Polis
Encyclopedia
Polis plural poleis (icon, póleːs), literally means city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 in Greek. It could also mean citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...

 and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens
Classical Athens
The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece was a notable polis of Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Hippias...

 and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...

."

The word originates from the ancient Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 city-states, which developed during the Archaic
Archaic period in Greece
The Archaic period in Greece was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written...

 period, the ancestor of city, state and citizenship, and persisted (though with decreasing influence) well into Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 times, when the equivalent Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 word was civitas, also meaning 'citizenhood', while municipium applied to a non-sovereign local entity. The term city-state which originated in English (alongside the German Stadtstaat) does not fully translate the Greek term. The poleis were not like other primordial ancient city-states like Tyre or Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...

, which were ruled by a king or a small oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...

, but rather a political entity ruled by its body of citizens. The traditional view of archaeologists, that the appearance of urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....

 at excavation sites could be read as a sufficient index for the development of a polis was criticised by François Polignac in 1984 and has not been taken for granted in recent decades: the polis of Sparta for example was established in a network of villages.The term polis which in archaic Greece meant city, changed with the development of the governance center in the city to indicate state (which included its surrounding villages), and finally with the emergence of a citizenship notion between the land owners it came to describe the entire body of citizens. The ancient Greeks didn't always refer to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

, Thebes
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...

 and other poleis as such; they often spoke instead of the Athenians, Lacedaemonians, Thebans and so on. The body of citizens came to be the most important meaning of the term polis in ancient Greece as a polis.

The Ancient Greek term which specifically meant the totality of urban buildings and spaces was (ásty).

Archaic and Classical polis

Basic and indicating elements are:
  • Self-governance, autonomy and independence (city-state)
  • Agora
    Agora
    The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...

    : the social hub and financial marketplace, on and a round a centrally located large open space
  • Acropolis
    Acropolis
    Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

    : the citadel, inside which a temple had replaced the erstwhile Mycenaean
    Helladic period
    Helladic is a modern archaeological term meant to identify a sequence of periods characterizing the culture of mainland ancient Greece during the Bronze Age. The term is commonly used in archaeology and art history...

     anáktoron (palace
    Palace
    A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

    ) or mégaron
    Megaron
    The megaron is the great hall of the Grecian palace complexes. It was a rectangular hall, fronted by an open, two-columned porch, and a more or less central, open hearth vented though an oculus in the roof above it and surrounded by four columns. It is the architectural predecessor of the...

     (hall)
  • Greek urban planning and architecture, public, religious, and private (see Hippodamian plan)
  • Temples
    Greek temple
    Greek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in Greek paganism. The temples themselves did usually not directly serve a cult purpose, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them...

    , altar
    Altar
    An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

    s and sacred precincts: one or more are dedicated to the poliouchos, the patron deity of the city; each polis kept its own particular festival
    Festival
    A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....

    s and customs (Political religion
    Political religion
    The theory of political religion concerns governmental ideologies whose cultural and spiritual aspect is so strong that it takes an overwhelming hold of peoples lives that can be only considered as religious...

    , as opposed to the individualized religion of the later antiquity). Priests and priestesses, although often drawn from certain families by tradition, did not form a separate collegiality or class: they were ordinary citizens who, on certain occasions, were called to perform certain functions.
  • Gymnasia
    Gymnasium (ancient Greece)
    The gymnasium in ancient Greece functioned as a training facility for competitors in public games. It was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Ancient Greek term gymnós meaning "naked". Athletes competed in the nude, a practice said to...

  • Theatres
  • Walls: used for protection from invaders
  • Coins
    Ancient Greek coinage
    The history of Ancient Greek coinage can be divided into three periods, the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic. The Archaic period extends from the introduction of coinage to the Greek world in about 600 BCE until the Persian Wars in about 480 BCE...

    : minted by the city, and bearing its symbols
  • Colonies being founded by the oikistes
    Oikistes
    When a Greek polis chose to settle a new colony , an individual - the oikistes - was chosen as leader and invested with the power of selecting a settling place, directing the initial labors of the colonists and guiding the fledgling colony through its hard early years....

     of the metropolis
    Metropolis
    A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...

