Ancient world cities: government and warfare

Ancient World Cities and Government Warfare

How were ancient city-states an intersection of these things (i.e. cities, governments and warfare?

Throughout history the greatest civilizations were a combination of cities, governments and warfare. In the case of ancient Greece, this took place with the organization of the city state itself (called a polis). This means city, but it also has deeper military roots. What happened was groups of farmers and wealthy landowners came together to create a defensible position against attack (hence the name polis). Over the course of time, as more people fell under a protective area, is when this definition shifted to mean city and the culture that it embraces. This is how cities such as Athens and Sparta were created to become the most dominate states. (Kries, 2009)

Once they were formed is when the ideas of the group would have an impact upon the kind of government that was established. In the case of Athens, the changing definition meant that the city would become a military power and cultural center. This led to the ideas of liberalism and human rights among different thinkers such as Plato and Socrates. While Sparta was focused on limiting these rights and wanted to ensure that the city was always defended against aggressors. The way that this was accomplished was to have all young men begin training to serve in the army until they are the age of 18. Then, when they are between 18 and 28 is when they would serve as a solider in the army. At age 30, is when they were granted full citizenship. These differences are important in showing how warfare would have an impact upon the way the city was formed and the kind of government that was established. (Kries, 2009)

In the case of the Persians, warfare had an impact on the organization of the cities and the government. What happened was the Persians wanted to dominate any nation they conquered by having them accept the Persian leader as their king. This meant that there was an emphasis on having different parts of the empire pay tribute to the king. A good example of this can be seen with Darius I establishing large statues, roads and a taxation system. This was a part of an effort to be able to show the dominance of the king and force other regions to submit to his rule. The way that this had an impact on the government was to focus its resources on addressing the needs of the king. This caused many cities to have ruling classes that were dominated by officials, who were close to the nobility vs. everyone else. These elements are important in showing how the Persian cities were a combination of warfare, metropolitan areas and governments with an emphasis on the king / state. ("The Achaemenid Persian Empire," 2010)