Tyrant

Tyrant (Gr. tyrannos), a name given in modern times to an arbitrary and oppressive ruler, but originally applied not necessarily to one that exercised power badly, but merely to one that had obtained it illegally, and therefore equivalent to our word usurper. See GREECE, Vol. V. p. 387; GOVERNMENT.—The THIRTY TYRANTS in Athenian history were a body of rulers invested with sovereign power after the close of the Peloponnesian war. They were all native Athenians, but members of the aristocratical party, and chosen by the Spartan conquerors, who, knowing the animosity existing between the democracy and oligarchy of Athens, hoped to rule the city through the agency of the latter. Their government was a positive 'reign of terror,' marked by the most infamous cruelties. It lasted only one year, when it was overthrown by the return of the Athenian exiles under Thrasylbulus. For the Thirty Tyrants in Roman history, see GALLIENUS.