Aristocrats are people that a particular social order considers in the highest social class of that society. Specifically, in monarchies, the aristocracy are a class of people (aristocrats) who either possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch or are related to such people. In some societies—such as Ancient Greece, Rome, and India—aristocratic status may derive from membership of a military caste, although it has also been very common for aristocrats to belong to priestly dynasties in lieu of this, as is the case in polities all over the continent of Africa. Aristocratic status can involve feudal or legal privileges. They are usually below only the monarch of a country or nation in its social hierarchy. The term aristocracy derives from the Greek ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratia ἄριστος (aristos) "excellent," and κράτος (kratos) "power". In most cases, aristocratic titles were and are hereditary, passing on death to another family member, typically the eldest son or eldest child. This video is targeted to blind users. Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA Creative Commons image source in video

• published: 29 Sep 2014
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