The Polis
During the Archaic Period of Ancient Greece, many communities segregated themselves into small, subdivided city-states. Such cities were small, but managed to establish the very roots of democracy today. The term "polis" can be defined as an independent state governed by its population. Such a definition is accurate, however also could be considered broad and constricted. In deeper aspects, the polis was an organized state or community that worked together in upholding equivalent rights with an effort to prevent tyranny, or a state governed by one person. The polis went through extensive political efforts to maintain its unity and natural rights. Such qualities of a state led to other enhancements of the polis such as the social, religious, and economic aspects of joined community. The polis developed shortly after Cultural Revolution of ancient Greece during the early Archaic Period. During this time period almost every aspect of life went experienced a major change. Socially and politically Greece began to develop greater stability. Unlike other areas, which developed mostly into personal leadership, Greece followed an antagonistic political principle of unity and basic equality. The polis emerged from such political ideolo
However the polis continually managed to maintain its ideology of communal unity. The political structure of the polis was based upon its value of equal representation and natural rights. The middle class also had a large number of non-citizens from foreign birth. Such occupations and economic liberty far outweighed the downside of non-citizenship. Although the polis did consist of several classes, none were distinguished too sharply and everyone was focused more on their community rather than themselves. 108) The citizens and all classes of the polis valued religion and culture very much. Such a class fell into the category of the middle class. The lower class of the polis was partly made up of freedmen, who at one time in their lives had been slaves. To citizen, there was no greater disgrace than being stripped of his citizenship. However, although a common religion was practiced by a huge majority of the population, it was not required by many of the lower classes. Bibliography References- Chester G. Individually, citizens of the polis had equal rights and commitments to their communities. Typically, a Greek state would contain an official that would act as the religious leader for the remaining population. The Greeks also believed there must be a leisure class, or there would be no standard for good taste, no encouragement of the arts, and no civilization.
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