THE GREEK CITY-STATES
Greece slowly recovered during the late part of the Dark Age. Several Greek
centers of trade established themselves during the ninth century B.C., and population
growth in the following century fueled a growth in agriculture. Increased trade
stimulated craftwork and shipbuilding. Greek communities were growing and gaining
wealth.
Polis: The Center of Greek Life
By 750 b.c., the city-state—or what the Greeks called a polis— became the
central focus of Greek life. Our word politics is derived from the Greek word polis. In a
physical sense, the polis was a town, a city, or even a village, along with its surrounding
countryside. The town, city, or village served as the center of the polis where people
could meet for political, social, and religious activities.
Organization of the City-State
The main gathering place in the polis was usually a hill. At the top of the hill was
a fortified area called an acropolis. The acropolis served as a place of refuge during
an attack and sometimes came to be a religious center on which temples and public
buildings were built. Below the acropolis was an agora, an open area that served as a
place where people could assemble and as a market. City-states varied greatly in size,
from a few square miles to a few hundred square miles. They also varied in population.
Athens had a population of more than 300,000 by the fifth century b.c., but most city-
states were much smaller, consisting of only a few hundred to several thousand
people.
Community of the City-State
The polis was, above all, a community of people who shared a common identity
and common goals. As a community, the polis consisted of citizens with political rights
(adult males), citizens with no political rights (women and children), and noncitizens
(including agricultural laborers, slaves, and resident aliens). Citizens had rights, but
these rights were coupled with responsibilities. The Greek philosopher Aristotle argued
that a citizen did not belong just to himself or herself: “We must rather regard every
citizen as belonging to the state.” However, the loyalty that citizens had to their city-
states had a negative side. City-states distrusted one another, and the division of
Greece into fiercely patriotic, independent units helped to bring about its ruin. As the
polis developed, so too did a new military system. In earlier times, nobles on horseback
fought wars in Greece. These aristocrats, who were large landowners, also dominated
the political life of their city-states. By 700 b.c., however, the military system was based
on hoplites, who were heavily armed infantry soldiers, or foot soldiers. Each carried a
round shield, a short sword, and a thrusting spear about 9 feet (2.7 m) long. Hoplites
went into battle as a unit, marching shoulder to shoulder in a rectangular formation
known as a phalanx. This close formation created a wall of shields to protect the
hoplites. As long as they kept their order, it was difficult for enemies to harm them.
Greek Expansion
Between 750 b.c. and 550 b.c., large numbers of Greeks left their homeland to
settle in distant lands. A desire for good farmland and the growth of trade were
important factors in the people’s decisions to settle in new places. Each Greek colony
became a new polis, independent of the polis that had founded it.
Greek Colonies
Across the Mediterranean, new Greek colonies were established along the
coastlines of southern Italy, southern France, eastern Spain, and northern Africa west
of Egypt. At the same time, to the north the Greeks set up colonies in Thrace, where
they sought good farmland to grow grains. The Greeks also settled along the shores
of the Black Sea, setting up cities on the Hellespont and the Bosporus straits. The
most notable of these cities was Byzantium (buh•ZAN•shuhm), the site of what later
became Constantinople and is now ˙ Istanbul. In establishing these colonies, the
Greeks spread their culture and political ideas throughout the Mediterranean. Securing
control of the straits and waterways between the Mediterranean and Black Seas also
gave the Greeks great economic advantages. Colonization in these prime port
locations led to increased trade and industry. The Greeks on the mainland exported
pottery, wine, and olive oil. In return, they received grains and metals from the west
and fish, timber, wheat, metals, and slaves from the Black Sea region.
The expansion of trade and industry created a new group of wealthy individuals
in many of the Greek city-states. These men wanted political power but found it difficult
to gain because of the power of the ruling aristocrats. The landowners would not
willingly give up their political power to the newly rich merchants.
Tyranny in the City-States
The creation of this new group of rich men fostered the rise of tyrants in the
seventh and sixth centuries b.c. Tyrants were not necessarily oppressive or wicked,
as our word tyrant implies. Greek tyrants were rulers who seized power by force from
the aristocrats. They were unique in Greek history, and in fact, the Greeks did not have
a word for them: the Greek term tyrannos was developed from another language,
probably one from Asia Minor. Support for the tyrants came from the newly rich who
had made their money in trade and industry. These people were hungry for the social
prestige and political influence that aristocrats had denied them. Poor peasants who
were in debt to landholding aristocrats also supported the tyrants. Both the newly rich
and the peasants were tired of aristocratic domination of their city-states.
