How Did The Poleis Influence Ancient Greek Life

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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 …show more content…

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 …show more content…

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

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