polis means city State. In Ancient Greece, the polis was a small territory geographically located at the highest point of the region, and whose characteristics were equivalent to a city. The emergence of the polis was one of the most important aspects in the development of Greek civilization.
Made up of an urban agglomeration, it encompassed the entire public life of a small territory and was generally protected by a fortress. It comprised all citizens except slaves, metecs, and members of subjugated populations, and distinguished itself from other cities by the name of its inhabitants.
The polis were created from the disintegration of Homeric society, which was constituted by the genos - communities composed of people with a common ancestor and headed by a pater (Chief Patriarch of each community). The polis were already found in the first urban communities of Mesopotamia and, as they increased, they could come to constitute nations or empires.
How the lands were cultivated collectively between the
genos, population growth has sparked conflicts for more land and food. That's how the struggles in defense of the lands and the formation of factories, who later organized to form tribes.The grouping of the tribes begins the formation of the polis, which develop from the 8th century BC. a., in the Archaic Period.
The creation of the polis was favored by the progress of agriculture, trade and the emergence of the textile industry, as well as the intensification of political life. When the inhabitants of widespread settlements moved their residence close to the forts, the acropolis became the political center of the polis.
The polis was a social organization made up of free citizens who discussed and drafted the laws relating to the city. Within the limits of a polis were the Agora and the Acropolis, in addition to the urban and rural spaces. Agriculture was the basis of the polis economy.
The Agora was a large public square, a space where citizens gathered for commercial activities, political discussions, and civic and religious demonstrations.
The Acropolis was a fortification where were the monuments, temples and palaces of rulers.
greek polis
Also known by the ancient Cretans, Syrians, Phoenicians, Etruscans and Romans, it was, however, in Greece that the prototype of polis was developed, from the 8th century BC onwards. Ç. It reached its apogee in the 6th - 5th centuries a. Ç. having Athens served as a model for other cities.
Originally ruled by kings, the oligarchic regime became widespread, while some cities returned to tyranny. The polis, with a tendency towards political autonomy, the veneration of its own divinity and economic autarchy, was characterized by the existence of ecclesia, gives teapot and of the heliaia. Not all of Greece had this organization, and not all polis were independent.
Thus, although the most important, the polis was not the only form of state among the Greeks. With the expansion of Rome and Macedonia, the structures of the polis came to a standstill and from the Hellenistic period onwards they lost their effectiveness. During the period of Roman rule its original meaning changed.