A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
This is the third and last part of our three(ish) part series looking at the governing structures of the Greek polis (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III). Over the last three sub-parts, we looked at the political structures created and manned by the politai. This week I want to look, briefly, beyond the politai themselves to … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, Part III: People and Gods Beyond the Politai
This is the third part of the second part of our three(ish) part look at the governing structures of the Greek polis (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III). At some point I promise I will write a series whose organization does not look like a parody of itself. Last time, we looked at the particular role … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis 101, Part IIc: The Courts
This is the second part of the second part of our three(ish) part look at the governing structures of the Greek polis (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III). Last time, we looked at the basic institutions of governance, how nearly every polis has magistrates, an assembly, and one or more councils which function together to govern … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part IIb: Archons
This is the second post of our three-part series (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III) looking at the structure of the ancient Greek polis. Last week we looked at how the Greeks understood the component parts of a polis, so this week we're going to look at how those parts were governed. The Greek term for … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part IIa: Politeia in the Polis
This is the first of a planned three part (I, IIa, IIb, IIc, III) look at the structure of the ancient Greek polis, the self-governing 'city state,' as part of a larger series on civic governance in the pre-modern world. Since I argued, way back in June of 2019, that a noble house in Game … Continue reading Collections: How to Polis, 101, Part I: Component Parts