I. Homoioi in Aristotle
With the term homoioi (in Homer, in Ionian and in early Attic ὁμοῖοι/homoîoi, later ὅμοιοι/hómoioi, ‘equal ones’) Aristotle clearly describes, in a section regarding the prerequisites of political stability (Aristot. Pol. 1308a 11-13), an elite, i.e. a legally or socially defined ruling class that is clearly differentiated by birth or wealth. When many people belong to an elite of such kind, it represents, according to Aristotle, a…