Polis

Polis ( /ˈpɒlɨs/; πόλις, Ancient Greek: [pólis]), plural poleis ( /ˈpɒleɪz/, πόλεις [póleːs]), literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."

The word originates from the ancient Greek city-states, which developed during the Archaic period, the ancestor of city, state and citizenship, and persisted (though with decreasing influence) well into Roman times, when the equivalent Latin word was civitas, also meaning 'citizenhood', while municipium applied to a non-sovereign local entity. The term city-state which originated in English (alongside the German Stadtstaat) does not fully translate the Greek term. The poleis were not like other primordial ancient city-states like Tyre or Sidon, which were ruled by a king or a small oligarchy, but rather a political entity ruled by its body of citizens. The traditional view of archaeologists, that the appearance of urbanization at excavation sites could be read as a sufficient index for the development of a polis was criticised by François Polignac in 1984[1] and has not been taken for granted in recent decades: the polis of Sparta for example was established in a network of villages.The term polis which in archaic Greece meant city, changed with the development of the governance center in the city to indicate state (which included its surrounding villages), and finally with the emergence of a citizenship notion between the land owners it came to describe the entire body of citizens. The ancient Greeks didn't always refer to Athens, Sparta, Thebes and other poleis as such; they often spoke instead of the Athenians, Lacedaemonians, Thebans and so on. The body of citizens came to be the most important meaning of the term polis in ancient Greece as a polis.

The Ancient Greek term which specifically meant the totality of urban buildings and spaces was ἄστυ (pronounced [ásty]).

Contents

Archaic and Classical polis

Basic and indicating elements are:

Hellenistic and Roman

During the Hellenistic period, which marks the decline of the classical polis, the following cities remained independent: Sparta until 195 BC after the War against Nabis. Achaean League is the last example of original Greek city-state federations (dissolved after the Battle of Corinth (146 BC)) . The Cretan city-states continue to be independent (except Itanus and Arsinoe, which lay under Ptolemaic influence) until the conquest of Crete in 69 BC by Rome. The cities of Magna Graecia, with the notable examples of Syracuse and Tarentum, were conquered by Rome in late 3rd century BC. There are also some cities with recurring independence like Samos, Priene, Miletus[2] and Athens. A remarkable example of a city-state which flourished during this era is Rhodes through its merchant navy,[3] until 43 BC and the Roman conquest.

The Hellenistic colonies and cities of the era, retain some basic characteristics of a polis, except: the status of independence (city-state) and the political life. There is a self-governance (like the new Macedonian title politarch) but under a ruler and king. The political life of the classical era is now transformed to an individualized religious and philosophical view of life (see Hellenistic philosophy and religion) The demographic decline forced the cities to abolish the status of metic and bestow citizenship; In 228 BC Miletus enfranchised over 1000 Cretans. (Milet, I, 3, 33-8.) Dyme sold its citizenship for one talent, payable in two instalments. The foreign residents in a city are now called paroikoi. In an age, when most of the establishments in Asia are kingdoms, an interesting example of a Hellenistic cities federation is the Chrysaorian League in Caria.

During the Roman era, some cities were granted the status of a polis, free city,[4] self-governed under the Roman Empire. The last institution commemorating the old Greek poleis was the Panhellenion established by Hadrian.

Derived words

Derivatives of polis are common in many modern European languages. This is indicative of the influence of the polis-centred Hellenic world view. Derivative words in English include policy, polity, police and politics. In Greek, words deriving from polis include politēs and politismos, whose exact equivalents in Latin, Romance and other European languages, respectively civis (citizen), civilisatio (civilization) etc. are similarly derived.

A number of words end in the word "-polis". Most refer to a special kind of city and/or state. Some examples are:

Other refer to part of a city or a group of cities, such as:

Names

Polis, Cyprus

Located on the north-west coast of Cyprus is the town of Polis, or Polis Chrysochous (Greek: Πόλις Χρυσοχούς), situated within the Paphos District and on the edge of the Akamas peninsula. During the Cypro-Classical period, Polis became one of the most important ancient Cypriot city-kingdoms on the island, with important commercial relations with the eastern Aegean Islands, Attica and Corinth. The town is also well known due to its mythological history, including the site of the "Baths of Aphrodite".

Other cities

The names of several other towns and cities in Europe and the Middle East have contained the suffix "-polis" since antiquity; or currently feature modernized spellings, such as "-pol". Notable examples include:

The names of other cities were also given the suffix "-polis" after antiquity, either referring to ancient names or simply unrelated:

Some cities have also been given nicknames ending with the suffix "-polis", usually referring to their characteristics:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Polignac, La naissance de la cité grecque (Paris 1984). An attempt to dissociate urbanization from state formation was undertaken by I. Morris, "The early polis as city and state" in J. Rich and A. Wallace-Hadrill, eds., City and Country in the Ancient World (London 1991) pp 27-40.
  2. ^ City government in Hellenistic and Roman Asia minor By Sviatoslav Dmitriev Page 68 ISBN 0195170423 (2005)
  3. ^ Encyclopedia of ancient Greece By Nigel Guy Wilson Page 627 ISBN 978-0-415-97334-2 (2006)
  4. ^ Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces By Christopher Howgego, Volhker Heuchert, Andrew Burnett Page 158 ISBN 0-19-923784-0 (2007)

Further reading