How Did The Poleis Influence Ancient Greek Life

For the Ancient Greeks a polis, was what they called their small community. These poleis were known as city states and were specifically special for their philosophical purposes. Learning and the philosophical ways of life were very important. In Ancient Greek life, order and the way of life was also quite important. There needed to be structure and organization. These poleis were ruled by the citizens making them self-reliant and able to select their own ruler. Having the poleis be self-reliant helped shape the way the society functioned as well as the government and the social classes. This way of life was used in Athens and because of it, it made Athens a great and successful society.
Each polis was a small community which helped with

structure. It kept people close and allowed you to know the majority of your fellow community members. In the communities there was an urban center which contained the central place for the government and any other official needs. On the outskirts there were small homes and farmland. The farther you moved from the central point of the polis was where you could find crops and any other raw material needed by the community. Having the polis set up in such a way allowed for the most efficient way to live. This was important because every resource that was needed could be found in the polis. These poleis, even though they were quite small, were independent of each other. They did not rely on each other meaning that they needed to make sure they were ordered properly.
Without order and structure, nothing could get done.

There needed to be a way to have people be told what to do but to also let them have a say. By letting them have a say in how everyday life went it kept the citizens happy and helped to prevent rebellions. Citizens of poleis were self-governed. They controlled who was to be the ruler. By allowing the citizens this power they were able to agree more and keep the community, as small as it is, under control. Athens is a great example of how the poleis were self-governed. Athens ran a democracy for their government which was the first of its kind. A democracy is what allowed the citizens to vote for their leader and to vote on laws and regulations for the community. Creating such laws and consequences helped with the control and safety of the

community.
Even though democracy turned out to be a great thing for Athens and the people of Athens, as Eric Rymer said in “Development of Democracy in Athens”, it was a very slow process. Before democracy even was a thought in their minds, Athens was run with a monarchy type of government. The switch from a monarchy to a democracy started when they decided to have nine archons (chief magistrates) instead of one. This allowed for change every year instead of every ten years. During this transition a man named Solon helped all farmers out. He forgave all of their debts. The poor members of society had no say in the government but Solon did not make them pay taxes. They were still treated unfairly, but not having to pay taxes compensated for it.
Democracy really took effect when a statesman by the name of Cleisthenes introduced it to Athens.

With his introduction, he divided Athens into ten tribal groups. Before Cleisthenes introduced this new government, only a select few were able to vote. Now since Athens is a direct democracy, people can vote freely on the laws for themselves. Later on, Pericles was able to expand democracy throughout the whole of Athens. It was now not just part of the government but part of everyone's everyday lives. During the time period that Pericles was leader, Athens and the use of democracy flourished. The people were happy and Athens was stable and under control. Life in Athens was not something to complain

about.
After Pericles death however, Athens was forced to deal with the Peloponnesian War. After the war, Athen’s direct democracy was altered somewhat under the influence of Eucleides. Even after the democracy was restored there were still questions on whether or not it would be able to be back to the way it was before. Or even the fact if it was still a democracy at all. The changes influenced Athen’s life somewhat but the majority of day to day life appeared to be the same.
Overall, with the help of democracy and the use of poleis, Athens became known as a great place to live. The government cared about the people and what they had to say and the majority of people who lived there were happy and well content with the living situations. The city states were structured well because of organization. Such organization is what made Athens strong compared to other greek life that tried to transform their government into a democracy. Other places did try but none were as successful as Athens.