Glossary

Important!

This topic sheet is a glossary. It contains definitions of a number of terms related to Athens and its democracy.

WORDS	DEFINITIONS
Budget (h1414)	All sums of money (income and expenditure) for a given period of time.
Representative democracy	A political system in which the commoners or the people vote for people to represent them and make political decisions.
Dictatorship	Political system of a state in which all powers are in the hands of a single person.
Essor (h1415)	Significant improvement, progress, development.
Gymnasium (h1416)	Gymnasiums in Greece had the same role as those we have today: to enable the practice of different physical activities.
Immigrant (h1414)	A person who was born abroad but has settled permanently in a new place.
Income tax (h1414)	A sum of money levied by the authorities to cover public expenditure.
Institution (h1415)	Organisation with official status, whose role is precise and recognised.
Legal (h1414)	Related to the law, the application of laws.
Mandated	To be mandated is to be given a mission, a duty.
Monarchy	Political system of a state in which power is in the hands of one person. Quite often, power is hereditary (passed from father to son).
Organ (h1415)	In this context, is a synonym for organisation or institution.
Peninsula (h1413)	A territory is said to be a peninsula when it is attached to a continent only by a relatively narrow strip of land.
Prestige, prestigious (h1413)	Who commands respect through his success.
Rampart (h1416)	Defensive construction built around a town or building. Synonymous with wall or enclosure.
Republic	Political system of a state in which the commoners or the people hold power and exercise it by voting for laws or elected representatives.
Tribunal, courts (h1416)	An institution in which justice is dispensed in accordance with the law.
Virtuous (h1417)	A virtuous person is one who respects to the letter the moral values established by society.

Advanced concept sheets

Important!

The concepts covered in these concept sheets go beyond those seen in secondary school. They provide additional information for those who are curious to know more.