See also:

• ARISTOCRACY (Gr. apuvror, best; «paria, government)

ARISTOCRACY (Gr. apuvror, best; «paria, See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government)  , etymologically, the " See also:

• RULE

rule of the best," a See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government variously defined and appreciated at different times and by different authorities . In See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek See also:

• POLITICAL

political See also:

• PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

philosophy, See also:

• ARISTOCRACY (Gr. apuvror, best; «paria, government)

aristocracy is the government of those who most nearly attain to the ideal of human perfection . Thus See also:

• PLATO

Plato in the See also:

• REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

Republic See also:

• ADVOCATES, FACULTY OF

advocates the rule of the " philosopher-See also:

• KING
• KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
• KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
• KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
• KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
• KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
• KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
• KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
• KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
• KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
• KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
• KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)

king " who, in the social See also:

• SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme, is analogous to See also:

• REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

Reason in the intellectual, and alone is qualified to See also:

• CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control the active principles, i.e. the fighting See also:

• POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population and the artisans or workers . Aristocracy is thus the government by those who are See also:

• SUPERIOR

superior both morally and intellectually, and, therefore, govern directly in the interests of the governed, as a See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

• DOCTOR (Lat. for " teacher ")

doctor See also:

• WORKS

works for the good of his patient . See also:

• ARISTOTLE
• ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle classified good governments under three heads—See also:

• MONARCHY (Fr. monarchic, from Lat. monarchia, Gr. uovapXia, rule of one, µbvos, alone, apXi7, rule)

monarchy, aristocracy and See also:

• COMMONWEALTH

commonwealth (lroXcreia), to which he opposed the three perverted forms—tyranny or See also:

• ABSOLUTISM

absolutism, See also:

• OLIGARCHY (Gr. oXiyot, few, apxil, rule)

oligarchy and See also:

• DEMOCRACY (Gr. 3np.oKparia, from S)µos, the people, i.e. the commons, and Kparos, rule)

democracy or See also:

• MOB

mob-rule . The distinction between aristocracy and oligarchy, which are both necessarily the rule of the few, is that whereas the few apcovoi will govern unselfishly, the oligarchs, being the few wealthy (" See also:

• PLUTOCRACY (Gr. irXovroKparia, from irXoirros, wealth, and Kparos, power)

plutocracy " in See also:

• MODERN

modern terminology), will allow their See also:

• PERSONAL

personal interests to predominate . While Plato's aristocracy might be the rule of the See also:

• WISE, HENRY ALEXANDER (1806-1876)
• WISE, ISAAC MAYER (1819-1900)

wise and benevolent See also:

• DESPOT (Gr. Sc-va6rgs, lord or master; the origin of the first part of the Gr. word is unknown, the second part is cognate with rbvcs, husband, Lat. potens, powerful)

despot, Aristotle's is necessarily the rule of the few . Historically aristocracy develops from See also:

• PRIMITIVE

primitive monarchy by the See also:

• GRADUAL (Med. Lat. gradualis, of or belonging to steps or degrees; gradus, step)

gradual progressive See also:

• LIMITATION, STATUTES OF

limitation of the See also:

• REGAL

regal authority . This See also:

• PROCESS

process is effected primarily by the nobles who have hitherto formed the See also:

• COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council of the king (an excellent example will be found in Athenian politics, see See also:

• ARCHON (apywv, ruler)

ARCHON), whose triple See also:

• PREROGATIVE

prerogative—religious, military and judicial-is vested, e.g., in a magistracy of three . These are either members of the royal See also:

• HOUSE
• HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in Gothic it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

house or the heads of See also:

• NOBLE, SIR ANDREW (1832- )

noble families, and are elected for See also:

• LIFE

life or periodically by their peers, i.e. by the old royal council (cf. the See also:

• AREOPAGUS ("Apews Ilayos)

Areopagus at See also:

• ATHENS
• ATHENS ['AN vat, Athenae, modem colloquial Greek `Ath va]

Athens, the See also:

• SENATE (Lat. senatus, from root sen-, as in senex, old; the root is the Sanskrit sana, cf. Gr. 'vos; the same element appears in senor, seigneur, seneschal)

Senate at See also:

• ROME
• ROME (Roma)

Rome), now the See also:

• SOVEREIGN

sovereign See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power . In practice this council depends primarily on a See also:

• BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth qualification, and thus has always been more or less inferior to the Aristotelian ideal; it is, by See also:

• DEFINITION (Lat. definitio, from de-finire, to set limits to, describe)

definition, an " oligarchy " of birth, and is recruited from the noble families, generally by the addition of See also:

• EMERITUS (Lat. from emereri, to serve out one's time, to earn thoroughly)

emeritus magistrates . From the earliest times, therefore, the word "aristocracy " became practically synonymous with " oligarchy," and as such it is now generally used in opposition to democracy (which similarly took the See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of Aristotle's 7roXcreia), in which the ultimate See also:

• SOVEREIGNTY

sovereignty resides in the whole See also:

• CITIZEN (a form corrupted in Eng., apparently by analogy with " denizen," from O. Fr. citeain, mod. Fr. citoyen)

citizen See also:

• BODY

body .

The aristocracy of which we know most in See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient See also:

• GREECE

Greece was that of Athens See also:

• PRIOR (from Lat. prior—former, and hence superior, through O. Fr. priour)
• PRIOR, MATTHEW (1664-1721)

prior to the reforms of See also:

• CLEISTHENES

Cleisthenes, but all the Greek See also:

• CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city-states passed through a See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period of aristocratic or oligarchic government . Rome, between the regal and the imperial periods, was always more or less under the aristocratic government of the senate, in spite of the gradual growth of democratic institutions (the See also:

• LAT

Lat. optimates is the See also:

• EQUIVALENT

equivalent of apurroc) . There is, however, one feature which distinguishes these aristocracies from those of modern states, namely, that they were all slave-owning . The See also:

• ORIGINAL

original relation of the slave-population, which in many cases outnumbered the See also:

• FREE

free citizens, cannot always be discovered . But in some cases we know that the slaves were the original inhabitants who had been overcome by an influx of racially different invaders (cf . See also:

• SPARTA (Gr. Eirapril or AaKe5atycav)

Sparta with its See also:

• HELOTS (Gr. eYAwres or eiXiorat)

Helots); in others they were captives taken in See also:

• WAR
• WAR (O. Eng. werre, Fr. guerre, of Teutonic origin; cf. O.H.G. werran, to confound)

war . Hence even the most democratic states of antiquity were so far aristocratic that the larger proportion of the inhabitants had no See also:

• VOICE (Fr. voix, from Lat. vox)

voice in the government .