The Polis refers not necessarily to a single city, but rather to a form of governance for Greek communities, known as city-states. Following the Mycenean Age, the Greeks lived in small tribal or nomadic groups. This period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, lasted from around 1200 BC until between 800 and 700 BC. As the Greek Dark Ages came to an end, the tribes began forming communities. Common defensive structures and fortifications sprang up, marketplaces formed, and trade began between communities.

Political units were formed for each individual community, and each were independent states. At that time, Greece was not a unified nation, but rather an association of poli, which is plural for polis.

Commonalities of a polis included an acropolis, an agora, or marketplace, a gymnasium, and several temples. Most of the citizens would live in the surrounding countryside, and each polis paid tribute to certain patron gods for protection.

One of the largest and most famous poli was Sparta, which encompassed 3000 square miles of Greek countryside, although the polis was considered more of a political association than a geographical location. Other poli included Thebes, Lacadaemonia, and Athens. Alexander the Great is said to have founded at least seventy cities, which all became places of great influence.

Because of their relatively small size, the poli were known for experimenting with political structure. Governance could include tyranny, timocracy – rule by the wealthy, oligarchy, or democracy.

Most poli began as monarchies, ruled by a king of hereditary citizenship. Many of the kings were overthrown, though by the eighth century BC, and other forms of government began to appear.

The most common was the oligarchy, where the wealthy or noble citizens would rule. During the eighth century, the structure of the oligarchy transformed to allow the rotation of citizens from a designated class. The oligarchy had the ability to rule absolutely and had the same powers as the king, but many poli blended the oligarchy with other political structures.

In Sparta, the oligarchy shared its rule with two kings, a democratic assembly, and a council. Athens had an oligarchy of nobles, accompanied by a democratic assembly that was given great powers.

By the sixth century, many of the oligarchies had been replaced by democracies, which held little to no resemblance to our modern democracies. Greek democracies were ruled by the free, male citizens of the polis. Women, slaves, and foreigners were not allowed to participate in any democratic functions. There were essentially three classes of residents in the poli: those with political rights, those without political rights, and non-citizens.

In addition to the birth of many political structures, the poli were also responsible for developing the concept of naturalization. At one time, a person could only be a citizen of a polis if they could prove their descent from parents who were citizens. Some poli only required one parent be a citizen, while others required that both were. Occasionally, though, a polis would allow citizenship to someone who could not prove their lineage, and so the concept of naturalization came into being during the Hellenic Age.

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The city of Corinth was originally founded around 6000 BC, during the Neolithic Age, by Corinthos, a descendant of the sun god Helios. Other myths claim the city was founded by Ephyra, daughter of the Titan Oceanus. The city is known both as Corinth and as Ephyra.

During the Mycenaean period Corinth may have also been the site of a Bronze Age palace-city, and was eventually settled by the Dorians before the end of the period.

In the Classical Era, Corinth equaled Athens and Thebes in terms of wealth, fed by its steady trade including the export of black-figure pottery.

Corinth was ruled during the 7th century BC by Cypelus and his son Periander, who was considered one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. Both men were tyrants, and under their rule citizens of Corinth were sent out to colonize new communities. They were responsible for founding such places as Apollonia, Potidaea, m modern-day Corfu, and modern-day Albania. Corinth was one of nine Greek cities to sponsor colonization of Naukratis in Egypt.

Periander was the first to mint Corinthian coins, and was the first to attempt to create passage for ships across the Isthmus between the Corinthian Gulf and the Saronic Gulf. Unable to cut through, he created a stone ramp, called a Diolkos, instead. The time spent under Periander’s rule is considered to be the Golden Age of Corinth.

Corinth flourished and became a center for wealth and luxury. Architecture of the time was the most intricate in Corinth, reflecting the prosperity of the people. Living standards were very high, and not everyone was able to afford to live there.

Two major ports, one in each gulf, fed the wealth of trade that flowed through Corinth. In addition to trade, the port cities also housed Corinth’s fleet of war ships. Corinth provided 40 of its ships to fight in the Persian Wars, in the Battle of Salamis and the Battle of Plataea. Afterwards, Corinth became an ally of Sparta and frequently was at odds with Athens, which eventually led to the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC.

