ANCIENT GREECE CITY STATES INTRODUCTION

For the ancient Greeks, who had no real national identity, city-based loyalties predominated all the time. They were emotionally committed to their cities.

Some of these ancient Greek cities became so economically and militarily powerful that they were able to act like miniature nations: they invaded other communities, had complex foreign policy goals, and organized coalitions of other cities. These more influential cities are remembered by history as the city-states.

The best known city states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta was based in a southern portion of Greece known as the Peloponnesus. Athens was situated in Attica, a peninsular outcrop of the larger Greek peninsula.

The Peloponnesus is a long, narrow island south the Gulf of Corinth, off the tip of the Greek peninsula. It is connected to the Greek mainland by a narrow land bridge. The Peloponnesus contained not only of Sparta, but also Olympia, the site of the Olympic Games.

When the Persian Empire invaded Greece in 490 B.C. and 480 B.C., Sparta and Athens cooperated to expel their common foreign adversaries. But the Persian invasions of this period did not lead to greater cooperation and integration between Sparta and Athens over the long term. On the contrary, Athens and Sparta responded to the Persian invasions by becoming more competitive with each other. What began as an arms race against the Persians morphed into an arms race between the Greek city-states.

After an uneasy cold war, Athens and Sparta ultimately fought a major conflict with each other, the twenty-seven year conflict known as the Peloponnesian War. Athens was technically the loser of the Peloponnesian War in military terms, but the entire Greek nation suffered the war’s consequences. Athens and Sparta pulled their allies into their feud, so the destruction was widespread. Moreover, the war left a huge power vacuum in Greece. This left the Greeks vulnerable to the political manipulations of the Persian Empire, and later the conquest of Phillip II of Macedon.

The Greeks were not entirely to blame, of course. Their subjugators—Rome, Macedon, and the Ottoman Empire—were all successful in the conquest of numerous other nations. But there is a chance that a united Greek front might have turned the tide. If the Greek nation had not been so divided in classical times, it might have avoided much of this unfortunate history.



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	Introduction to the Greek city-states For the ancient Greeks, who had no real national identity, city-based loyalties predominated all the time. They were emotionally committed to their cities. Some of these ancient Greek cities became so economically and militarily powerful that they were able to act like miniature nations: they invaded other communities, had complex foreign policy goals, and organized coalitions of other cities. These more influential cities are remembered by history as the city-states. The best known city states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta was based in a southern portion of Greece known as the Peloponnesus. Athens was situated in Attica, a peninsular outcrop of the larger Greek peninsula. The Peloponnesus is a long, narrow island south the Gulf of Corinth, off the tip of the Greek peninsula. It is connected to the Greek mainland by a narrow land bridge. The Peloponnesus contained not only of Sparta, but also Olympia, the site of the Olympic Games. When the Persian Empire invaded Greece in 490 B.C. and 480 B.C., Sparta and Athens cooperated to expel their common foreign adversaries. But the Persian invasions of this period did not lead to greater cooperation and integration between Sparta and Athens over the long term. On the contrary, Athens and Sparta responded to the Persian invasions by becoming more competitive with each other. What began as an arms race against the Persians morphed into an arms race between the Greek city-states. After an uneasy cold war, Athens and Sparta ultimately fought a major conflict with each other, the twenty-seven year conflict known as the Peloponnesian War. Athens was technically the loser of the Peloponnesian War in military terms, but the entire Greek nation suffered the war’s consequences. Athens and Sparta pulled their allies into their feud, so the destruction was widespread. Moreover, the war left a huge power vacuum in Greece. This left the Greeks vulnerable to the political manipulations of the Persian Empire, and later the conquest of Phillip II of Macedon. The Greeks were not entirely to blame, of course. Their subjugators—Rome, Macedon, and the Ottoman Empire—were all successful in the conquest of numerous other nations. But there is a chance that a united Greek front might have turned the tide. If the Greek nation had not been so divided in classical times, it might have avoided much of this unfortunate history.