The Greek civilization had a different system concerning the way institutions are organized compared to other communities of that time. The Greek invented the polis. “The polis was led by legally elected magistrates who held office for a limited period of time and this way there was constant negotiation between citizens and the magistrates.”. The polis had multiple advantages for the Greeks. It is important to study these advantages because like Perlman stated “the Greek polis has exercised influence on the development of the western civilisation and on modern thinking”. There is still a lot of interest in the Greek polis because of “the conviction that modern developments have not superseded the achievements or the experience of the Greek polis”. This means that there could be improvement in the city-state constitutions and interstate organisations in the future by studying the Greek polis. The main question to ask is: why was the Greek polis beneficial for the Greeks?
It can be assumed that the Greek polis functions as a state-less community. This means “there was an absence of an agency or class which monopolizes the use of violence” , which many times led to war. During the classical period, Perlman stated that “the Greeks separated themselves from the non-Greeks and they saw the non-Greeks as their enemy”. War often improved the social cohesion among the citizens because citizens had to protect each other from their mutual enemies. This is why citizens were often loyal to each other. The separation between the Greeks and the non-Greeks did not mean that the Greeks did not communicate with the other civilizations. A big part of this communication was the invention of coinage. Coinage made trade with other civilizations possible. When Greece expanded, Greece automatically became more impersonal and it was not always possible to trade face-to-face anymore. In the country, citizens hardly came across any strangers. In cities on the other hand, citizens were more likely to come across strangers. “Trade conducted with coinage suited a more impersonal world far better than transactions employing goods for barter.”.
The Greek polis was very successful for multiple centuries. “The Greeks were much more successful than their contemporaries in maintaining a lively sense of commonality within each polis”. The Greeks could spread their method of polis throughout a part of the Old World Web because of their colonies. This was a big political advantage for the Greeks. Colonies did not adopt the system of the polis because the Greeks from the homeland invaded the colonies. “The colonies often became Hellenised over a long period of time through immigration of individual Greek settlers and through regular contacts with neighbouring Hellenic communities.”. Hellenism is the culture or ideals of the ancient Greek.
The Greek polis did not only have political advantages, there were also economic advantages. Around 480 B.C.E. the Persians invaded Greece multiple times. The Greeks lost the battle of Salamis and the battle at Platea. Consequential, the classical polis changed. The views on war changed because of these Persian invasions. Berent explains that “the Greeks learned that battle could be more than a simple pushing contest between armoured men”. “War among the Greeks became less controllable and more frequent and vicious than before”. The Greeks gained access to the east in the fifth century because the Persians did not block the routes to the east anymore. “For the Greeks this meant an increase of trade, but also of plunder”. Because of the system of the classical polis, most Greeks learned how to fight and had a lot of military skills by the time they went to the east. The Greeks could plunder a lot in the east, because most locals in the east did not have these military skills. Berent makes clear that “the urbanization increased because of the wealth gained by plunder and trade”. “The numbers of slaves had increased, new professions had been introduced, and the division of labour within the Greek polis had become much more complex than before.”. This was very economically beneficial for the Greeks.
Religion played a big part in the lives of the Greeks as well. However, it was not the main aspect of the polis. Hansen stated that “most priests and priestesses who performed sacrifices and rituals were not polis officials and prophets and purifiers were marginalised in the polis”. “There was no part of religion distinct from or opposed to the polis”. There is a relationship between the polis and religion. “The polis makes use of the religion; the polis makes decisions about religion; the polis makes religion”.
The Greek polis was very successful and it helped the Greeks in a lot of different ways. Firstly, it improved the social cohesion. Because of the polis, the local Greeks were loyal to each other. Secondly, the Greeks could spread their polis throughout the Old World because of their colonies. Thirdly, when the classical Greek polis changed because of the Persian invasions, the Greeks had a big advantage because they learned how to fight a long time ago because of the use of violence in the polis. This way, the Greeks could gain a lot from plunder and trade. Lastly, the polis had influence on the religions which was beneficial for the polis. There was no such thing as polis versus religion. This way, the polis could develop without the religions interrupting this development and vice versa. So why was the Greek polis beneficial for the Greeks? The Greek polis had many different advantages for the Greeks. It had social, political, economic and religious advantages. This makes the Greek polis interesting till this day and it could have more positive influence on city-states in the future.
Bibliography
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