After the Greek dark ages, exciting things began to happen in ancient Greece. Villages started to band together to form strong trading centers. These groups of villages that banded together were called city-states. Soon, hundreds of city-states had formed in ancient Greece. 

TO BE A CITIZEN OF A CITY-STATE: The ancient Greeks referred to themselves as citizens of their individual city-states. Each city-state (polis) had its own personality, goals, laws and customs. Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state. 

The city-states had many things in common. They all believed in the same gods. They all spoke the same language. 

But if you asked an ancient Greek where he was from, he would not say, "I live in Greece."  

If he was from Sparta, he would say, "I am  Spartan." 

If he lived in Athens, he would say, "I am Athenian." 

And so it went. The city-states might band together to fight a common foe, but they also went to war with each other. 

There was no central government in ancient Greece. Each city-state had its own form of government. Some city-states, like Corinth, were ruled by kings. Some, like Sparta, were ruled by a small group of men. Others, like Athens, experimented with new forms of government. 

Five of the most powerful Greek city-states

Athens

Sparta

Corinth

Megara

Argos

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