Page:Greece from the Coming of the Hellenes to AD. 14.djvu/78

50 extended the influence of his country in the Peloponnese, and promoted its commercial importance by the introduction of a new coinage, for which he first set up a mint in the island of Ægina. We must not be led astray by the modern meaning of tyrant and tyranny. A Greek tyrannus did not necessarily mean an oppressive ruler, but one who obtained power contrary to the laws.

Still, though he did not always rule badly, the rule of a single man supported by force is certain sooner or later to offend large classes of citizens. Sometimes this came about because the man himself, or more often his son and successor, was corrupted by the possession of absolute power, and became a tyrant in the modern sense. Sometimes it was even because he aimed too high, and tried to enforce good laws more strictly than the people would bear. Resistance or dis-