The Greek Polis and the Greek Ideal
I. What is a polis?
II. Before the polis: kings, horses, and aristocrats
A. Kings
B. Dorian Invasions: horses and geography shape political power
1. power and wealth tied to families
2. those who fight have a voice in government
III. Emergence of the polis at beginning of the Archaic Age (800 – 500 B.C.E.)
A. Factors in the development of the polis
1. the phalanx and hoplites
2. trade
B. The phalanx and trade transform the nature of Greek communities
1. more warriors means more men with a voice in government
2. those involved in trade grow wealth
C. Shared characteristics of the poleis (plural of polis)
1. Government and patterns of development
2. Citizenship as key organizing principle
3. Equality before the law for citizens
4. Training and maintenance of military (hoplites)
5. Active participation in civic/religious life
6. Slavery
D. Conflicts: wealth/poverty; family/polis; free/not free; rational/irrational
IV. Two versions of the polis – two responses to the problems of poverty and conflict
A. Sparta
1. military state
2. caste system: Spartiates, perioikoi, helots
3. Lykurgus and the Constitution
4. education and citizen participation
5. a closed society
B. Athens
1. early institutions of government
2. reformers
a. Draco, c. 625 B.C.E.
b. Solon, c. 594 B.C.E.
c. Pisistratus, c. 560 B.C.E.
(tyrants and tyranny)
d. Cleisthenes, C. 510 B.C.E.
3. increasingly broad base of participation
4. an open society
a. political liberty to participate in government
b. private liberty to live as one pleased
V. The Greek polis and the Greek ideal