Ancient City-States

On the occasion of Kynouria and in order to achieve the protection and projection of antiquities, a web-based model is proposed for highlighting individual monuments and archaeological sites, having in mind the historical and archaeological evidence of the region, the topography, the demographic profile and the tourist infrastructure, and combining them with the development programs for cultural routes. Therefore, creating suitable databases and mapping the monuments in the area are key prerequisites of the process, as they contribute to an objective assessment of the current situation and then to make rational decisions. In this frame, modern technology provides some important planning tools (GIS, GPS, and OMS) which allow recording and mapping of data, viewing the relationships between them in the area where they appear and managing their projection. The complete study of Kynouria’s archaeological routes contains the implementation of a website using free or open-source soft...

The article takes a look at some historiographical perspectives that have conditioned the studies on the Greek polis during the last decades, paying particular attention to the concept of consumption city impelled by Moses Finley, following Werner Sombart and Max Weber, and the criticisms on this notion elaborated by Mogens Hansen within the Copenhagen Polis Center. A review of Sombart’s formulation on the consumption city, which is Weber’s point of departure taken up by Finley in proposing that the ancient city was a city of consumers, allows Hansen to conjecture that the polis does not fit into this model. Indeed, it is based on a distribution of the population between countryside and town that is not in line with what recent archaeological surveys have shown in relation to the polis. On the basis of this, the notion of Normalpolis, promoted by John Bintliff but originally enunciated by Eberhard Ruschenbusch, and certain ideas of Aristotle, on the inclusion of peasant population in the politeia, are reconsidered to understand the relationships between population, territory, and political models that were probably characteristic of the structure of most poleis.

The city-state capital-a small urban center home to one ofthe scores ofpetty kings in Aztec central Mexicocan be considered the dominant form of Aztec urban settlement. By "dominant" I do not refer to political relationships (the imperial capital Tenochtitlan was the dominant political capital) but to the status of these cities as the places where most people took care of most of their urban needs. People from the entire city-state paid their taxes at these settlements and performed their required rotational labor; they bought their obsidian tools and other goods in the urban marketplace and perhaps sold some items there; they attended religious ceremonies and watched sacrifices and ballgames; and they went to town to meet, mingle, and gossip with their friends. For millions of Nahuatl speakers, their local city-state capital loomed larger in their daily lives than the distant imperial capital, which they probably visited only rarely.

The construction of the Greek polis is a very complex process that coincides with the definition of the civic body according to symbolic systems that regulate the relations between state, individuals and social groups. The Greek world, through rituals and religious practices such as sacrifice, has tried to focus the civil society schema in crystallized forms developed by searching for the best constitution to ensure stability and
continuity to the polis. This yearning for a stable and non-corruptible system is visible not only in political society but also in the physical form of the polis, the asty. This article aims to support this vision through the
analysis of a number of aspects, such as the construction and foundation procedures of the Hippodamean city, the land division, the practice of sacrifice and the role of mageiroi in the division and distribution of sacrificial meat, investigated through the integrated reading of literary, archaeological and iconographic sources.

Lo studio traccia le linee dello sviluppo della superficie in diritto romano. L’istituto sorse tra secondo e primo secolo a.C., in conseguenza di rilevanti mutamenti demografici e urbanistici e fu probabilmente modellato sulle concessioni vettigali. Inizialmente, la superficie fu basata sul contratto di locazione a tempo determinato e poi anche su quello a tempo indeterminato (ovvero in perpetuum) e i superficiari conduttori furono tutelati mediante l’interdictum de superficiebus, modellato su quello de loco publico fruendo. Poiché nel corso del tempo, sul finire del primo secolo a.C., si ammise nella prassi la possibilità di costituire diritti di superficie mediante compravendita, legato e donazione, la tutela interdittale non fu più sufficiente e così, forse tra primo e secondo secolo d.C., il pretore inserì nell’editto la tutela reale per via di azione, a vantaggio di tutti i superficiari, con l’eccezione di quelli che fossero meri conductores ad modicum tempus. Si esaminano tutti i tipi di azioni decretali in factum che il diritto romano conobbe a vantaggio dei superficiari.
Fonti particolarmente esaminate: Ulp. 16 ad ed. D. 6.2.11.10; Ulp. 70 ad ed. D. 43.18.1; Ulp. 68 ad ed. D. 43.9.1pr.; Paul. 29 ad ed. D. 13.7.16.2; Ulp. 17 ad ed. D. 6.1.73.1; Paul. 21 ad ed. D. 6.1.74; Ulp. 16 ad ed. D. 6.1.75; Ulp. 71 ad ed. D. 43.24.15.12; Paul. 19 ad ed. D. 6.2.12.2-3; Ulp. 16 ad ed. D. 6.2.11.1.

