Government Systems of the Ancient World Flashcards
Grade 6 · Social Studies · Flashcards
Key vocabulary for ancient government systems — from pharaohs to the first democracies.
Flashcards
- Monarchy
- Government ruled by a single hereditary ruler (king, queen, emperor, or pharaoh) with supreme power.
- Democracy
- Government where citizens vote on laws directly; first developed in Athens around 507 BCE.
- Republic
- Government where citizens elect representatives to make decisions; Rome's republic (509–27 BCE) is the most studied ancient example.
- Theocracy
- Government where religious authority is the basis of political power; ancient Egypt was a theocratic monarchy.
- Mandate of Heaven
- The Chinese principle that heaven granted rulers authority and could withdraw it if they governed unjustly.
- Rule of law
- The principle that all people — including rulers — must obey the same laws; developed in ancient Rome.
- Veto
- Latin for 'I forbid'; the power of one Roman consul to block the other — one of history's first checks on power.
- Senate
- Rome's governing council of wealthy citizens that proposed laws and advised consuls during the Republic.
- Consul
- One of two elected leaders who ran the Roman Republic each year; either could veto the other.
- Satrapy
- A province of the Persian Empire managed by a governor called a satrap who reported to the king.
- Cleisthenes
- The Athenian reformer who created the world's first democracy around 507 BCE.
- Ostracism
- An Athenian practice of voting to temporarily exile someone considered too powerful, even without a crime.
- Confederacy
- A union of independent nations or states with a shared government; the Iroquois Confederacy is an ancient example.
- Hammurabi's Code
- One of the world's first written law codes (1754 BCE), created by Babylonian King Hammurabi — an early example of the rule of law.
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