Following the conclusion of the Peloponnesian War, Corinth turned on Sparta and declared war on it. The constant warring of the Peloponnesian city-states allowed the Macedonians to invade their lands, forming the Corinthian League under Philip II of Macedon.

In 146 BC Corinth was destroyed by Lucius Mummius, who killed the men, sold the women and children as slaves, and torched the entire city. Corinth was rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 44 BC and settled by Romans. Despite the city’s destruction by Mummius, it was once again known under Roman rule for its outrageous luxury and rampant immoral behavior.

The city was plundered many more times, with its citizens sold off as slaves. Such events occurred during Alaraic’s invasion of Greece in 395-396, and again in 1147 by the Sicilian Normans under Roger of Sicily.

Corinth was devastated many times and had to be completely rebuilt. Earthquakes ravaged Corinth in 375 and in 551. It was destroyed by earthquakes again in 1858.

Corinth had many temples, the most famous of which was dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, which employed over one thousand prostitutes. Corinth was also the site of the Temple of Apollo.

Paul the Apostle was a resident of Corinth for a short time in AD 51 or 52, and returned again for a short visit in AD 58. During his stay he wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians and the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

Turkish forces completely destroyed Corinth during the Greek War of Independence. The city was finally liberated after the Treaty of London in 1832 and was considered for the site of the capital of the new Kingdom of Greece, but Athens prevailed.

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Thebes was an important city in Greek myths as the site of the stories of Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Thebes was the largest city of the region of Boeotia and a major rival of Athens. It sided with the Persians during the invasion led by Xerxes. Theban forces started the decline of Spartan power at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of its great general Epaminondas. Before its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was the most dominant city-state in Greece.

In the late 6th century BC, the Thebans were brought for the first time into hostile contact with the Athenians. Their annoyance with Athens explains why the Thebans sided with the Persians during their invasion of Greece (480–479 BC). The Thebans fought for the Persians at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The victorious Greeks then punished Thebes by removing the surrounding Boeotian lands from their control.

Love-Hate Relationship with Sparta

In 457 BC Sparta needed an ally against Athens so they reinstated Thebes as the dominant power in Boeotia. In the Peloponnesian War the Thebans were firm allies of Sparta. After the downfall of Athens, the Thebans, not wanting to be annexed by Sparta, broke off the alliance. In 404 BC they urged the complete destruction of Athens, yet in 403 BC they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy as a counterweight to Sparta.

A few years later, Thebes was the main part of the league against Sparta. At the Battle of Haliartus in 395 BC and the Battle of Coronea one year later, the Theban army stood their ground against the Spartans. But the peace treaty for the Greek city-states stipulated the complete autonomy of all polis. Therefore the other Boeotians were freed from Thebes’ political control.

In the next wars with Sparta, the Theban army, trained and led by the great generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself the best in Greece. 371 BC saw a remarkable victory over the Spartans at Leuctra. The Thebans were considered champions of the oppressed throughout Greece because they freed many of the slaves. This victory permanently crippled the power of Sparta, partially because the Thebans freed the helot slaves who did much of the work of Sparta.

Thebes was unable to form an empire, however. Athens again was Thebes’ rival. Epaminondas died at the Battle of Mantinea in 362 BC. The Thebans next went to war with the neighboring state of Phocis, but foolishly asked Philip of Macedon for help. Demosthenes persuaded Thebes to join Athens in attempting to prevent Philip’s entry into Attica, but the Theban contingent lost the battle of Chaeronea and Philip conquered Greece. Philip did not damage Thebes, but instead once again took away its extra Boeotian lands; however, this state of affairs was not to last. An unsuccessful revolt in 335 BC by Thebes against Alexander was punished by the destruction of the city, except, according to tradition, the house of the poet Pindar and the temples.

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The city of Sparta lay at the southern end of the Peloponnese. Largely hemmed in by mountains, it was a strategic site. This meant that invading armies had a hard time reaching Sparta. Its distance from the sea–27 miles–made it difficult to blockade.

The state and culture known as Sparta was formed by the Dorian Greeks, some eighty years after the Trojan War. By the 7th century BC, Sparta had conquered all its surrounding areas.

