The greatest and longest lasting democratic leader was Pericles ; after his death, Athenian democracy was twice briefly interrupted by oligarchic revolution towards the end of the Peloponnesian War.

Of a population estimated at 94, 000 before the Black Death of 1348, about 25, 000 are said to have been supported by the city's wool industry: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool combers ( ciompi ), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule in the Revolt of the Ciompi.

The island was nearly lost to Athens by two attempts of the oligarchic faction to effect a revolution ; on each occasion the popular party ultimately won the day and took a most bloody revenge on its opponents ( 427 BC and 425 BC ). The lion of Menekrates at the Archaeological Museum of CorfuDuring the Sicilian campaigns of Athens Corcyra served as a supply base ; after a third abortive rising of the oligarchs in 410 BC it practically withdrew from the war.

An oligarchic republic, Ancona was ruled by six Elders, elected by the three terzieri into which the city was divided: S. Pietro, Porto and Capodimonte.

For the constitution they were under was oligarchic in every respect and especially in that the poor, along with their wives and children, were in slavery to the rich ... All the land was in the hands of a few.

Upon its arrival, however, the crew was arrested, as the news of a democratic victory was far from welcome to the new oligarchic government.

The city was at first governed by an oligarchic senate, composed of sixty members, and presided over by a magistrate ; but, though it is proved by inscriptions that the old names continued to a very late period, the constitution underwent a popular transformation.

The greatest and longest lasting democratic leader was Pericles ; after his death, Athenian democracy was twice briefly interrupted by oligarchic revolution towards the end of the Peloponnesian War.

He served as a general in the Peloponnesian War, and was later a leading supporter of the democratic movements in Athens opposed to the oligarchic forces behind the Thirty Tyrants.

He was particularly active during the two periods of oligarchic government at Athens, as well as in the trial of the generals who had commanded at Arginusae in 406 BC.

As he had in 411 BC, Theramenes soon came into conflict with the more extreme members of that government ; his protests against the reign of terror the Thirty implemented led the leading oligarchs to plot his demise ; he was denounced before the oligarchic assembly, and then, when that body appeared reluctant to punish him, struck him from the roster of citizens and executed him without trial.

Alcibiades incited the oligarchic coup by promising Persian support to Athens if the democracy was overthrown.

Shortly afterwards, the conspirators went, under arms, to the council chamber, where they ordered the democratic council to disperse after collecting their pay ; the council did as ordered, and from this point forward the mechanism of government was fully under the control of the oligarchic conspirators ; they quickly changed the laws to reflect the new form of government they had imposed.

Famously, he branded him with the nickname " cothurnus ", the name of a boot worn on the stage that could fit either foot ; Theramenes, he proclaimed, was ready to serve either the democratic or oligarchic cause, seeking only to further his own personal interest.

On his death the old oligarchic republic political structure was restored-a consiglio maggiore (" grand council ") of four hundred members and a consiglio minore (" small council ") of forty members-and it formed a league with Padua, Treviso and Verona.

Anaxagoras enjoyed the patronage of influential figures such as Pericles, but oligarchic elements also had political advocates and Anaxagoras was charged with impiety and expelled from Athens around 437 BC.

The walls of the city were demolished, and a pro-Spartan oligarchic government was established ( The so called Thirty Tyrants ' regime ).

The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen ( or genrō ) to the Diet of Japan and the democratic parties.

Under the Roman alliance, the more oligarchic parts of the Athenian constitution, the Areopagus and election of officials, became relatively more important, and the Assembly and selection by lot less so.

After about 125 BC, the eponyous archon, and probably the others, were normally prominent men, and this oligarchic tendency appears to have been produced by a system of election.

Before the arrival of Europeans, Banda had an oligarchic form of government led by orang kaya (' rich men ') and the Bandanese had an active and independent role in trade throughout the archipelago.

As the Elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment, by which officeholders were chosen by lot.

The iron law of oligarchy, introduced by Robert Michels, describes the inevitable tendency of hierarchical organizations to become oligarchic in their decision making.

* 411 BC: The democracy in Athens is overthrown and replaced by the oligarchic Council of Four Hundred.

The Athenian general Thrasybulus, who had been exiled from Athens by the Spartans ' puppet government, led the democratic resistance to the new oligarchic government.

* The democracy of Athens is overthrow by the oligarchic extremists, Antiphon, Theramenes, Peisander and Phrynichus in an effort by the oligarcists to exert more control over the conduct of the war with Sparta and its allies.

Another clause of the treaty that had ended the war had allowed all exiles to return to Athens, and these men, many of them oligarchic agitators who had been cast out by the democracy, were hard at work in the months after the treaty.

Five " overseers " were appointed by the members of the oligarchic social clubs to plan the transition to an oligarchy.

In 1949 the phrase appeared in an article by Walter Morrow in the San Francisco News ( published on 1 June ) and in Pierre Dos Utt's monograph, " TANSTAAFL: a plan for a new economic world order ", which describes an oligarchic political system based on his conclusions from " no free lunch " principles.

The Ephorate, five elected magistrates who, with the King, form the main executive body of the state, is abolished ( four of the five ephors being executed ); the powers of the Gerousia, the oligarchic council of elders, is curtailed ; and the patronomoi ( the board of six elders ) is introduced.

Politico journalist Kenneth P. Vogel reports that it is the " exclusive roster of globally influential figures that has captured the interest of an international network of conspiracists ," who for decades have seen the Bilderberg meetings as a " corporate-globalist scheme ", and are convinced powerful elites are moving the planet toward an oligarchic “ new world order ”.

Demetrius was a distinguished statesman who was appointed by the Macedonian king, Cassander, to govern Athens, where he ruled as sole ruler for ten years, introducing important reforms of the legal system while maintaining pro-Cassander oligarchic rule.

During the parabasis Aristophanes presents advice to give the rights of citizens back to people who had participated in the oligarchic revolution in 411 BC, arguing they were misled by Phrynichus ' ' tricks ' ( literally ' wrestlings ').

Phrynichos was a leader of the oligarchic revolution who was assassinated, to general satisfaction, in 411.

In her struggle against those restrictions, Anna had the support of other nobles who feared oligarchic rule more than autocracy.

A ruling clique is a group of people who jointly rule an oligarchic form of government.

In mid-century, Orchomenos sheltered the oligarchic exiles who freed Boeotia from Athenian control.

One of the opponents of his election, José Nicolás Matienzo ( who would later become Attorney General of Argentina ) said about the reform of the Statutes in 1920: " Examining the proposed reforms to the statutes of the National University of La Plata, I believe that amongst all the universities of the republic, this is the one that has endured the most oligarchic regime until now .".

The constitution of Free and Imperial Cities was republican in form, but in all but the smallest cities, the city government was oligarchic in nature with a governing town council composed of an elite, hereditary patrician class, the so-called town council families ( Ratsverwandte ).

It is believed that the Etruscan government style changed from total monarchy to oligarchic republic ( as the Roman Republic ) in the 6th century BC, although it is important to note this did not happen to all the city states.

Thrasybulus restored democratic institutions to Athens and granted amnesties to all except the oligarchic extremists.

* Thrasybulus restores democratic institutions to Athens and grants amnesties to all except the oligarchic extremists.

The " iron law of oligarchy " states that all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations.

In classical times, almost all Greek states had abolished the hereditary royal office in favor of democratic or oligarchic rule.

Aristotle mentions ( Politics, p. 1310 a ) a secret oath taken by the members of oligarchic clubs, containing the promise, " I will be an enemy to the people, and will devise all the harm I can against them.