Al Mina in SYRIA, Naucratis in Egypt, and PISTYRUS in THRACE; it is not certain, however, if an absolute distinction between emporia and apoikiai can be maintained.
A key development of the archaic age was the emergence of the polis, usually translated as “city‐state,” as the most characteristic form of political organization throughout the Greek world. The Greek poleis shared key physical features, and a fundamental similarity in political organization, having replaced the monarchies of the Bronze Age with independent oligarchic systems dominated by one or several aristocratic families. The polis was far from universal in the Greek world—federations and kingdoms endured in the Peloponnese and in central and northern Greece (Morgan 2003)—but the widespread distribution of the polis and its normative status in Greek political thought have led some to argue that it may have emerged early, in the course of the Dark Age. Physical evidence for governing and civic structures, and legal and political inscriptions, only appear in the seventh century and later, however. The rise of the hoplite phalanx, trained and well‐armed infantry recruited from the ranks of the moderately wealthy land‐holders, as the dominant element in cities’ ARMIES may have put pressure on the elites to share access to power. The role of the dēmos, the (exclusively male) citizen body as a whole, was limited to approving LAWS, and the lowest orders—the plēthos or thētes—were often excluded from the full rights of citizenship. Intra‐elite conflict (so Forsdyke 2005) or struggles of the disenfranchised to gain more power in the cities led to STASIS, civic unrest. One common result was the establishment of tyrannies, in which an individual used personal prestige, popular support, and in some cases external backing to seize power and rule unconstitutionally. Although as a rule respecting the constitutional norms of their cities, TYRANTS were by and large not successful in establishing dynasties that lasted beyond a second generation.
Sparta and Athens developed unique political institutions in the archaic age that laid the foundation for their future dominance. Located in the Eurotas valley in LACONIA, Sparta came to control substantial territory in the southern Peloponnese. Its political structure contained the unique hereditary dual kingship (whose origins are reported by Herodotus, in folktale fashion: 6.52); but what made Sparta distinctive was its social and economic structure, including the limited franchise, the peculiarly communal lifestyle of the Spartiates, the use of HELOTS as semi‐enslaved labor, and the subjugation of the neighboring MESSENIANS in a series of wars of which Herodotus is vaguely aware (3.47.1; cf. 5.49.8; 1.65; but see Hall 2014, 181–88, who doubts much of what is recorded of the Messenian Wars). After the conquest of Messene, Sparta’s power in the Peloponnese grew, and its domination of its neighbors, most notably TEGEA, in the later sixth century, led to the formation of the PELOPONNESIAN LEAGUE with Sparta as its leader. The Athenians, on the other hand, followed a different path. Athens did not play a prominent role in the colonization movement, and its role in trade was secondary to the commercial powerhouses of Corinth and Miletus. Conflict over political control and the resulting stasis led to attempts at tyranny by CYLON in the later seventh century, and, despite the legal and political reforms of SOLON, by PEISISTRATUS SON OF HIPPOCRATES in the mid‐sixth. The latter was successful in gaining control of Athens; his FAMILY’s power lasted until an assassination plot against his sons miscarried but precipitated an uprising among Athenians, led by the aristocratic ALCMAEONIDAE, who enlisted the Spartans to intervene to drive out the PEISISTRATIDAE. In the subsequent renewed stasis the Alcmaeonid CLEISTHENES SON OF MEGACLES, building on the earlier reforms of Solon, created a system of governance, later named dēmokratia, in which power was vested in a council comprised of representatives from all sectors of society and the assembly of Athenian citizens.
