Athens and Sparta were the big two
city-states
in ancient Greece, or so they believed. But they were not the only city-states. 4000 years ago, there were many city-states in the ancient Greek world. The Greeks who lived in each city-state were proud of their hometown. They were also proud to be Greek.
All Greeks, wherever they made their home, had things in common.
TO BE GREEK: The ancient Greeks all spoke the same language. They believed in the same gods. They shared a common heritage. They perceived themselves as Greeks.
TO BE A CITIZEN OF A CITY-STATE: The ancient Greeks referred to themselves, however, 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.
There
were three main forms of government in ancient Greece:
-
Monarchy: Rule by a king.
One city-state whose government was a monarchy was the city-state of
Corinth.
-
Oligarchy: Rule by a small group.
One city-state whose government was an oligarchy was the city-state of
Sparta.
-
Democracy: Rule by the citizens, voting in an assembly.
One city-state whose government experimented for about a hundred years
with democracy was the ancient city-state of Athens.
