The Emergence of Democratic Polis Communities - Essay Example

Global History The causal chain (what caused what) which led to the emergence of democratic polis communities. In 10th century the growth of population brought great pressure on the available land in Greek. It led to the age of colonization, in the 6th century Greek stretched far beyond the Aegeans, from the Black Sea, France and Sicily in the west and Libya in the south. But this was the result of centuries during which other factors also contributed Greek settled in the south Italy in order to trade whether for the wealth or metal which they needed in Greek. The traders and farmers were not the only agents disseminating Greek ways and teaching Greek about the outside world. Homer shows us a polity of kings and aristocrats but even his days it was the relic of the past. The title of the king sustained and in Sparta there were two kings at once. In historical times the power was transferred from monarchs to aristocrats in all of the cities of Greek. Aristocracy, the ruling elite, depended upon on lands; the members of the ruling clans were the owner of great estates. The lands not provided them their livelihood but the surplus wealth for costly arms and horses. Below the aristocracy there were other Ranks in the early cities. They were the Freemen who worked on their lands and sometimes they worked for others. Aristocracy considered the menial jobs and jobs degrading. This was the reason that commerce was dominated by foreign residents in Athens but they were not granted the civic privileges. The foreign traders provided the services which Greek citizens could provide to themselves. In those days slavery was taken for granted in Greek. It was taken as a social institution. The slaves did all tasks for the society; they performed the tasks for agriculture to teaching. Slaves and foreign residents were most probably the influential factor to influence Greek from the Near East. Comparatively the Greek was a rapidly changing society. Towards the end of 7th century an important development occurred. There followed an upsurge of commerce. New economic relationship surfaced as trade became easier for Greek with the non-Greek world. Silver replaced the barter system and coinage was introduced which was used in internal and external trade both. Athens assured the import of grain; she desperately needed, by specializing in wine making, olive oil and pottery Commercial expansion meant not only that the land was the only source of living but more people could buy the land to have a status of nobility in the society. It brought a revolution both in political and military meanings. The new wealthy group people had the resources now to get armors and arms and the regiment of 'hoplites' Hoplites completely depended on their powers to act as a disciplined force. It culminated among them the need for unity. They started discussing their problems in public sittings. Such collective agreement was the beginning of polis- the city state. New wealth meant new men so the aristocracy became the victim of the wealthy class. The new men replaced aristocracy, they set a government which less gave honor to traditional values. The tyrants, who replaced the aristocracy, brought peace after the skirmishes, arising because of the pressure on lands. They introduced a system of magistrates and believed in providing justice to the aggrieved. All these internal and of course external influence were the major factors which led to the concept of city state in Greek civilization. Anderson. Perry. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. London, Verso, 1974 Roberts. J.M. The History of the World. New York. Viking Penguin Inc. 1983. (2) The other factors were also responsible for the emerging of the city states in Greek The geography of Greek also played an important role in the formation of the city states. The territory of a city state was one of the narrow valleys and it had menial resources to provide for sustenance. The soil of Attica was not very fertile and Athens would have to depend on imported grain Dialect intensified the sense of independence latent in the mountains separating a city from its neighbors. Fighting shoulder to shoulder The hoplite wore helmet, body armor and carried a shield. He used spear as his main weapon, which he did not throw. It helped him to thrust and stabbed in the fight. Then followed a charge by ordered formation of spearmen. The lands, which provided grain to Greek, could be easily invaded by the invaders, consequently devastating the small tracts of plains where the most of the crop was grown. On such plains hoplites would charge in mass. Their unity was their power actually. Hoplite depended on the right hand side by the shield of his neighbor. Keeping the ordered line was crucial The ability to act collectively was the great tactic in warfare. The greatest achievement of Athens was to disperse the kin of clans. Men of modest means could run the institutions. Those institutions provided protection The year 776 BC, proved to be a very significant period in the history Greek. In that year the first Olympian games were held. This event was sufficed to provide self- consciousness to Greek civilizations. "After a few centuries the Greek would count from this year as we count from the birth of Christ." (Robert, History of the world, p # 178) Anderson. Perry. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. London, Verso, 1974 P# 26-28 The theatre was the arena to assert the individualism and the worth of an individual. The heroes were seen asserting themselves against the predetermined fate. Fighting against all odds the hero, though suffered, but taught a lesson to face the cruelties of life with all forbearance. All these factors contributed in the formation of the democratic set up of the Greek civilization. The talking tools were actually slaves who were given the responsibility to have a check on the ruler surroundings. Gradually they gained power Instead of freedom in the city state the slavery was not abolished. Slavery was the part of Greek civilization. Aristotle was of the view that slaves are born slaves because nature did not give them the right of freedom. Slavery was a prevailing fact and it contributed a great deal in the nascent years of Greek city life. Athens was able to produce pottery, wine and olive oil because of slavery. J.M. Roberts points out that slavery was all pervasive and remained a common feature in the Christian world for so long. Greek did not like the menial jobs, and they considered the manual work as degradation of the nobles, so no scientific method was established in Greek. Moreover, slavery was also the reason of the stalemate in scientific progress. The wars were fought to gain economic objectives. Plunder was the main objective to wage wars. "Military power was more closely locked to economic growth than in perhaps any other mode of production----- [and] battle fields provided the man power for corn fields."4 (3) In Antiquity the church ruled Europe. Europe also went through the great period of recession. In mediaeval ages there were no cities in Europe but the towns, which were the self sufficient units. In the recession period the wine became luxury and the question was of survival. The new plough was introduced and with the diffusion of mills the agro economy improved to provide people means. It was difficult for the 'barbaric' and illiterate kings to win the command of the people; living remote from the centre. Kings distributed lands to some people and in return gained their loyalty. A new class of landowners emerged who was proud of its lineage instead of military prowess. It was the beginning of feudalism in Europe. Feudalism had its roots in Roman and "barbarian" Germanic legacies also. In the later days of the empire it had become a common practice to 'commend' themselves to a great lord for protection. In return of their protection they offered him loyalty and provided him the services. "This was a usage easily assimilated to practices of Germanic society."5 The practice of 'vassals' of the king began under the Carolingians. This practice was to pay homage to the king. The king was their lord and they were his men. The old loyalties of blood brotherhood and companions of wars blended itself to a new moral value of commendation. Vassals then bred vassals. It promoted the hierarchy of the land owners. 4. Anderson. Perry. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. London, Verso, 1974 P# 28 5. Roberts. J.M. The History of the World. New York. Viking Penguin Inc, 1983. P# 400 Read More