The archaic age witnessed the rebirth of monumental ART and architecture in Greece, almost exclusively in dedicatory or commemorative contexts. The period saw the rise of major religious centers devoted to the worship of the Olympian gods, as well as local deities. All Greek poleis developed sanctuaries to several gods, located both within the confines of the town proper—sanctuaries of the tutelary god of the city on the ACROPOLIS, as well as other sanctuaries in or near the AGORA—as well as in the surrounding chora (Polignac 1984). In addition to sanctuaries controlled by individual poleis, the age saw the rise of a number of Panhellenic sanctuaries, whose prominence was due either to a close association with an important deity, with an oracular shrine, or ultimately with major athletic and artistic competitions. The sanctuaries that hosted the major Panhellenic games—first OLYMPIA, later Delphi, Nemea, and Isthmia—developed a cycle of competitions that attracted competitors and spectators from all over the Greek world, and became venues for the sharing of artistic ideas, as well as the exchange of information about political events. Throughout the Greek world, sanctuaries hosted the first major monumental architecture, TEMPLES to house the cult statues and dedications to the deity; several of these, such as the temple of ARTEMIS at EPHESUS, of ZEUS Olympeios in Athens, the temples of Sicily, and the HERAION on Samos, reached massive proportions. Only towards the end of the archaic age do civic structures such as stoas and bouleuteria (council‐houses) begin to reach substantial scale.
Monumental sculpture appears in the early archaic age, mainly in the form of dedicatory statues in marble (bronze, wood, and chryselephantine being highly perishable). The most common form of these statues is the kouros, the standing nude male youth, and the korē, the standing clothed female; statues of gods and monsters, often in mythological tableau, are also common. Little monumental painting survives; but an abundance of pottery from Corinth, Athens, and other centers survives, much of it with the characteristic Black‐Figure decoration (gradually replaced by the Athenian innovation of Red‐Figure near the end of the sixth century), to give a clear indication of developments in painting. Much of the pottery of the age was produced for the symposium, DRINKING parties that were a major venue for the display of aristocratic culture. In addition to eating, drinking, and sexual activity, the symposium was also the site for the performance of a good deal of the lyric poetry of the age, as well as musical and other artistic performances, and political and philosophical discussions. The sixth century saw the development of natural PHILOSOPHY, particularly in East Greece, a result of growing skepticism about traditional mythological accounts of the world leading to cosmological speculation, as well as a growing interest in man’s role in the world.
The growth of the Greek city‐states in the archaic age led to greater contact with the neighboring states and peoples of the East Mediterranean. Such contact was first predicated on commercial exchange, at trade centers established by Euboeans at Al Mina in Syria, and by Phoenicians on Crete and the Dodecanese. Greeks also made their way to Egypt, where they enlisted in the service of the Saite Pharaohs; some went as far as BABYLON to serve as MERCENARIES. The Greek presence in Egypt grew with the establishment of an emporion in Naucratis in the Nile DELTA, as well as at Herakleion/THONIS on the coast. These trading centers may help to account for the presence of Egyptian and Near Eastern objects dedicated on RHODES, Samos, Crete, and Perachora in the Corinthia. With the rise of the Lydian kingdom, several of the Greek CITIES of the Anatolian coast came under the control of SARDIS. The cities of East Greece became conduits for Near Eastern ideas and influences: coined currency was pioneered by the Lydians in the early sixth century but quickly to spread to Ephesus, Miletus, AEGINA, and throughout the Greek world. With the overthrow of CROESUS by CYRUS (II) in 546, the cities of East Greece came under the control of the Persians. Persian tributary exactions and the ambitions of the Milesian tyrants HISTIAEUS and ARISTAGORAS (1) led to a revolt of the Ionian and allied cities in Anatolia and CYPRUS, supported by Athens. DARIUS I’s satraps and generals suppressed the revolt and then sought to incorporate all of Greece into the Persian Empire; several attempts failed, ending with the defeat of the Persian forces at MARATHON in Attica in 490. Several years later, Darius’ son XERXES launched his major two‐pronged invasion, which ultimately failed at SALAMIS (480) and PLATAEA (479). The Persian failure to conquer Greece led to its withdrawal from the Aegean, and left Athens and Sparta as the dominant powers in the region, a situation that would continue throughout the fifth century. In addition, the conflict coincided with, and perhaps inspired, major developments in art and thought that would characterize classical Greece; these were, however, clear and direct developments from the preceding archaic age.
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