In the 5th century, Persia threatened Greece with an invasion, so the Greeks allied, but once the Persians were defeated, Sparta and Athens became rivals. The Spartan stand at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Greeks is often considered the greatest last stand of a military force in documented history.

Athens’ attempts to control Greece through its Delian League engendered resentment throughout Greece. Tensions between the two cities finally came to a head in the Peloponnesian War, and Athens was defeated. The city-state’s attempts to control Greece ended in failure.

Due to the outcome of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta became a naval power. Sparta even restrained the majority of key Greek states and overpowered the mighty Athenian navy. This period is called the Spartan Hegemony. Unfortunately, Sparta then had to fight against an alliance of the most powerful Greek states: Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos.

After a dramatic and powerful defeat to Epaminondas of Thebes during the Battle of Leuctra, Sparta went into decline. This was the first time a Spartan army lost a land battle at full strength. Yet even during its decline, Sparta remained defiant and proud. When Philip of Macedon wrote to Sparta saying, “If I enter Laconia I will level Sparta to the ground,” the Spartans’ response was simply: “If.”

Philip of Macedon finally unified Greece against Persia, however, by their own request the Spartans were excluded. Upon the conquest of Persia, Alexander the Great was then sent to Athens with three hundred suits of Persian armor. The armor dawned the inscription “Alexander son of Philip, and the Greeks–except the Spartans–from the Asian barbarians.”

“With this, or upon this”

Sparta is famous through the ages for its militaristic society. The state owned the life of the Spartan citizen and could order it to war at any time. Emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth. A mother of a newborn baby would bathed it in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the child survived, the elders would decide whether the child was worth rearing. If not, the baby was left on a mountainside to die, although these children were often adopted by noncitizens. Physical strength and fitness for fighting were prized above all. (There were even contests among Spartan soldiers to see who could take the most severe flogging!)

Before male Spartans went go off to war, their wives, sisters, or mothers would give them their shield and say: “With this, or upon this.” Spartans should only return victorious or dead.

With the emphasis on physical fitness and training, the arts of music and literature were subordinate. Girls also were trained in physical fitness and educated, in the belief that strong and intelligent mothers would produce strong and intelligent children.

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The Minoan civilization flourished during the Bronze Age (2700 to 1450 BC) on the island of Crete. Knossos was the Cretan ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture. Here was the location of the Palace of Minos (the house of King Minos). Knossos was a complex collection of more than a thousand connected rooms; there was a throne room, but also work rooms for artisans and wine presses. There were storerooms and rooms for religious worship and administration. At its height, the surrounding area comprised about 30,000 people.

It is unknown today whether the palace was primarily an administrative center, a religious center, or both. It is also unknown whether Knossos was the primary settlement on Crete. Knossos has no fortifications or stores of weapons, for example. Minoan civilization was nonmilitaristic, possibly because it was a matriarchal society.

The palace has long been considered as the source of the myth of the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth was originally constructed for King Minos of Crete to contain the Minotaur, a monster that was half-man and half-bull. Minos’s wife had given birth to the monster and it required frequent human sacrifices to propitiate it. The architect Daedalus and his son Icarus design the Labyrinth so that the Minotaur could not escape. Eventually the Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus, with aid from Minos’s daughter Ariadne.

“Labyrinth” comes from labrys, a double axe and symbol of royal power (-inthos meaning “place”). The double-axe image was used throughout the Mycenaean world as a charm to ward off evil. Axe motifs were scratched on many of the stones of the palace. There is also a Shrine of the Double Axes at the palace, as well as throughout Crete and the Aegean.

But where was the Labyrinth? Was it the palace itself, part of the palace, or somewhere else? The answer is unknown. Part of the legend probably comes from the Minoan practice of human sacrifice. This practice was not found anywhere else on Crete. It is possible that the palace was a center for human sacrifice. Certainly, its layout is very difficult and confusing to navigate.

