Unlike the democracies that later evolved, in early Greek societies the king's command was law.
The palace lifestyle. The scarcity of records detailing the names and accomplishments of Mycenaean kings makes it difficult to determine their actual role in the society. However, it is certain that the towns of Greece were governed in a highly aristocratic fashion during the Bronze Age, with higher nobles overseeing the major territories in each king's district. This arrangement helps explain the familiarity that Hermia's father, a prominent citizen of Athens, had with Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The epics of the Greek poet Homer indicate that the relationship between the king and his men was somewhat feudal in nature: The citizens retained control of their land in exchange for a portion of the goods they produced. Although most archaeological findings provide clues as to the nature of the aristocratic lifestyle, the majority of the Mycenaean citizens were probably of a much lower class. These free peasants held common plots of land allotted to them by the king. At the lowest end of the social scale resided the slave population. Handled like possessions, Mycenaean slaves were in fact sometimes skilled craftsmen, and such characters are found among the mechanicals (a term for persons in the lower, artisan class) of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
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