Origin of the polis

The first cities appeared in Greece between the 800 and the 500 BC. During this time, many landowners got together to build economical and political centers that were mainly ruled by the nobles. They developed also a characteristic form of economical and governmental organization: the city-state as a community of citizens. The basis of such societies were the private property and a consensus of rules. The polis were autonomous and sovereign states with an own assembly. They consisted of a single city and its surrounding areas and each one maintained clear differences with the rest.

The farmers in the respective polis were mostly linked to them in a status of dependence, and were forced to pay taxes, to pay an amount according to their productivity or to offer service. It was also during these years that the art and the construction in stone reappeared…