  • Political life: it revolved around the sovereign Ekklesia (the assembly of all adult male citizens for deliberation and voting), the standing boule
    Boule (Ancient Greece)
    In cities of ancient Greece, the boule meaning to will ) was a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs of the city...

     and other civic or judicial councils, the archon
    Archon
    Archon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...

    s and other officials or magistrates elected either by vote or by lot, clubs
    Ancient Greek clubs
    Ancient Greek clubs were associations of ancient Greeks who were united by a common interest or goal.-Types:The earliest reference of clubs in ancient Greece appears in the law of Solon and is quoted incidentally in the Digest of Justinian I . This guaranteed the administrative independence of...

    , etc., and sometimes punctuated by stasis
    Stasis (political history)
    Stasis is a term in Greek political history. It refers to the constant feuds between aristocrats in archaic Greece, struggling about who is the best both in terms of prestige and property...

     (civil strife between parties, factions or socioeconomic classes, e.g. aristocrats, oligarchs, democrats, tyrants, the wealthy, the poor, large or small landowners, etc.)
  • Publication of state functions: laws, decrees and major fiscal accounts were published, and criminal and civil trials were also held in public
  • Synoecism
    Synoecism
    Synoecism or synecism , also spelled synoikism , was originally the amalgamation of villages in Ancient Hellas into poleis, or city-states. Etymologically the word means "dwelling together in the same house ." Subsequently any act of civic union between polities of any size was described by the...

    , conurbation: Absorption of nearby villages and countryside, and the incorporation of their tribes into the substructure of the polis. Many of a polis citizens would have lived in the suburbs or countryside. The Greeks did not regard the polis as a territorial grouping so much as a religious and political association: while the polis would control territory and colonies beyond the city itself, the polis would not simply consist of a geographical area. Most cities were composed of several tribe
    Tribe
    A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

    s or phylai, which were in turn composed of phratries
    Phratry
    In ancient Greece, a phratry ατρία, "brotherhood", "kinfolk", derived from φρατήρ meaning "brother") was a social division of the Greek tribe...

     (common-ancestry lineages), and finally génea
    Genos
    Genos was the ancient Greek term for kind; race; family; birth; origin which identified themselves as a unit, referred to by a single name...

     (extended families)
  • Social classes and citizenship: Dwellers in the polis were generally divided into four types of inhabitants, with status typically determined by birth:
    • Citizens with full legal and political rights, i.e. adult free men born legitimately of citizen parents. They had the right to vote, be elected into office, bear arms, and the obligation to serve when at war.
    • Citizens without formal political rights, but full legal rights: the citizens' female relatives and underage children, whose political rights and interests were represented, and property held in trust, by their adult male relatives.
    • Citizens of other poleis who chose to reside elsewhere (the metic
      Metic
      In ancient Greece, the term metic referred to a resident alien, one who did not have citizen rights in his or her Greek city-state of residence....

      s, μέτοικοι, métoikoi, literally "transdwellers"): though free-born and possessing full rights in their place of origin, had full legal rights but no political rights in their place of residence. Metics could not vote, could not be elected to office, could not bear arms and could not serve in war. They otherwise had full personal and property rights, albeit subject to taxation.
    • Slaves: chattel in full possession of their owner, and with no privileges other what their owner would grant (or revoke) at will.

Hellenistic and Roman

During the Hellenistic period
Hellenistic period
The Hellenistic period or Hellenistic era describes the time which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was so named by the historian J. G. Droysen. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia...

, which marks the decline of the classical polis, the following cities remained independent: Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

 until 195 BC after the War against Nabis
War against Nabis
The War against Nabis or Laconian War of 195 BC was fought between the Greek city-state of Sparta and a coalition composed of Rome, the Achean League, Pergamum, Rhodes, and Macedon....

. Achaean League
Achaean League
The Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese, which existed between 280 BC and 146 BC...

 is the last example of original Greek city-state federations (dissolved after the Battle of Corinth (146 BC)
Battle of Corinth (146 BC)
The Battle of Corinth was a battle fought between the Roman Republic and the Greek state of Corinth and its allies in the Achaean League in 146 BC, that resulted in the complete and total destruction of the state of Corinth which was previously so famous for its fabulous wealth...

) . The Cretan city-states continue to be independent (except Itanus and Arsinoe
Arsinoe (Crete)
Arsinoe was an ancient city of Crete assigned to Lyctus, adjacent to the older city of Rhithymna. Berkelius supposes that an error had crept into the text, and that for we should read . Its identification with Rhithymna was first proposed by Eckhel...

