Editing Aristocracy (section)

== Differentiation ==
Aristocracy's corrupt counterpart is [[oligarchy]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-06 |title=Oligarchy {{!}} Definition & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/oligarchy |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> [[Socrates]] describes oligarchy as a system rife with [[corruption]] and instability. As the ruling elite prioritize their own wealth, they enact laws that further concentrate power and resources in their hands. This deepens economic divisions between the rich and the poor, leading to class conflict and internal strife.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kanefield |first=Teri |date=2025-01-19 |title=Part 3: Democracy, Oligarchy, and Tyranny |url=https://terikanefield.com/democracy-oligarchy-and-tyranny/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Teri Kanefield |language=en-US}}</ref> According to [[Tomás Fernández de Medrano]] in his 1602 ''[[República Mista]]'', oligarchy occurs when a small group of noble or wealthy individuals control public administration but neglect the needs of the [[Poverty|poor]], prioritizing personal gain over the [[common good]]. Such governance inevitably turns into [[Tyrant|tyranny]], as historically seen in [[Sicily]] and other ancient oligarchies.<ref name=":0" /> 

Medrano also warns against the dangers of aristocratic rule when consumed by internal strife, stating that when the ''Optimates'' (the aristocracy) become driven by anger, hatred, [[envy]], and [[rivalry]], they inevitably destroy themselves and bring ruin to the republic through [[Political faction|factionalism]] and division.<ref name=":0" /> Medrano illustrates the dangers of internal discord through historical examples, citing [[Babylon|Babylon’s]] fall to [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], [[Carthage|Carthage’s]] destruction, and Greek disunity under [[Alexander the Great]]. He notes that Rome’s decline, from [[Jugurtha|Jugurtha’s]] downfall to later internal strife, mirrors the fate of Sparta, the [[Numidians]], and other divided civilizations—including Rome itself, as [[Cato the Younger|Cato]] had foreseen.<ref name=":0" />

Despite the original conceptual drawing by Aristotle in [[classical antiquity]], aristocracy is not in modern times understood in opposition to oligarchy or strictly as a form of government, with entitled [[nobility]] as in [[monarchy|monarchies]] or aristocratic [[merchant republics]]. Its original [[classics|classical]] understanding has been taken up by the modern concepts that can be loosely equivalent to [[meritocracy]] or [[technocracy]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}