their power?

A. Both pharaohs and consuls were chosen by lot from among ordinary citizens.
B. Pharaohs usually inherited power for life, while consuls were elected for a year.
C. Pharaohs were chosen by citizens, while consuls were appointed by the kings.
D. Pharaohs were elected by the Senate, while consuls inherited their power.

Read a source

The museum displays this excerpt on the gallery wall. Read the note and the excerpt, then answer.

About the source: Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher who taught in Athens. He and his students collected descriptions of the governments of many Greek cities. He wrote the book Politics about 330 BCE, nearly 180 years after Cleisthenes changed the government of Athens. Aristotle thought the best government mixed rule by the few with rule by the many, and he worried that a poor majority might rule only for itself.

Adapted from a translation of Aristotle's Politics, Book 3

A government is the group that holds the highest power in a city, and it must be either one person, a few, or the many. When the one, the few or the many rule for the good of all, the government is a true form. When they rule only for their own good, it has gone wrong.

Rule by one for the good of all we call kingship. Rule by a few for the good of all we call aristocracy, and rule by the many for the good of all, a constitutional government. When a king rules for himself, that is tyranny; when the few rule for the rich, that is oligarchy; when the many rule for the poor alone, that is democracy.

The gallery sorts governments by how many people rule. What second question does Aristotle use to judge a government?

A. Whether the city has a strong army and high walls
B. Whether the rulers serve everyone or only themselves
C. Whether the rulers are older and wiser than others
D. Whether the rulers are chosen by lot or by a vote

A made-up king named Arkon taxes his farmers heavily and spends the money only on palaces for his own family. Using the excerpt, what would Aristotle call Arkon's rule?

A. Aristocracy
B. Oligarchy
C. Tyranny
D. Kingship

Why should a historian be careful about using Aristotle's labels to judge the democracy of Athens?

A. Aristotle wrote his book many years before Cleisthenes changed Athens.
B. Aristotle studied the government of Athens and of no other Greek city.
C. Aristotle worried about rule by the poor, so he may judge democracy harshly.
D. Aristotle lived in Sparta and never saw how Athens was governed.

10.

Room D calls Rome a republic, but some historians say it also worked partly like an oligarchy. Claim: was the Roman Republic closer to an oligarchy or to a democracy? Use at least two details from the gallery guide or the cases as evidence, and explain your reasoning.