, which lay under Ptolemaic influence) until the conquest of Crete in 69 BC
69 BC
Year 69 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hortalus and Metellus...

 by Rome. The cities of Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...

, with the notable examples of Syracuse and Tarentum
History of Taranto
The history of Taranto dates back to the 8th century BC when it was founded as a Greek colony, known as Taras.-Foundation and splendour:Taranto was founded in 706 BC by Dorian immigrants as the only Spartan colony, and its origin is peculiar: the founders were Partheniae, sons of unmarried Spartan...

, were conquered by Rome in late 3rd century BC. There are also some cities with recurring independence like Samos
Samoš
Samoš is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Kovačica municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,247 people .-See also:...

, Priene
Priene
Priene was an ancient Greek city of Ionia at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of the then course of the Maeander River, from today's Aydin, from today's Söke and from ancient Miletus...

, Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...

 and Athens. A remarkable example of a city-state which flourished during this era is Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

 through its merchant navy, until 43 BC
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius Brutus.-Early life:...

 and the Roman conquest.

The Hellenistic colonies and cities of the era, retain some basic characteristics of a polis, except: the status of independence (city-state) and the political life. There is a self-governance (like the new Macedonian title politarch
Politarch
Politarch was a Hellenistic and Roman-era Macedonian title for an elected governor of a city . The term had been already attested in the concerning Thessalonica, as well in modern archaeology. The institution is called Politarchate and Ptoliarchos appears in a poetic epigram...

) but under a ruler and king. The political life of the classical era is now transformed to an individualized religious and philosophical view of life (see Hellenistic philosophy
Hellenistic philosophy
Hellenistic philosophy is the period of Western philosophy that was developed in the Hellenistic civilization following Aristotle and ending with the beginning of Neoplatonism.-Pythagoreanism:...

 and religion
Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion is any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire . There was much continuity in Hellenistic religion: the Greek gods continued to be worshiped, and the...

) The demographic decline forced the cities to abolish the status of metic
Metic
In ancient Greece, the term metic referred to a resident alien, one who did not have citizen rights in his or her Greek city-state of residence....

 and bestow citizenship; In 228 BC Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...

 enfranchised over 1000 Cretans. (Milet, I, 3, 33-8.) Dyme
Dyme, Greece
Dyme was an ancient Greek city in Achaea. It was the most westerly of the Achaean cities. The first resident of note was Oebotas who was said to be the first Achaean to win at the Ancient Olympic Games.. He was not honored for this and legendarily cursed others for that.The town has also been in...

 sold its citizenship for one talent, payable in two instalments. The foreign residents in a city are now called paroikoi
Paroikoi
Paroikoi is the term that replaced "metic" in the Hellenistic and Roman period to designate foreign residents. In Asia Minor they were named katoikoi...

. In an age, when most of the establishments in Asia are kingdoms, an interesting example of a Hellenistic cities federation is the Chrysaorian League
Chrysaorian League
The Chrysaorian League was an informal loose federation of several cities in ancient region of Caria, Anatolia that was apparently formed in the early Seleucid period and lasted at least until 203 BC. The League had its primary focus on unified defense, and secondarily on trade, and may have been...

 in Caria.

During the Roman era, some cities were granted the status of a polis, free city, self-governed under the Roman Empire. The last institution commemorating the old Greek poleis was the Panhellenion
Panhellenion
The Panhellenion or Panhellenium was an institution of cities established in the year 131-132 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian while he was touring the Roman provinces of Greece.Hadrian was philhellenic, and idealized the Classical past of Greece...

 established by Hadrian.

Derived words

Derivatives of polis are common in many modern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an languages. This is indicative of the influence of the polis-centred Hellenic world view. Derivative words in English include policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...

, polity
Polity
Polity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...

, police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

. In Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

, words deriving from polis include politēs and politismos, whose exact equivalents in Latin, Romance
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...

 and other European languages, respectively civis (citizen), civilisatio (civilization) etc. are similarly derived.

A number of words end in the word "-polis". Most refer to a special kind of city and/or state. Some examples are:
  • Astropolis
    Astropolis
    An Astropolis can be any of several things in different contexts. These include:* An idealised future civilisation, as in Eugene Jolas' Succession in Astropolis....

