The state is the product of civilization. A modern tyrant might be objectively defined by proven violation of international criminal law such as crimes against humanity.[14][15][16]. An aesymnetes (plural aesymnetai) had similar scope of power to the tyrant, such as Pittacus of Mytilene (c. 640–568 BC), and was elected for life or for a specified period by a city-state in a time of crisis – the only difference being that the aesymnetes was a constitutional office and were comparable to the Roman dictator. He later appeared with a woman dressed as a goddess to suggest divine sanction of his rule. [17] “[T]he very essence of politics in [agrarian civilizations] was, by our contemporary democratic standards, tyrannical”. Roman emperors were deified. Specifically, John Locke as part of his argument against the “Divine Right of Kings” in his book Two Treatises of Government defines it this way: “Tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right, which nobody can have a right to; and this is making use of the power any one has in his hands, not for the good of those who are under it, but for his own private, separate advantage.”[32] Locke’s concept of tyranny influenced the writers of subsequent generations who developed the concept of tyranny as counterpoint to ideas of human rights and democracy. He united seven separate kingdoms into a single nation. He also identifies liberty with republican regimes. These include Alexander the Great and Attila the Hun, and share the level with highway robbers. Aristotle suggested an alternative means of retaining power – ruling justly. Dictators and Tyrants in World History. The dangers threatening the lives of the Sicilian tyrants are highlighted in the moral tale of the “Sword of Damocles”. Peisistratus' sons Hippias and Hipparchus, on the other hand, were not such able rulers, and when the disaffected aristocrats Harmodios and Aristogeiton slew Hipparchus, Hippias' rule quickly became oppressive, resulting in the expulsion of the Peisistratids in 510 BC, who resided henceforth in Persepolis as clients of the Persian Shahanshah (King of kings). Authors: Zakir Gul, Ph.D. & Dr. Kadir Akyuz* The pages of history are littered with oppressors, dictators, and tyrants from countries large and small across the globe who share a common trait: paranoia that leads to zero tolerance for criticism, disobedience, alternative ideas,competition and any kind of perceived disrespect from supporters and foes alike. Rise of Tyrants is a turn-based strategy game that is set in the Battle Nations universe. [12] These are, in general, force and fraud. “Both Plato and Aristotle speak of the king as a good monarch and the tyrant as a bad one. In part that reflects a genuine change in … For instance, the popular imagination remembered Peisistratus for an episode – related by (pseudonymous) Aristotle, but possibly fictional – in which he exempted a farmer from taxation because of the particular barrenness of his plot. He was followed by his sons, and with the subsequent growth of Athenian democracy, the title “tyrant” took on its familiar negative connotations. Conversely, leaders who wish to preserve the rule of law find other ways to speak about real terrorist threats, and certainly do not invent them or deliberately make them worse. A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor; but one who hates unjust gain will enjoy a long life.” Proverbs 28:15–16, “By justice a king gives stability to the land, but one who makes heavy extractions ruins it.” Proverbs 29:4, “The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice.” Voltaire in a Philosophical Dictionary, “Where Law ends Tyranny begins.” Locke in Two Treatises of Government. The Semantics of a Political Concept from Archilochus to Aristotle," by Victor Parker says the first use of the term tyrant comes from the mid-seventh century B.C., and the first negative use of the term, about a half-century later or perhaps as late as the second quarter of the sixth. Philosophers have been more expressive than historians. This wiki currently has 137 pages. Chilon, the ambitious and capable ephor of Sparta, built a strong alliance amongst neighbouring states by making common cause with these groups seeking to oppose unpopular tyrannical rule. 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