Tyranny

Definitions

The Tranny is defined as a form of government other than a monarchy in which the formal written constitution is not adhered to and is broken by force of arms by a single person who then undertakes to rule as a monarch and primarily in his personal interests.

The best-known definition of tyranny comes from Aristotle's Politics: “Any sole ruler, who is not required to give an account of him, and who rules over subjects all equal or superior to himself to suit his own interest and not theirs, can only be exercising a tyranny.

McLean and McMillan highlight that tyranny and dictatorship are similar in that an essential feature of tyranny is the abuse of the state's coercive force in the absence of the rule of law and the Government by the rule of the tyrant and the arbitrary treatment of citizens, if not the systematic use of terror. (McLean, pp. 547)

Tyranny in the sense given to the term in ancient Greece , was the regime of absolute power, usually one-person, often enacting the tyrant, that or those who had overthrown the government of a city -state , usually due to popular support, but also through a coup military or foreign intervention. . Thus, the tyrant held the power not by law but by the force. To the modern mind, the tyranny is identified by a cruel abuse of political power has been usurped, but among the ancient Greeks, however, the term was not so loaded with pejorative connotations, and often had little to do with demagoguery and populism . For the Greeks, even the term was in principle a positive, many tyrants were loved and very popular among citizens of the polis, metropolis and children who were managed by them. Tyrannies eventually became a recurring authoritarian politician who relied on the nobility of the city to seize power, at which time he began to hate each other and identify with the modern tyranny.

Well defined Aristotle tyranny:

The monarchy or just to have the name without any, or necessarily exists due to the great superiority that prevails, so that tyranny, that is the worst regime is the farthest from a constitution, second is the oligarchy because the aristocracy is far from this regime, and the more moderate is democracy.

Tyranny in Sicily had particular connotations and lasted longer because of the threat Carthaginian, which facilitated the rise of warlords with broad popular support. It has been noted that among the siracusanoss attributed the etymological origin of the word "tyrant" (either mistakenly or as a play on words), the adjective " Tyrrhenian "which was the one applied to the Etruscans , some of his enemies. The authors were generally less tolerant of tyranny. Aristotle, who considers "the worst regime", says most of the tyrants have been demagogues who gained the trust of the people slandering the notables:

From the tyranny, indeed, some were established in this way, when the cities had grown, others before it, came from kings departed from the customs of their ancestors ...