Antique Greek cities arose even before our era. They were built by representatives of an ancient civilization that spread far beyond the borders of modern Greece. Where did its borders go? Where were the cities built and how did they change over time?
Ancient civilization
At present, the Republic of Greece is a state in Europe, located in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and on the adjacent islands. It is washed by five seas and covers an area of 131, 957 square kilometers.
A small European country is the successor to culture, which influenced the development of science and art throughout Western civilization. In the history of its development there are such periods:
- Critic-Mycenaean (III-I millennium BC. E.);
- Homer (XI -IX centuries. BC. e.);
- archaic (VIII-VI centuries. BC. e.);
- classic (V-IV centuries. BC. e.);
- Hellenistic (second half of the 4th - the middle of the 1st century BC).
By the way, Ancient Greece was not a single state with strict borders and capital. And represented many independent cities that fought and competed with each other. Most of the cultural achievements of this civilization known to us were made in the era of its heyday - the classical period when the policies of the Aegean Sea united in an alliance led by Athens.
The first Greek cities
Three thousand years ago on the island of Crete there was a pre-Greek population with a highly developed culture. They already had religious cults, a complex political and economic structure, fresco painting and even writing. All this will be attributed to the first tribes of the Greeks - the Achaeans, subduing and assimilating the Minoans.
First they conquered the Balkan Peninsula and local agricultural tribes. Together with the pre-Greek peoples in Crete, the Achaeans gave rise to the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization. Here begins the formation of the Greek nationality.
In the second millennium BC, the Mycenaeans already had their own cities (Mycenae, Athens, Tiryns, Orkhomen). Like the Minoans, their centers were chic palaces. But, unlike the previous peaceful culture, the Mycenaean cities were surrounded by powerful walls. Inside them, as a rule, there was another wall surrounding the palace and the acropolis.
The barbaric tribes that suddenly appeared succeeded in destroying the Mycenaean civilization. Only a few locals remained (Ionians, Aeolians). The invasion of the barbaric Dorians and related tribes pushed the development of culture hundreds of years ago.
Wooden and clay houses replace the former two-story palaces, there is no trade relationship. At the same time, military action, piracy and slavery are intensified. In addition, the population is engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, and Greek cities are more like villages.
Great colonization
In the archaic period, society is divided into classes. The level of agriculture, crafts and military power is growing. The city is becoming an important economic, religious and political center. In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. shipbuilding is developing, and with it the trade in products and slaves.
Metropolis begin to send colonists to develop new lands. On the shores of the Northern Black Sea Region, the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor, fortified city-states, or policies, appear. So there is Miletus, Colophon, Olbia (Ionians), Smyrna (Aeolians), Halicarnassus, Chersonesos (Dorians). Greek civilization extends from modern Rostov-on-Don all the way to Marseille.
Colonization takes place mainly in a peaceful way. A special person, an oikist, chooses a landing site, negotiates with local tribes, conducts purification rites, and plans to locate the settlement.
Policies were usually located on the coast, near sources with drinking water. One of the main criteria for choosing a place was the topography. It was supposed to provide natural protection, it is desirable that there were elevations to accommodate the acropolis.
Life in policies
Ordinary workers dissatisfied with local tyrant aristocrats often subscribed to the fate of the colonists. In the colonies, the influence of tribal traditions is not so noticeable that it allows you to grow not only the economy, but also culture. Very soon, policies become prosperous states with rich art, architecture and an active socio-political life.
Standard Greek cities were inhabited by 5 to 10 thousand people. Their territory covered up to 200 square meters. km The population of large policies totaled up to two hundred thousand people (Sparta, Lacedaemon). Viticulture, olive oil production, gardening and horticulture represented the basis of the economy and was sold through exchange of goods or sale. The population consisted mainly of farmers and artisans.
Policies were democratic republics. The basis of society was civil society. Each had a land plot as a guarantee of his obligations to the policy. With the loss of the site, he lost his civil rights. There were up to two thousand full citizens (male warriors) participating in politics. The remaining residents (foreigners, slaves, women and children) did not vote.
Policy Planning
The first policies did not have a clear structure and layout. Ancient Greek cities were built in accordance with the terrain. A port or harbor was created on the coast. Policies often had a "two-tier system." On the hill was the acropolis (upper city), surrounded by powerful walls.
In the acropolis were the main temples and monuments. In the lower city there were residential buildings and a market square - agora. She served as the center of political and public life. It housed the courthouse, assembly and People’s Council, transactions were made and city decisions were made.
In the classical period, policies gain a systemic layout developed by Hippodamus. Residential neighborhoods and streets form a grid with rectangular or square cells. Agora and houses are located strictly within the cells. All objects are grouped around several wide main streets. Over the centuries, this plan was taken as a basis by architects in New York and other cities.
Names of Greek cities
The borders of Ancient Greece affected the territories of many current countries: Bulgaria, Ukraine, Italy and others. Thriving colonial cities have long been turned into ruins, and their names, for political and social reasons, have changed.
The former names have preserved modern Greek cities. There are still Athens, Corinth, Thessaloniki, Chalkis in the world. In some countries, they only changed their names a little, for example, the Aragragant colony in Italy became Agrigento, and Gela became Jelly. In the Northern Black Sea region, the modern names of Greek cities have become completely unrecognizable.
Listed below are those ancient Greek cities of the Black Sea that have changed their names. In brackets are their modern names and location:
- Panticapaeum (Kerch, Crimea);
- Kerkinitida (Evpatoria, Crimea);
- Dioscuria (Sukhumi, Abkhazia);
- Khersones (near Sevastopol, Crimea);
- Olbia (near Ochakovo, Nikolaev region, Ukraine);
- Cafe (Feodosia, Crimea).
