City-States
We hear a lot about Athens and Sparta, but what were some of the other ancient Greek city-states? There was Corinth, which was the richest commercial city of ancient Greece. City-States became common in Greece about 700 B.C. In Greek the word for City-Sate was polis. Athens and Sparta were the largest Greek City-State. The center of the city life was the agora. The ancient Greeks did not have one king or queen. They lived in city-states. Each city-state was a separate political unit. Daily life was somewhat different in the Greek city-state of Athens, for example, than it was in the city-state of Sparta, or even in Corinth! The ancient Greeks referred to themselves, however, as citizens of their individual city-states. Each city-state (polis) had its own personality, goals, laws and customs. Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state. Athens and Sparta are two good examples of city-states that contrasted greatly with each other.