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This chapter traces the development of Greek society from Minoan times to the end of the Peloponnesian Wars. The heart of that process—the evolution of the polis—takes us from a group of simple fortified settlements to the great cities of the fifth century BCE, from a long period of dominance by aristocratic elites, through the rule of tyrants, to the emergence of the first true democracies in recorded history. From their concept of the polis, the Greeks developed a unique and immensely vital culture—a culture that in many ways became the foundation of Western civilization as a whole. Chapter 2 covers the social institutions common to Greek society and looks at daily life in two very different poleis (the plural of polis)—democratic Athens and conservative, aristocratic Sparta.
The chapter ends with the two great crises of ancient Greek history: the Persian War, which preserved Greek independence, and the Peloponnesian Wars, which set the stage for its eventual loss. |
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