Este libro propone un estudio de la pólis griega indagando los problemas conexos de los orígenes de la ciudad y sus estructuras de funcionamiento, así como los diversos enfoques forjados por los especialistas para dar cuenta de estos aspectos. Se analiza la pólis en el marco general de la historia grecorromana, apelando al modelo de la ciudad antigua, su formación, su funcionamiento político-institucional y sus condiciones agrarias, económicas y sociales. Se estudia asimismo el papel de la aldea, abordando el problema de cuáles son los conceptos más adecuados para interpretar a los labradores helénicos, así como los vínculos entre la aldea y la ciudad y el lugar que la primera pasa a ocupar una vez ocurrido el surgimiento de la pólis. Por último, se indaga la invención de la política y la democracia, dando un encuadre diferente, y a la vez complementario, de la emergencia de la pólis como forma estatal cuyas prácticas se organizan bajo una lógica política.

eds.). 1978. The Early State. Mouton, The Hague. Claessen, H. J. M., and P. Skalník (eds.). 1981. The Study of the State. Mouton, The Hague. Claessen, H. J. M., and P. van de Velde (eds.). 1987. Early State Dynamics. E. J. Brill, Leiden. Claessen, H. J. M., and P. van de Velde (eds.).

The concept of a smart city goes back to the 6th century BCE in India and evidence of planned early historic cities were common in different parts of Western Odisha. The early cites were planned with certain facilities such as security from external invaders, wild animals, and in some cases from the river flood. The cities were fortified with a raised wall with restricted entry, only from the gateways. The cities were well planned with roads, buildings, and activities area in designated places. The populations inside the cities enjoyed certain political, social-economic benefits. Easy access to local markets, religious buildings within the city, and water close to the residential area were important features of the early smart cities. Early examples of such cities are known from Asurgarh- Manumunda, Taraporegarh-Binika, and Asurgarh near Rampur in Sonepur district, Ashurgarh-Jhulopali near Barpali in Bargarh district, Badmal in Sambalpur district, Jamsaragarh in Sundergarh district, Asurgarh- Narla in Kalahandi district are a couple of early historic sites in the area.

Polis birçok araştırmada hatalı bir şekilde kent-devleti olarak tanımlanmıştır. Ancak polis konusu, devlet olduğu kavramından başlayarak her noktasında tartışmaya açık bir konudur. Devlet olarak kabul edildiğinde, polisin Yakın Doğu’daki benzerleriyle olan karşılaştırmaları sonucu, bu yapının kent-devleti olarak nitelendirilmesi tartışma konusu
yaratmaktadır. Gerçekten de polisi sadece kent-devleti olarak adlandırmak onun tüm dinamiklerini açıklamakta yetersiz kalmaktadır.

Polisin anlamına dair bahsedilen tartışmalardan sonra bu kavramın Yunan bölgesinde ne zaman ortaya çıkmış olabileceği önem teşkil etmektedir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda da polisin en temelinde ikili bir anlamı olduğunun bilinmesi gerekir. Bu anlamlar: Kentsel anlamda polis ve politik anlamda polistir. Kentsel anlam tek başına ele alındığında Zagora, Herakleion gibi erken yerleşimler bu başlangıca kanıt olarak gösterilebilir. Ancak politik birliktelik ele alındığında, bu ideoloji içerikli yapılanmanın M.Ö. 8. yüzyılda başlamış olabileceği düşünülmektedir. Bunun sebebi olarak da M.Ö. 8. yüzyılda yaşanan yoğun sosyo-kültürel ve sosyo-ekonomik değişimler gösterilmektedir. Bu noktada polisin ortaya çıkışını, genel kanı olarak, M.Ö. 8. yüzyıla tarihlemek doğru olacaktır.

Polisin bahsedilen bu dualistik anlamını kavramak onun içsel dinamiklerini tanımaktan geçmektedir. Polisin içsel dinamikleri de kendisi gibi somut ve soyut kavramlardan oluşur. Bu oluşumlar polisi yaratan toplumun yapısı hakkında bize bilgi vermesi bakımından önemlidir. Bu yapıların incelemesiyle, polis ile onun ortaya çıkmasına sebep olmuş ve sonrasında da yarattıkları bu yapının vatandaşları olacak olan toplumun ilişkisi anlaşılmış olacaktır. Polisin bu bahsedilen anlamları anlaşıldığında da ortaya çıkmasına sebep olan dinamikleri ve süreci fark etmemiz daha kolay olacaktır.

Mystery Babylon is one of the most important elements of the book of Revelation. It closes the loop between the devil, working through his beast system with the anti-christ, and the nations of the earth.

There have been many iterations of the evil spiritual kingdom that have interacted closely with human rulers. This relationship will amplify towards the end of this age as shown through symbology in the book of Revelation. Here, Babylon is described figuratively to mean all evil earthly kingdoms.

