The Return of the Polis: The Use and Meanings of the Word Polis in Archaic and Classical Sources (Historia - Einzelschriften)

Polis, in plural poleis, is the word the ancient Greeks used to describe their principal type of state and community and the most common of all nouns in ancient Greek. In Archaic and Classical sources there are over 11,000 attestations of the word, and they show that it was used in two different senses: (1) town (sometimes including the hinterland) and (2) state (sometimes including the territory). Often it carries both senses simultaneously and denotes both the state and its urban centre. The Copenhagen Polis Centre (1993-2005) conducted a number of investigations into the use and meanings of the term polis in all Archaic and Classical sources to find out what the Greeks thought a polis was. The present volume is a thoroughly revised and updated comprehensive publication of all these studies, to which four new studies have been added. They show that the two different meanings of the word polis are connected through their reference: with very few exceptions every polis town was the urban centre of a polis state, and conversely: virtually every polis state had an urban centre called a polis in the sense of town. CONVENTIONS 8 INTRODUCTION 10 WAS EVERY POLIS TOWN THE CENTRE OF A POLIS STATE? 14 I 14 II 23 III 39 IV 46 APPENDIX – MULTIPOLATE ISLANDS AND REGIONS 49 WAS EVERY POLIS STATE CENTRED ON A POLIS TOWN? 53 TABLE 1 – URBAN CENTRES OF COMMUNITIES ATTESTED AS POLEIS IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 58 TABLE 2 – URBAN CENTRES OF COMMUNITIES NOT ATTESTED AS POLEIS IN THE POLITICAL SENSE BUT WITH A MINT 65 POLIS USED IN THE SENSE OF HINTERLAND OR TERRITORY 68 INSCRIPTIONS 74 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 83 HEKATAIOS 93 HERODOTOS 105 LIST OF POLEIS 108 APPENDIX 1 – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 130 APPENDIX 2 – BARBARIAN POLEIS 133 THUCYDIDES 136 LIST OF POLEIS 138 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL Sense 152 XENOPHON 157 1. Anabasis 157 LIST OF POLEIS 158 APPENDIX 1 – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 160 APPENDIX 2 – BARBARIAN POLEIS 160 2. Hellenika 161 LIST OF POLEIS 164 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 172 3. Other Works 173 LIST OF POLEIS 174 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 175 FRAGMENTS OF HISTORIANS 176 1. Ephoros 177 2. Theopompos 178 3. The Hellenica Oxyrhynchia 181 4. Minor historians 183 5. Pherekydes and Hellanikos 185 (a) Pherekydes 185 (b) Hellanikos 187 APPENDIX – POLIS AND POLITAI IN PALAIPHATOS 190 THE ATTIC ORATORS 193 1. Demosthenes 193 2. Isokrates 198 3. The Other Orators 200 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED BY THE ORATORS IN THE POLITICAL SENSE ABOUT POLEIS OTHER THAN ATHENS 202 PSEUDO-SKYLAX 205 1. Date 205 2. Composition 206 3. Subdivision into Chapters and Headings of Chapters 207 4. Terminology and Site-Classification 208 5. List of Sites Classified by Pseudo-Skylax 212 6. Pseudo-Skylax’s Use of the Term Polis 215 7. The Periplous West of Hellas (1–33) 216 8. The Periplous of Hellas (34–65) 217 9. The Periplous North, East and South of Hellas (66–112) 219 10. Conclusion 223 LIST OF POLEIS 224 A. The Regions West of Hellas 1–33 224 B. Hellas 34–65 225 C. The Regions North, East and South of Hellas 66–112 231 APPENDIX 1 – TOPONYMS LISTED UNDER THE HEADING ΠΟΛΕΙΣ (ΕΛΛΗΝΙΔΕΣ) ΑΙΔΕ 239 APPENDIX 2 – LIST OF BARBARIAN POLEIS 240 AINEIAS THE TACTICIAN 244 LIST OF POLEIS 244 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 246 PHILOSOPHERS 247 LIST OF POLEIS 248 1. Presocratic Philosophers 248 2. Plato 249 3. Aristoteles 249 4. Theophrastos 250 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 251 1. Presocratic Philosophers 251 2. Platon 251 3. Aristoteles 251 4. Theophrastos 253 POETS 254 LIST OF POLEIS 256 APPENDIX – ATTESTATIONS OF POLIS USED IN THE POLITICAL SENSE 259 INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 261