     — star-scaled city/industry area; complex space station; a European star-related festival.
  • Cosmopolis
    Cosmopolis
    Cosmopolis is Don DeLillo's thirteenth novel. It was published by Scribner on 14 April 2003.-Plot summary:Cosmopolis is the story of Eric Packer, a 28 year old multi-billionaire asset manager who makes an odyssey across midtown Manhattan in order to get a haircut...

     — a large urban centre with a population of many different cultural backgrounds; a novel written by Don DeLillo
    Don DeLillo
    Don DeLillo is an American author, playwright, and occasional essayist whose work paints a detailed portrait of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries...

    .
  • Ecumenopolis
    Ecumenopolis
    Ecumenopolis is a word invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Doxiadis to represent the idea that in the future urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a...

     — a city that covers an entire planet
    Planet
    A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...

    , usually seen in science fiction
    Science fiction
    Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

  • Megalopolis
    Megalopolis (city type)
    A megalopolis is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. The term was used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book, The Decline of the West, and Lewis Mumford in his 1938 book, The Culture of Cities, which described it as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and...

    , built by merging several cities and their suburbs.
  • Metropolis
    Metropolis
    A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...

     can refer to the mother city of a colony, the see of a metropolitan archbishop or a Metropolitan area
    Metropolitan area
    The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

     — a major urban population centre.
  • Necropolis
    Necropolis
    A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...

     'city of the dead' — a graveyard
    Graveyard
    A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...

    .
  • Technopolis
    Technopolis
    Technopolis can refer to:*Technopolis or Technology Park are synonyms for science park.*Technopolis Innovation Park Delft, a science park in Delft, the Netherlands....

     — city with high-tech industry; room full of computers; the Internet
    Internet
    The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

    .


Other refer to part of a city or a group of cities, such as:
  • Acropolis
    Acropolis
    Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

    , 'high city' — upper part of a polis, often citadel and/or site of major temple(s).
  • Decapolis
    Decapolis
    The Decapolis was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Judea and Syria. The ten cities were not an official league or political unit, but they were grouped together because of their language, culture, location, and political status...

    , a group of ten cities
  • Dodecapolis, a group of twelve cities
  • Pentapolis
    Pentapolis
    A pentapolis, from the Greek words , "five" and , "city" is a geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities...

    , a group of five cities
  • Tripolis, a group of three cities, retained in the names of a Tripoli
    Tripoli
    Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...

     in Libya
    Libya
    Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

    , in Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

     and a namesake in Lebanon

Polis, Cyprus

Located on the north-west coast of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 is the town of Polis
Polis, Cyprus
Polis is a small town at the north-west end of the island of Cyprus, at the centre of Chrysochous Bay, and on the edge of the Akamas peninsula nature reserve...

, or Polis Chrysochous , situated within the Paphos District
Paphos District
Paphos District is one of the six districts of Cyprus and it is situated in the western part of Cyprus. Its main town and capital is Paphos. The entire district is controlled by the internationally recognized government of Cyprus...

 and on the edge of the Akamas peninsula
Akamas
Akamas , is a promontory and cape at the northwest extremity of Cyprus with an area of 230 square kilometres. Ptolemy described it as a thickly wooded headland, divided into two by summits [a mountain range] rising towards the north...

. During the Cypro-Classical period, Polis became one of the most important ancient Cypriot city-kingdoms on the island, with important commercial relations with the eastern Aegean Islands
Aegean Islands
The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...

, Attica
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...

 and Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

. The town is also well known due to its mythological
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 history, including the site of the "Baths of Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....

".

Other cities

The names of several other towns and cities in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 have contained the suffix "-polis" since antiquity; or currently feature modernized spellings, such as "-pol". Notable examples include:
  • Acropolis
    Acropolis, Athens
    Acropolis is a neighborhood of Athens, near the ancient monument of Acropolis, along the Dionysios Areopagitis, courier road. This neighborhood has a significant number of tourists all year round. It is the site of the Museum of Acropolis, opened in 2009....

