The Roots of Archaic Greece
Tides of History
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The Ancient Greeks' Understanding of the City
The Greek concept of a city proved to be immensely influential. By the time Rome had extended its control over the entire Mediterranean in the 2nd century BC, ideas about cities had wound themselves into the cultural DNA of a much broader world. In modern discussions, the ancient Greek term polis is often used interchangeably with the political category we call a city-state. For the literate Greeks of that age, the polis was the unavoidable point of reference for all of political and social life.
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