Xerxes (519?–465 b.c.); king of Persia (486–465): son of Darius I. Here, Xerxes, Bias, and Perdiccas are named as exemplars of very wealthy men.
Theban a native of Thebes (ancient city in southern Egypt, on the Nile, on the site of modern Luxor and Karnak).
Polydamus the name of a contemporary athlete, a pancratiast (see next entry).
pancratiast a participant in the pancratium, an ancient Greek athletic contest combining boxing and wrestling.
tyrranies plural of tyranny, a form of government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; this was a common form of government among Greek city-states and did not necessarily have the pejorative connotation it has today, although (as shall be seen) Plato regarded it as the worst kind of government.
democracies plural of democracy, a government in which the people hold the ruling power; democracies in Plato's experience were governments in which the citizens exercised power directly rather than through elected representatives.
aristocracies plural of aristocracy, a government by the best, or by a small, privileged class.
