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 a
Spartan." If he lived in Athens, he would say, "I am
Athenian." The city-states might band together to fight a common
foe. But they also went to war with each other. Greece was not yet one
country. Ancient Greece was a collection of Greek city-states.
Because Greece was not yet one
country, there was no central government in
ancient Greece. Greece was never unified until it was conquered by
Alexander the Great. It remained a collection of city-states.
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. Sometimes
these city-states cooperated, sometimes they fought each other.