     ("high city"), Athens
    Athens
    Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

    , Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

     (this is the most well-known example of acropolis; in fact an acropolis area was part of almost every ancient Greek polis and it was more like a function-part of an ancient polis (like e.g. agora, walls, etc.) than a locally named area)
  • Adrianopolis
    Adrianópolis
    Adrianópolis is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

     or Adrianople ("Hadrian
    Hadrian
    Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

    's city"), present-day Edirne
    Edirne
    Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

    , Turkey
    Turkey
    Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

  • Alexandroupoli
    Alexandroupoli
    Alexandroupoli , is a city of Greece and the capital of the Evros peripheral unit in Thrace. Named after King Alexander, it is an important port and commercial center of northeastern Greece.-Name:...

    s ("Alexander
    Alexander
    Alexander is a common male first name, and less common surname. The most famous is Alexander the Great, the King of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.- Origin :...

    's city"), Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

  • Alexandropol ("Alexandra's city"), currently Gyumri
    Gyumri
    Gyumri is the capital and largest city of the Shirak Province in northwest Armenia. It is located about 120 km from the capital Yerevan, and, with a population of 168,918 , is the second-largest city in Armenia.The name of the city has been changed many times in history...

    , Armenia
    Armenia
    Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

  • Antipolis
    Antipolis
    Antipolis, Greek for 'city opposite' , is the name or part of the name of:*modern Antibes*Sophia-AntipolisIt is also the name of a tanker ship....

     ("the city across"), the former name for Antibes
    Antibes
    Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...

    , France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

  • Constantinopolis or Constantinople ("Constantine
    Constantine I
    Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...

    's city"), the former name for Istanbul
    Istanbul
    Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

    , Turkey
  • Heliopolis
    Heliopolis (ancient)
    Heliopolis was one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, the capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome that was located five miles east of the Nile to the north of the apex of the Nile Delta...

     ("Sun city"), Egypt
    Egypt
    Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

  • Heracleopolis
    Herakleopolis Magna
    Heracleopolis or Herakleopolis Magna is the Greek name of the capital of the Twentieth nome of ancient Egypt. It was called Henen-nesut, Nen-nesu, or Hwt-nen-nesu in ancient Egyptian, meaning 'house of the royal child.' Later, it was called Hnas in Coptic, and Ahnas in medieval Arabic writings...

     ("Hercules
    Hercules
    Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...

    ' city"), Egypt
  • Hermopolis
    Hermopolis (disambiguation)
    Hermopolis may refer to:*Hermopolis , the capital of the 15th nome of Upper Egypt*Hermopolis , the capital of the 15th nome of Lower Egypt*Hermopolis Parva, a large city of the 7th nome of Lower Egypt...

     ("Hermes
    Hermes
    Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

    ' city"), several cities in Egypt and on Siros Island
  • Hierakonpolis ("Hawk city"), Egypt
    Egypt
    Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

  • Hieropolis ("Sacred city"), several cities in the Hellenistic world, in particular Hierapolis
    Hierapolis
    Hierapolis was the ancient Greco-Roman city which sat on top of hot springs located in south western Turkey near Denizli....

     in south-western Turkey
  • Megalopolis
    Megalopolis, Greece
    Megalópoli is a town in the western part of the peripheral unit of Arcadia, southern Greece. It is located in the same site as ancient Megalopolis . "Megalopolis" is a Greek word for Great city. When it was founded, in 371 BC, it was the first urbanization in rustic and primitive Arcadia. In...

     ("Great city"), Greece
  • Neapolis ("New city"), several including the modern cities of Nablus
    Nablus
    Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

     and Naples
    Naples
    Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

     , and the adjective Neapolitan
  • Nicopolis
    Emmaus Nicopolis
    Emmaus Nicopolis was the Roman name for a city associated with the Emmaus of the New Testament, where Jesus is said to have appeared after his death and resurrection. In the modern age, the site was the location of the Palestinian Arab village of Imwas, near the Latrun junction, between Jerusalem...

     ("Victory city"), Emmaus
    Emmaus Nicopolis
    Emmaus Nicopolis was the Roman name for a city associated with the Emmaus of the New Testament, where Jesus is said to have appeared after his death and resurrection. In the modern age, the site was the location of the Palestinian Arab village of Imwas, near the Latrun junction, between Jerusalem...

     in Israel
  • Lithopolis ("Stone city"), Latin name for Kamnik
    Kamnik
    Kamnik is the name of a municipality in Slovenia as well as the town that serves as its administrative, cultural, economic, and educational center. The municipality is in north central Slovenia. It encompasses a large part of the Kamnik Alps and the surrounding area...

