Innovations Responsible for the Development of the Polis (Essay Sample)

Innovations Responsible For the Development of the Polis
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Innovations Responsible For the Development of the Polis
There are many great nations and city-states in history. These early civilizations set the undertone for the development of the modern world. Thus, in our world today, we consider these kingdoms to be the pioneers of modern civilization. Despite the fame and glory of countries such as Rome, they all owe their form of governance and civilization to the Greek. Many historians consider Greece to be the source of modern civilization, with many of today’s form of culture in the legal system, religious organizations and political systems closely mimicking the civilizations Greece established during their golden age through city states such as Athens, Sparta and Peloponnese. Through the establishment of this structure, where one source of power stretched out across the city-states, or the polis, the Greeks were able to establish a system that allowed their culture to prosper and provide for every citizen. One can witness this being emulated across different forms of government in the world today, albeit with a tinge of modernity. The aim of this paper will be to look at the innovations responsible for the growth of the polis. It will also look at how understanding these innovations help us in identifying the Greek culture even in today’s modern systems.[Beck, Hans. A companion to ancient Greek government. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 47-48.]
For the Greeks to exist peacefully within a confined area that composed of different public and private housing there must have been a system that enabled them to communicate efficiently. One of the biggest advantages the Greeks had in establishing their polis was that they had a unifying language. All Greeks spoke their own language. As Daniel Deudny states in his book Bounding Power Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village, the importance of communication in any civilization is paramount. Without communication, there no other form of system can exist that would effectively unify the entire polis or nation. Therefore, for the Greeks to have a common language to communicate in, they were able to establish cities that could support a good economy involving trade and commerce and had effective legal, political and education systems.[Deudney, Daniel H. Bounding Power Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 71.]
One of the biggest advantages of this innovation, which was a pillar in the establishment of the numerous Greek city-states, was that it spread to other trading cities, forming an intricate web of communication channels across the Mediterranean. There was an interdependent role between the growth of a polis and its effect on neighboring city-states. For example, the Greeks had a close relationship with both the Phoenician city-states such as Tyre in Lebanon and in Africa such as cities in Egypt. This spread and mixture of cultures has helped in the absorption of these nations’ cultures to other world cultures, a relationship that lasts to this day. For example, the architecture used in Greece is evident in many European and even Middle Eastern countries.[Bugh, Glenn Richard. The Cambridge companion to the Hellenistic world. Cambridge University Press. 29.] [Bugh Glenn Richard. . The Cambridge companion to the Hellenistic world. 51.]
For the Greeks to have the unity that was required for the survival of a polis, they also required to have a unifying religion. The Greek religion is world famous to this day, with their god Jupiter and many other correspondent gods. However, just like in today’s world, these religions had a social impact on the society, ensuring the limitations of moral-ethic line within the huge community. To accomplish such a feat, religious organizations such as temples and shrines had to have a system of governance that gave the people a form of leadership.[Beck, Hans. A companion to ancient Greek government. 73.]
This form of mixing the state with the religious organizations was very evident in the Roman Empire, the kingdom that succeeded the Greek empire after its downfall. The Romans took this idea and majored on ensuring that it was used to exercise control of the nation, though they entirely mixed the religious and political systems of their kingdom. The Greeks did not major on providing a system that oversaw to every facet in life. Rather, the aim of the system of their polis was to provide a system that enabled every citizen to participate in what were national activities, such as market trading and participating in polis elections for every capable man. Therefore, the religion acted as another form of governance, but rather one that was controlled by individual morals. These morals were however also highly expected of every man, as highlighted by the many philosophers from these Hellenistic times such as Aristotle, Plato and Socrates.[Beck, Hans. A companion to ancient Greek government. 90]
The third innovation that assisted the Greek polis in its establishment is the civic and custom institutions. The Greek are the first civilization to establish what seems to have worked very well for them as a form of democracy, where according to Greek myth, Theseus ruled the first Greek polis at Athens. This was through establishing a city-state that was responsible for all forms of government throughout that region. Though a myth, this is a probable story that might explain the structures that brought about the development of these poleis. Understanding the importance of the civil-custom systems used in many Greek poleis assists any historian to identify the origins of democracy, as we know it today. The form of governance that existed for any polis involved a mixture of many forms of leadership, including religious and socio-linguistic channels.[Beck, Hans. A companion to ancient Greek government. 24.]
The civic and custom institutions are also of great importance in the study of Greek government since they show how their history led to the formation of the democratic process. Though Greek myth holds that the beginnings of their settlements in areas termed as poleis were aristocratic, they seem to have evolved into a process that involved any economically important citizen of the state. These were also the beginnings of citizenship as members of any polis tried to become permanent members. This change occurred due to the overthrow of the kingship by an aristocratic class that began to rule as a council. Soon enough, it became evident that the rule of the aristocratic class did not favor the poor, therefore necessitating the need to involve more members of the society who had a role in its growth and independence, such as farmers and soldiers. This history is of importance since it highlights the importance of independence and security ...