^ . ^^^^'^'^■^ CHAPTER VI THE AGE OF THE NOBLES AND THE TYRANTS IN GREECE The old royal citadel be- comes the place of the State temples Section 23. Civilization in the Age of the Nobles We have seen how the noble class and the Council which it controlled had finally shorn the popular Assembly of its power. The same nobles not only thus crushed the people below but they also slowly undermined the power of the king above. In the century between 750 and 650 B.C. the kingship quite gen- erally disappeared, and the leader of the State became an elective officer chosen for a year.^ At Athens he was termed " archon," or " ruler." With the disappearance of the king the royal castle (Fig. 67) was vacated. As it fell into decay the old holy places and shrines which it protected were still cherished, but they 1 A noticeable exception, however, was Sparta, where the Assembly of the people still retained its power. The voting citizens forming the Assembly be- came a military class, controlling a large body of slaves and other nonvoters in neighboring communities. Thus the whole body of voting citizens became a superior class, who were really nobles. This class did not depose the king but checked his power by maintaining Uvo kings at once, and by the appointment of administrative officers who held some of the privileges formerly enjoyed by the king. 136
