THE GREEK CITY-STATE
Whenever men live together in communities, no matter how small they
may be, some form of law has to be observed, in order to maintain
order, and that there may be justice between man and his neighbours.
The form that this law takes in different places and in different
communities is what is called government.
The earliest form of government in Greece was, like all primitive
government, that of the family, and the word of the head of the
family was law to all those belonging to it. The land on which they
lived belonged to the family as a whole, not to separate individuals,
and the dead were always buried there, until in time the family
claimed as their own that land, where they had lived for generations,
and where their ancestors were buried.
After a time it became more convenient for families to join together
and live in one community. By this means the labour of cultivating
the land could be more evenly distributed, and in times of attack
from enemies, larger and stronger forces could be used for defence.
This grouping of families {71} together made a _village_ and the
strongest and most capable man in the village would become its chief.
In time, just as families had found it more to their advantage to
group themselves together and form villages, so did the villages
living in the same neighbourhood find it a better thing to join
together and form a still larger community, which became known as a
kingdom, because instead of having a chief they were ruled by a king.
At first the kings, like the chiefs, were chosen because of their
ability and power, later the office became hereditary and was handed
down from father to son.
Now because the Greek communities lived in the plains, separated from
each other by mountains, instead of forming one large kingdom, they
formed a great many small ones. There was in ancient times no King
of Greece, but Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes and countless other
cities had their own independent forms of government, their own
rulers, their own armies, their own ships, and except that they were
all Greek and were all bound together by ties of language and
religion, they were quite independent of each other. All these
independent cities became known in time as City-States, for to the
Greek the state meant the city, the territory immediately surrounding
it was included in the state, but the city was the most important
part of it.
All communities are always governed in one of three ways: either by
one man, or by a few men, or by many men, and the Greeks tried all
these ways, until they found the one that answered best to their
ideals of what a city-state should be. All states did not {72}
develop in the same way, but one stands out from the others as having
most nearly reached the Greek ideal. That state was Athens. Her
story shall be told in its own place; in this chapter we will see
what the Greeks thought an ideal state should be, and what they
believed to be the duties of a good citizen.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote a book in which these ideals
were set forth.[1] He believed that the end for which the State
existed was that all its citizens could lead what he called a "good
life," and by that he meant the life which best gives opportunities
for man to develop his highest instincts, and which makes it possible
for every citizen to develop his own gifts whatever they may be, in
the highest and truest way. To realize such a life there must be law
and order in a state, and Aristotle considered that the first thing
necessary to ensure this was that the state must not be too large.
He believed that the greatness of a state was not determined by the
size of its territory or the number of its population, but that
though a certain size and certain numbers helped to make a state
dignified and noble, unless these were combined with good law and
order, the state was not great. States, he said, were like animals
and plants or things made by human art which, if they are too large,
lose their true nature and are spoilt for use. But how is one to
know when the limit in size and population has been reached? Is
there any test by which it can be discovered whether a state has
grown or is in danger of growing too large?
{73}
Aristotle answered this question by saying that the state must be
large enough to include opportunities for all the variety and
richness of what he called the "good life," but not so large that the
citizens could not see it or think of it in their minds as one whole
of which they knew all the parts. He also thought it necessary that
the character of all citizens should be well-known, an impossibility
in too large a community, but how else, he asked, could men elect
their magistrates wisely?
The duty of the State was, then, to ensure the possibility of a "good
life" to all its citizens. What was the Greek ideal of citizenship?
First of all, every citizen was expected to take a direct and
personal share in all the affairs of the State. To the Greek there
was no separation between private and public life, all things
concerning the State were his affairs, and it was expected that
everyone should have an opinion of his own, that he should think
clearly on all matters of common interest and not allow himself to be
swayed by his feelings without honestly thinking the matter out, and
to a Greek, thinking meant straight thinking, the power to know right
from wrong, to judge justly without prejudices or passion, to
separate the important from the unimportant, and to follow undismayed
wherever the truth might lead.
This belief in the duty of the citizen to be personally active in the
affairs of the State tended to keep the State small, for if every
citizen was to attend the meetings of the Assembly, the latter must
be of such a size that everyone could be heard if he desired to {74}
speak, and it was necessary that a very short journey should bring
the country-dweller into the city to attend to the State business,
for frequent journeys and long absences from his farm or his flocks
would be impossible for the countryman.
Further, the Greek believed that wealth was allowed to a man only as
a trust. Certain privileges and rights came to him because of its
possession, but they were privileges and rights that required of
their owner distinct duties. The more a man had, the more did the
State require of him; he had to give his time to the making of laws,
his wealth built ships, bore the expense of public festivals, adorned
the city with beautiful buildings, it was spent not on himself alone,
but shared with his fellow-citizens, and given to that which was
their common interest. This resulted in a passionate devotion of
every Greek to his city, for every individual had a definite share in
some way or other in the making of it, and by the sacrifice of his
life in times of danger, he proved again and again that he was in
very truth ready to die for it.
The ideal city demanded very high standards of her citizens, and no
Greek State attained these perfectly. But in their search for what
they conceived to be the highest perfection, the Greeks found out
truths both concerning government and the real meaning of citizenship
that have remained one of the priceless possessions of mankind.
[1] _The Politics of Aristotle_. See p. 384.
{75}