The City-States of the Ancient Greeks

Ancient Greece was one of the most important early civilisations in Europe and the influence of its climactic period is still evident in western culture.

In fact, if you’ve ever read a book, kept your money in a bank, competed in a sports event, received modern medicine, or even spoken English, then you have a lot to be thankful to the ancient Greeks for. Yet, surprisingly, ancient Greece’s citizens didn’t regard themselves as “Greek” but instead as belonging to their individual city-state.

 

What were the city-states?

More often than not, geography plays a critical role in shaping civilisations, and this is particularly true of ancient Greece.

Although our current understanding of Greece is one of a unified country, this was not always the case; ancient Greece was made up of more than a thousand city-states or polis which were spread across the Mediterranean sea.

The irregular landscape of the region was the likely reason for the development of the city-states, as it has many physical barriers to transport and travel such as rocky mountains and numerous islands. This made the sea the easiest mode of conveyance.

Competition for power between the Greek aristocracy was another possible cause for the country’s division into city-states.

According to Homer in his most famous work, The Iliad, the land was broken into smaller regions to restore political order after a conflict between the “Sea Peoples” of the islands and the Mycenaeans (the civilisation who populated ancient Greece). However, facts often gets mixed up with fiction, so the accuracy of Homer’s claims is often debated.

The typical structure of a city-state in Greece was that of an urban centre, which was often fortified, with a sacred building that controlled a surrounding territory constructed on an acropolis (a natural hill) or harbour.

Each city-state was independent of the others as they differed greatly in regard to their politics and government, as well as their legal, social, and religious beliefs. There were over one thousand city-states in ancient Greece, but the main ones are still recognisable worldwide today; Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes.

 

Athens

The city-state of Athens was at the centre of Greece’s apogee era - the 5th century BC - as it was the nucleus for democracy, philosophy, and the creation of banking. What’s more, the ancient Athenians placed heavy emphasis on the development of architecture, arts, and literature. 

Athens’ grounding in culture may have stemmed from the city-state’s mythical roots; legend claims that it was captured by the goddess Athena from King Poseidon after a strenuous battle.

The ruins of the Lyceum – the school where Aristotle taught philosophy – can still be seen in the centre of modern Athens. For all of these reasons, it is clear why Athens is still considered to be the birthplace of many significant ideas which have influenced western culture.

Sparta

The city-state of Sparta was a military powerhouse and a major rival to Athens. It consisted of a militaristic society that was ruled by two kings instead of a more democratic regime.

While Athenian’s focus was on architecture and philosophy, the Spartan’s passion was to defend the honour of their city.

Their devotion to the development of a military-based society was the result of a violent slave revolt which made the Spartans rethink their lifestyle. As a result, they encouraged hardiness and strength in their citizens and allocated little energy to arts and literature.

Due to the strength of its army, Sparta could only be controlled by the other major city-states, and eventually, it fell to Thebes in battle in 362 BC.

Currently, all that remains of this powerful city-state is the ruins of temples, columns, a theatre, and a statue of one of their military generals.

 

Corinth

The remains of Corinth lie approximately 50 miles to the west of Athens at the base of the citadel of the Acrocorinthus – a monolithic rock similar to that of Gibraltar – to a harbour in the Gulf of Corinth.

Its citadel commanded the land route into the Peloponnese region, which afforded the city-state great commercial importance and power. What’s more, Corinth’s sheer size made it a rival to Athens and Sparta, and even in later years, it thrived as a ship-building centre.

Thebes

The mighty city-state of Thebes sits to the north of Athens and Corinth.

It was renowned in Greek legends and literature for being the birthplace of Hercules and it featured in the stories of Oedipus and Dionysus.

The Theban army was also the reason for Sparta’s downfall, as they defeated them in the battle of Leuctra and set many Spartan slaves free.

There was much disagreement over Thebes true name in ancient times, and it was even questioned whether Thebes was actually really a colony on Crete, potentially making them Phoenician in origin.

 

Would you like to know whether your ancient ancestors were residents of one of ancient Greece’s famous city-states? Find out with My True Ancestry.