    , Slovenia
    Slovenia
    Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

  • Persepolis
    Persepolis
    Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...

     ("city of the Persians"), Iran
    Iran
    Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

  • Sevastopol
    Sevastopol
    Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....

     ("Venerable city"), Crimea
    Crimea
    Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

    , Ukraine
    Ukraine
    Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

  • Seuthopolis
    Seuthopolis
    Seuthopolis was an ancient hellenistic-type city founded by the Thracian king Seuthes III, and the capital of the Odrysian kingdom. The city was founded sometime from 325 BC to 315 BC...

     ("Seuthes' city"), Bulgaria
    Bulgaria
    Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

  • Simferopol
    Simferopol
    -Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...

     ("city of common good"), Crimea, Ukraine
  • Sozopol
    Sozopol
    Sozopol is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the major seaside resorts in the country, known for the Apollonia art and film festival that is named after one of the town's ancient names.The busiest times of the year...

     ("Salvaged city"), Bulgaria
  • Stavropol
    Stavropol
    -International relations:-Twin towns/sister cities:Stavropol is twinned with: Des Moines, United States Béziers, France Pazardzhik, Bulgaria-External links:* **...

     ("city of the cross"), Russia
  • Tiraspol
    Tiraspol
    Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...

     ("Tiras
    Dniester
    The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...

    ' city"), Moldova
    Moldova
    Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...



The names of other cities were also given the suffix "-polis" after antiquity, either referring to ancient names or simply unrelated:
  • Anápolis
    Anápolis
    Anápolis is the third largest city in the State of Goiás in Brazil. It lies in the center of a rich agricultural region and has become a leader in food processing and pharmaceutical plants.-Location and population:...

    , Goiás
    Goiás
    Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

    , Brazil
    Brazil
    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

  • Annapolis, Maryland
    Maryland
    Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

    , United States of America
  • Biopolis
    Biopolis
    Biopolis is an international research and development centre located in Singapore for biomedical sciences. It is located in One-North in Buona Vista, near Dover, and is close to the National University of Singapore, the Singapore Polytechnic, the Institute of Technical Education, the National...

    , Singapore
    Singapore
    Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

  • Cambysopolis
    Cambysopolis
    Cambysopolis is the non-classical name of a Roman Catholic titular bishopric in the former Roman province of Asia Minor. The name is owing to a mistake of some medieval geographer.-Ancient and ecclesiastical history:...

    , Turkey
  • Christianopel
    Kristianopel
    Kristianopel is a village in Karlskrona Municipality in the southeastern Swedish province of Blekinge.-History of the town:Kristianopel is located in the easternmost part of Blekinge, which was the easternmost part of Denmark in beginning of the 17th century...

    , Sweden
  • Copperopolis, California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

    , United States of America
  • Coraopolis
    Coraopolis, Pennsylvania
    Coraopolis is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 5,677 at the 2010 census. In 1940 the population peaked at 11,086. It is a small community located to the west of Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River and to the east of the Pittsburgh International Airport...

    , Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania
    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

    , United States of America
  • Florianópolis
    Florianópolis
    -Climate:Florianópolis experiences a warm humid subtropical climate, falling just short of a true tropical climate. The seasons of the year are distinct, with a well-defined summer and winter, and characteristic weather for autumn and spring. Frost is infrequent, but occurs occasionally in the winter...

    , Santa Catarina
    Santa Catarina
    Santa Catarina is the name of several places :-Places:Brazil*Santa Catarina , one of that country's federal states...

    , Brazil
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
    Indiana
    Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

    , United States of America
  • Kannapolis, North Carolina
    North Carolina
    North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

    , United States of America
  • Lithopolis, Ohio
    Ohio
    Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

    , United States of America
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Minnesota
    Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

    , United States of America
  • Opolis
    Opolis, Kansas
    Opolis is an unincorporated community in Crawford County, Kansas, United States whose name derives from the Greek word Polis.Opolis is located in the South Eastern corner of the state of Kansas close to the Missouri state line, approximately due south of Kansas City, KS at latitude 37.344 and...

    , Kansas
    Kansas
    Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

    , United States of America
  • Petrópolis
    Petrópolis
    Petrópolis , also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro....

    , Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

    , Brazil
  • Quirinópolis
    Quirinópolis
    Quirinópolis is a small city and municipality in south Goiás state, Brazil. It is a large producer of cattle and agricultural products.-Location:...