In the Iliad, Homer stated that the Labyrinth on Crete was a dancing ground made for Ariadne. Hephaestus inscribes pictures on Achilles’ shield, one being a dancing-ground “like the one that Daedalus designed in the spacious town of Knossos for Ariadne of the lovely locks.” The intricate labyrinth dance was also symbolized, where “youths and marriageable maidens were dancing on it with their hands on one another’s wrists… circling as smoothly on their accomplished feet as the wheel of a potter…and there they ran in lines to meet each other.”

Symbolizing the Grecian patterns of continuous meander, the labyrinth is known today as the Greek key pattern. In 300 BC, the coins from Knossos still featured the labyrinth symbolism.

After the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek culture became dominant on Crete. The city of Knossos remained important through the classical and Roman periods, but its population shifted to what is now Heraclion during the 9th century AD.

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Athens was the leading city of classical Greece. A myth states how Athens acquired its name. Both Athena and Poseidon wanted to be its patron, so they offered the city one gift each. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and created a spring. This symbolized naval power, but the spring was salty, so not very useful to the citizens. Athena gave an olive tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity, which also provided food, oil, and wood, so the citizens named the city after Athena.

The walled ancient city of Athens occupied only about one mile from east to west and slightly less than that from north to south. (But “polis” refers not just to the center of the city proper, but also the occupied territory surrounding it.) The Acropolis is just south of the center. The Agora, the marketplace and social center of the city, was about 1,300 feet north of the Acropolis.

The major temples in Athens were the Temple of Athena (the Parthenon), in the Acropolis, the Temple of Hephaestus (which is still there) and the Temple of Olympian Zeus (now ruined).

At the beginning of the Peloponnesian War the citizens numbered 40,000, making with their families a total of 140,000. Noncitizens numbered 70,000, while there were about 150,000 to 400,000 slaves.

The Persian Wars

By the 6th century BC, Athens was wealthy, powerful, and a cultural center. The Athenian navy was supreme in the Aegean and beyond. By 510, however, the latest rulers were overthrown with the help of Sparta. A radical politician, Clisthenes, then established democracy in Athens.

Beginning in 499 BC, Athenian troops were dispatched to bring support to Asia Minor’s Ionian Greeks, who staged a rebellion to overthrow the Persian Empire. The Persians then tried twice to invade Greece. Later the Athenians defeated the first wave of Persians under the command of King Darius at the Battle of Marathon in 490. Finally, in the year 480, the Persians regained their foothold following the rule of Darius’s son Xerxes. IN response, Athens and its allies defeated the enormous Persian navy in the Battle of Salamis.

Athens was now the leader of the Greek city-states. Athens allied much of the Aegean and parts of Greece in the Delian League, which it dominated. The era, beginning at the Persian Wars’ end and extending to the Macedonian conquest, symbolized Athens’ posture as the world center of literary arts, philosophical debate, and the arts. Its leading statesman, Pericles, intelligently built upon the Delian League’s tributes and constructed the Parthenon.

Greek Wars

Other cities resented Athens, which subsequently fueled the Peloponnesian War in 431, where Athens broad sea empire fought against Sparta’s alliance of land states. Athens lost the war, and it also lost its dominance over the sea.

Interestingly, but not unpredictably, the former allies who supported Sparta turned against the empire. Ironically, Athens’s previously hated enemies Corinth and Thebes converged to become political and military allies. Thebes, Corinth, and Athens fought with Sparta during the stalemate Corinthian War (395 BC - 387 BC). Athens established a Second Athenian League. In 371, after years of fighting, Thebes eventually defeated Sparta. After that, the other Greek cities, with the inclusion of Sparta and Athens, betrayed Thebes, which was defeated in 362 BC.

Macedon

Soon after that, the northern kingdom of Macedon grew in its regional power, which had been predicted by the great statesman Demosthenes in his attempts to warn the Athenians. Subsequently, in the year 338 BC, the Philip of Macedon’s military crushed the Greek states in the Battle of Chaeronea. Philip’s son, Alexander the Great, created an empire. Soon the traditional Greek polis was rendered obsolete, as the Macedonian empire grew stronger and more prominent. While Athens still maintained its foothold as a cultural capital, its independence and political power were stripped. Interestingly, 200 years later, Greece was transferred from the Macedonian power to the empire of the Roman Republic.

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