History of Europe, ancient and medieval: Earliest man, the Orient, Greece and Rome . insula. 149. The Greek State and the Struggle toward the matter of governing such a little city-state the Greeksentered upon a new stage of their development about 750 ,as the common people began the struggle to better their we shall see, this long and bitter struggle finally resulted ingiving the people in some Greek states so large a share in gov-erning that the form of the government might be called democ-racy. This is a word of Greek origin, meaning the rule of thepeople, and the Gr
History of Europe, ancient and medieval: Earliest man, the Orient, Greece and Rome . insula. 149. The Greek State and the Struggle toward the matter of governing such a little city-state the Greeksentered upon a new stage of their development about 750 ,as the common people began the struggle to better their we shall see, this long and bitter struggle finally resulted ingiving the people in some Greek states so large a share in gov-erning that the form of the government might be called democ-racy. This is a word of Greek origin, meaning the rule of thepeople, and the Greeks were the first people of the ancient worldto gain it. The cause of this struggle was not only the corrupt rule ofthe kings but also the oppression of the wealthy nobles. Wehave watched these men of wealth buying the luxuries of thePhoenician merchants (§ 139). By fraud, unjust seizure of lands,union of families in marriage, and many other influences, thestrong men of ability and cleverness were able to enlarge theirlands. Thus there had arisen a class of nobles whom we call. The Age of the Nobles loi hereditary, because they inherited their wealth and rank. Theselarge landholders and men of wealth were also called eupatrids. Their fields stretched for some miles around the city and itsneighboring villages. In order to be near the king or securemembership in the Council (§§135, 137) and thus control thegovernment, these men often left their lands and lived in thecity. Such was the power of the eupatrids that the Councilfinally consisted only of men of this class. Wealthy enough tobuy costly weapons, with leisure for continual exercise in theuse of arms, these nobles had also become the chief protectionof the State in time of war (§ 141). 150. Misery and Weakness of the Peasants. Thus grewup a sharp distinction between the city community and thepeasants living in the country. The country peasant was obligedto divide the family lands with his brothers. His fields werether
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