    , Goiás
    Goiás
    Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

    ,Brazil
  • Sebastopol
    Sebastopol, California
    Sebastopol is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, approximately north of San Francisco. The population was 7,379 at the 2010 census, but its businesses also serve surrounding rural portions of Sonoma County, totaling about 50,000 people...

    , California, United States of America
  • Sophia-Antipolis, France
  • Teutopolis
    Teutopolis, Illinois
    Teutopolis is a village in Effingham County, Illinois.-Geography:Teutopolis is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land.-History:...

    , Illinois
    Illinois
    Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

    , United States of America
  • Uniopolis
    Uniopolis, Ohio
    Uniopolis is a village in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States with a population of 256 as of the 2000 U.S. census. It is included in the Wapakoneta, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area.The village is served by the Wapakoneta City School District.-History:...

    , Ohio
    Ohio
    Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

    , United States of America
  • Thermopolis
    Thermopolis, Wyoming
    Thermopolis is the largest town in, and the county seat of Hot Springs County, Wyoming, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,172....

    , Wyoming
    Wyoming
    Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

    , United States of America
  • Borrazópolis
    Borrazópolis
    Borrazópolis is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

    , Parana
    Paraná (state)
    Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...

    , Brazil


Some cities have also been given nicknames ending with the suffix "-polis", usually referring to their characteristics:
  • Swansea
    Swansea
    Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

    , United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

    , once dubbed Copperopolis due to its vast production of the metal.
  • Manchester
    Manchester
    Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

    . United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

    , nicknamed Cottonopolis
    Cottonopolis
    Cottonopolis denotes a metropolis of cotton and cotton mills. It was inspired by Manchester, in England, and its status as the international centre of the cotton and textile processing industries during the 19th century...

     during the 19th century due to its status as a major industrial centre for cotton spinning.

Further reading

  • Hansen, Mogens Herman
    Mogens Herman Hansen
    Mogens Herman Hansen FBA is a Danish classical philologist who is one of the leading scholars in Athenian Democracy and the Polis....

    . Polis: An Introduction to the Ancient Greek City-State. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-19-920849-2; paperback, ISBN 0-19-920850-6).
  • Mogens Herman Hansen (ed), The Ancient Greek City-State. Symposium on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, July, 1-4 1992. [Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre vol. 1], Copenhagen 1993 (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser 67)
  • Mogens Herman Hansen (ed), Sources for The Ancient Greek City-State. Symposium August, 24-27 1994. Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre vol. 2, Copenhagen 1995 (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk- filosofiske Meddelelser 72)
  • Mogens Herman Hansen (ed), Introduction to an Inventory of Poleis. Symosium August, 23-26 1995. Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre vol. 3, Copenhagen 1996 (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk- filosofiske Meddelelser 74)
  • Mogens Herman Hansen, The Polis as an Urban Centre and as a Political Community. Symposium August, 29-31 1996. Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre vol. 4, Copenhagen 1997 (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk- filosofiske Meddelelser 75)
  • Mogens Herman Hansen (ed), Polis and City-State. An Ancient Concept and its Modern Equivalent. Symposium, January 9, 1998. Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre vol. 5, Copenhagen 1998 (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser 76)
  • Mogens Herman Hansen (ed), The imaginary polis. Symposium, January 7–10, 2004. Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre vol. 7, Copenhagen 2005 (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser 91)
  • Mogens Herman Hansen & Kurt Raaflaub (edd), Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis. Papers from the Copenhagen Polis Centre 2, Stuttgart: Steiner 1995 (Historia Einzelschriften 95)
  • Mogens Herman Hansen & Kurt Raaflaub (edd), More Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis. Papers from the Copenhagen Polis Centre 3, Stuttgart: Steiner 1996 (Historia Einzelschriften 108)
  • The Copenhagen Polis Center
  • Berent M. Greece: The Stateless Polis (11-4 centuries B.C.). In Grinin L. E. et al. (eds.) The Early State, Its Alternatives and Analogues (pp. 364–387). Volgograd, Uchitel, 2004 The early State, Its Alternatives and Analogues
  • Vliet, E. van der Polis. The Problem of Statehood. Social Evolution & History 4(2), September 2005 (pp. 120–150) Polis. The Problem of Statehood
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