The tyrants gained power and kept it by using hired soldiers. Once in power, the
tyrants tried to help the poor and launched public works projects. They built new
marketplaces, temples, and walls. These efforts glorified the city but, more importantly,
increased the tyrants’ popularity. Despite their achievements, however, the tyrants
eventually came to be seen as oppressive. The tyrants had fallen out of favor by the
end of the sixth century b.c. Greeks believed in the rule of law, and tyranny was an
insult to that ideal. Although tyranny did not last, it played an important role in Greek
history. The rule of the tyrants ended the rule of the aristocrats in many city-states. The
end of tyranny then allowed many new people to participate in government. In some
Greek city-states, this led to the development of democracy, which is government by
the people or rule of the many. Other city-states remained committed to government
by an oligarchy, rule by the few.
Two Rival City-States
The differences in the Greek city-states can be understood by examining the two
most famous and powerful city-states, Sparta and Athens.
Sparta
Like other Greek city-states, Sparta needed more land. Instead of starting new
colonies, as some states did, the Spartans conquered the neighboring Laconians.
Later, beginning around 730 b.c., the Spartans undertook the conquest of neighboring
Messenia despite its larger size and population. After their conquest, the Messenians
and Laconians became serfs and were made to work for the Spartans. These captured
people were known as helots, a name derived from a Greek word for “capture.” To
ensure control over the conquered helots, the Spartans made a conscious decision to
create a military state. Between 800 b.c. and 600 b.c., the lives of Spartans were rigidly
organized and tightly controlled —thus, our word spartan, meaning “highly self-
disciplined.” Males spent their childhood learning military discipline. Then they enrolled
in the army for regular military service at age 20. Although allowed to marry, they
continued to live in the military barracks until age 30. All meals were eaten in public
dining halls with fellow soldiers. Meals were simple: the famous Spartan black broth
consisted of a piece of pork boiled in animal blood, salt, and vinegar. A visitor who ate
some of the black broth once remarked that he now understood why Spartans were
not afraid to die. At 30, Spartan males were allowed to vote in the assembly (to be
discussed later) and live at home, but they stayed in the army until the age of 60. While
their husbands lived in the barracks, Spartan women lived at home. Because of this
separation, Spartan women had greater freedom of movement and greater power in
the household than was common elsewhere in Greece. Spartan women were
expected to remain fit to bear and raise healthy children. Many Spartan women upheld
the strict Spartan values, expecting their husbands and sons to be brave in war. The
story is told of a Spartan mother who, as she handed her son his shield, told him to
come back carrying his shield or being carried on it. In other words, he was not to drop
his shield in retreat, but to be victorious or to die bravely.
The Spartan government was an oligarchy headed by two kings, who led the
Spartan army on its campaigns. A group of five men, known as the ephors (EH•fuhrs),
were elected each year and were responsible for the education of youth and the
conduct of all citizens. A council of elders, composed of the two kings and 28 citizens
over the age of 60, decided on the issues that would be presented to an assembly
made up of male citizens. This assembly did not debate; it only voted on the issues.
To make their new military state secure, the Spartans turned their backs on the outside
world. Foreigners, who might have brought in new ideas, were discouraged from
visiting. Except for military reasons, Spartans were not allowed to travel abroad, where
they might encounter ideas dangerous to the stability of the state. Likewise, Spartan
citizens were discouraged from studying philosophy, literature, or the arts. The art of
war was the Spartan ideal. All other arts were frowned upon.
Athens
By 700 b.c., Athens had become a unified polis on the peninsula of Attica. Early
Athens was ruled by a king. By the seventh century b.c., however, Athens had become
an oligarchy under the control of its aristocrats. These aristocrats owned the best land
and controlled political life. The assembly of all the citizens had few powers. Near the
end of the seventh century b.c., Athens faced political turmoil because of serious
economic problems. Many Athenian farmers were sold into slavery when they were
unable to repay their debts to their aristocratic neighbors. Over and over, there were
cries to cancel the debts and give land to the poor. Civil war seemed likely.
The ruling Athenian aristocrats reacted to this crisis in 594 b.c. by giving full
power to Solon, a reform-minded aristocrat. Solon canceled all land debts and freed
people who had fallen into slavery for debts. He refused, however, to take land from
the rich and give it to the poor. Despite Solon’s reforms aristocrats were still powerful
and poor peasants could not obtain land. Internal strife finally led to the very thing
Solon had hoped to avoid—tyranny. Peisistratus (pih•SIHS•truh•tuhs), an aristocrat,
seized power in 560 b.c. He then aided Athenian trade as a way of pleasing the
merchants. He also gave aristocrats’ land to the peasants in order to gain the favor of
the poor. The Athenians rebelled against Peisistratus’s son, who had succeeded him,
and ended the tyranny in 510 b.c. Two years later, with the backing of the Athenian
people, Cleisthenes (KLYS•thuh•neez), another reformer, gained the upper hand.
Cleisthenes created a council of 500 that supervised foreign affairs, oversaw the
treasury, and proposed laws. The Athenian assembly, composed of male citizens, was
given final authority to pass laws after free and open debate. Because the assembly
now had the central political role, the reforms of Cleisthenes created the foundations
for Athenian democracy.
