Constitutional theory defines a timocracy as either:

1. a state where only property owners may participate in government; or
2. a government where rulers are selected and perpetuated based on the degree of honour they hold relative to others in their society, peers and the ruling class.

The word derives from the Greek words timo / τιμή , meaning "honour" or "worth", and -kratia meaning "rule" (as in government). A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ... Alexander Hamilton defending his honor by obliging to duel Aaron Burr. ...

Timocracy and property

Solon introduced the ideas of timokratia as a graded oligarchy in his Solonian Constitution for Athens (early 6th century BC). His, the first known deliberately-implemented form of timocracy, allotted political rights and economic responsibilities depending on membership of one of four tiers of the population. Solon defined these tiers by measuring how many bushels of produce each man could produce in a year, namely: Solon Solon (Greek: , ca. ... Oligarchy (Greek , Oligarkhía) is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small, elite segment of society (whether distinguished by wealth, family or military prowess). ... The Solonian Constitution was the earliest Athenian constitution, created by Solon in the early 6th century BC. Solon wanted to revise or abolish the older laws of Draco, which had not solved any of the problems in Athens despite inflicting harsh penalties for almost every crime. ... Nickname: City of Athena or Cradle of Democracy Location of the city of Athens (red dot) within the Prefecture of Athens and Periphery of Attica Coordinates: Country Greece Peripheries Attica Prefecture Athens Founded circa 2000 BC Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis Area    - City 38. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... A bushel is a unit of volume, used (with somewhat different definitions) in the systems of Imperial units and U.S. customary units. ...

• Pentakosiomedimnoi ("500-bushel men", those who produced 500 bushels of produce per year)
• Hippeis (knights, those who could equip themselves and one cavalry horse for war, valued at 300 bushels per year)
• Zeugitai (tillers, owners of at least one pair of beasts of burden, valued at 200 bushels per year)
• Thetes (manual laborers)

N.G.L. Hammond supposes that Solon instituted a graduated tax upon the upper classes, levied in a ratio of 6:3:1, with the lowest class of thetes paying nothing in taxes but remaining ineligible for elected office. Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond (November 14, 1907 - March 24, 2001) was a British historian - teaching at Cambridge and Bristol - who specialized on Greece and Macedonia. ...

Aristotle later wrote in his Nicomachean Ethics (Book 8, Chapter 10) about three "true political forms" for a state, each of which could appear in corrupt form, becoming one of three negative forms. Aristotle describes timocracy in the sense of rule by property-owners: it comprised one of his true political forms. Aristotelian timocracy approximated to the constitution of Athens, although Athens exemplified the corrupted version of this form, described as democracy. Aristotle (Greek: AristotélÄ“s) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a teacher of Plato and of Alexander the Great. ... Nicomachean Ethics (sometimes spelled Nichomachean), or Ta Ethika, is a work by Aristotle on virtue and character which plays a prominent role in defining Aristotelian ethics. ... Nickname: City of Athena or Cradle of Democracy Location of the city of Athens (red dot) within the Prefecture of Athens and Periphery of Attica Coordinates: Country Greece Peripheries Attica Prefecture Athens Founded circa 2000 BC Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis Area    - City 38. ...

Timocracy and honour

Plato produced the earliest surviving text using the term in the rule-by-honour sense. In The Republic, he describes four forms of unjust state, with timocracy as the preferable of the four and closest to the ideal society. The city-state of Sparta provided Plato with a real-world model for this form of government. (Modern observers might describe Sparta as a totalitarian or one-party state, although much of the detail we know of its society comes from Sparta's enemies.) The idea of militarism often attaches to the honour-oriented timocracy. For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Plato. ... Look up form in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... Coordinates 37°4′ N 22°26′ E Country Greece Periphery Peloponnese Prefecture Laconia Population 18,184 source (2001) Area 84. ... The concept of Totalitarianism is a typology or ideal-type used by some political scientists to encapsulate the characteristics of a number of twentieth century regimes that mobilized entire populations in support of the state or an ideology. ... A single-party state or one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system and form of government where only a single political party dominates the government and no opposition parties are allowed. ... Militarism or militarist ideology is the doctrinal view of a society as being best served (or more efficient) when it is governed or guided by concepts embodied in the culture, doctrine, system, or people of the military. ...