Greek poleis: Athens, Sparta and the colonies

Most Greek cities formed from the union of several settlements and were called “polis” (city-state). Each polis had its own army, and poleis often fought each other. The army’s core was heavily armed soldiers — hoplites — who fought in dense ranks called a phalanx. Athens grew on the Attic peninsula around the Acropolis (“upper city”). The population fell into three groups: citizens, foreigners (metics) and slaves; only citizens had full rights. Athens had no state schools: parents paid for their sons’ education under a pedagogue’s supervision; from age 7 boys learned reading, writing and counting, then attended the palaestra (gymnastics school), and from 14 trained in sports and military skills. In the 12th century BCE the Dorians in southern Greece (Laconia) founded the city-state of Sparta. The Spartans turned the local people, the helots, into state-owned serfs; there were also free but not fully equal perioikoi. Sparta came to resemble a military camp: boys received harsh military training and entered the army at 20; trade and arts were weak.