The Development of the Early Greek City-State

Module code: AH2021

In this module we will explore the development of Greek city-states between the 10th and early 5th centuries BC. This was an exciting and formative period for the Greek world, which saw the birth of the Greek alphabet, the so-called ‘rise of the polis’ and the spread of Greek communities across the Mediterranean world.

We will examine the process by which small Iron Age communities developed into large urbanised city-states through primary source material (including literary texts, inscriptions, visual images, archaeological remains and landscapes) and critical evaluation of the secondary scholarship.