Aristocracy: government by the nobility, a privileged minority, or an elite class thought best qualified to rule;

In ancient Greece, the word “aristocracy” was used in reference to the city-states, or poleis, in which a small group governed. Often a number of prominent families shared power. In some cases, however, single families seized power illegally and set up a more tyrannical type of rule.

Like other Greek city-states, Athens was originally an aristocracy.