II.   Sovereign

Aristocracy is a form of rule, leadership and government whereby a few “elite” members of a community rule by virtue of perceived “superior qualities” versus the rest of society.

The word Aristocracy comes from Ancient Latin aristacratis meaning “the rule of the best” and then backward engineered in the 16th Century CE to appear sourced from Ancient Greek from the Latin arista meaning “best (corn)” and –cratis meaning “right of rule; sticks of even size used to mete corporal punishment; official name of fasces (bundle) of bound sticks and axe representing power of rule under Roman law”.

In contrast to rule by absolute theocracy, aristocracy enabled the establishment of a form of power sharing amongst an “elite” where no clear traditional mandate initially existed. However, over time the concept of Aristocracy shared almost identical qualities with all forms of absolute rule in the use of claims by blood inheritance and even religious tradition to justify the continued privileged position of certain families over others.

The two (2) primary forms of government under aristocracy were Oligarchy and Monarchy:

(i) An Oligarch is the ruling body of an Oligarchy being a form of sovereign rule by “archons” (leaders) representing the heads of major tribes, the wealthiest property owners, most powerful military leaders or royalty.

(ii) A Monarch is a ruler of a Monarchy being the form of sovereign rule by one tribe or family, usually by birthright and hereditary succession.

Most Hegemon of Greek “Leagues” were based on the aristocratic model of government and varied between periods of Oligarchy and Monarchy.

The word Oligarch comes from ancient Greek oλιγαρχία (oligarkhía) meaning “few (elite) rulers” from oλίγος" (olígos) meaning “a few” and aρχω (archo) meaning “to rule, govern or command”.

The word Monarch comes from ancient Greek μόναρχος (monarchos) meaning “sole ruler” from 'μόνος (monos) meaning “only” and aρχω (archo) meaning “to rule, govern or command”.