The Mixtec civilization (of Oaxaca, Mexico) is one of the most interesting to survive from pre-colonial Mesoamerica. Among its characteristic products were highly artistic pictographic codices depicting the history and dynasties of its city-states. This handbook surveys and describes the illustrated Mixtec manuscripts that survive in Europe, the United States and Mexico, outlines the history of their decipherment, current questions, discussions and methodologies relating to readings, social organisation, religion and historical drama, and surveys the six centuries of Mixtec history covered in the texts.
[For high quality open access of each chapter >  https://brill.com/view/title/15090 ]

Книга предлагает читателю вариант исторической реконструкции социальных институтов, хозяйственных и политических структур Южной Месопотамии и соседних территорий в период ранней древности. Именно в это время в ходе взаимодействия различных
культурно-хозяйственных этнических групп здесь возникли самые ранние формы организации жизни и труда человеческих сообществ в рамках больших городов, были созданы системы управления этими сообществами, возникла письменность, были разработаны и записаны первые в истории человечества сборники законов. Исследование основано на тщательном изучении богатой научной литературы, многочисленных эпиграфических памятников (шумерских и аккадских клинописных текстов), памятников материальной культуры и данных археологических раскопок.

The book provides a historical reconstruction of the social institutions, economic and political structures of Southern Mesopotamia and its neighbours in Early Antiquity. The period was marked by dynamic interactions of the different ethnic groups with different cultural and economical background which culminated in creating the earliest forms of life and labour organization in the city-states along with the first systems of government, the appearance of written language and
writing down the first law collections. The study relies on exhaustive research of the numerous epigraphic evidences (Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform texts), excavated artifacts and the interpretation of the archaeological record as a whole. The book is accessible to a wider audience, while it also provides a wealth of new material to the specialist in the field.

Our kknowledge about the ancient city of Miletopolis is very limited. From the informationgaied the ancient resourches, the city was located at the coast of a lake during the 1 st  century AD. The lake at the coast of the Miletopolitis was called as Miletopolis in some of  the ancient resources, for some others it is mentioned as Artynias. Hadrian coins found in the area and Athenian Tribute List indicates that this city was located at the coast of a lake. However, nowadays, Miletopolis is located in the rurar area, nearest lake is 17 km away and the nearest point  to reach  the sea Marmara is 37 km. It is interesting although, the city is not located on a slope of a plain which has the same level of height with the lake Uluabat. Localizations questions about the city of Miletopolis had risen in 20th century and until now and as result of the studies carried out a large scale of the city is determined. The aim of our research is to find harbour of the Miletopolis or at least to discuss where it could have been according to the archaeological date and georgraphical factors.

Paper published in Gallaecia (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), 35 (2016), pp. 99-128 [http://www.usc.es/revistas/index.php/gallaecia/article/view/3884]

CORRIGENDA: Repórtase un erro de citación neste traballo | Se reporta un error de citación en este trabajo | A citation mistake is reported on this article
[https://www.academia.edu/36556910/Corrigenda_de_Mart%C3%ADn_Fern%C3%A1ndez_Calo]

ABSTRACT: "The pre-municipal political development of the Callaeci". This paper analyzes the sociopolitical framework and the recognizable institutions in the 'pre-municipal' period in Callaecia, i.e. prior to Vespasian's juridical latinization. This allows to identify and contextualize a process of constitutional consolidation among Callaeci communities before their early imperial municipalization.

CONTENTS:  Introdución — Historiografía — Proposta de estudo — As comunidades galaicas — O réxime socio-político castrexo — Fragmentación e centralización constitucional — Os grandes castros galaico-bracarenses — A epigrafía cívico-política ástur — Epigrafía institucional — Concilia — Legati — Magistratus — Principes — Senator — Interpretación — Diverxencias rexionais — Os diferentes ritmos das transformacións — A ineludíbel influencia externa — Conclusións — FIGURAS: 1. Mapa de referencia — 2. Relación de institucións pre-municipais.

Herakleia Pontike (Karadeniz Ereğlisi) hakkında bilinenle­rin bir araya getirildiği Memnon’un bu gayretli çalışması, kentin İÖ. 364 yılından İS. 47 yılına ka­darki antikçağ tarihine ilişkin dikkate değer şeyleri gözler önüne sermek için kale­me alınmıştır. Yazar bunu yaparken kentte tiranlık yapmış kişileri, onların işlerini, karakterlerini, diğer kişilerin sürdükleri yaşamları ve ölüm şekillerini kaydetmiş; ayrıca bu olayları onlara ilişkin söy­lene gelen şeylerle ilişkilendirmiştir.

The Mixtec civilization (of Oaxaca, Mexico) is one of the most interesting to survive from pre-colonial Mesoamerica. Among its characteristic products were highly artistic pictographic codices depicting the history and dynasties of its city-states. This handbook surveys and describes the illustrated Mixtec manuscripts that survive in Europe, the United States and Mexico, outlines the history of their decipherment, current questions, discussions and methodologies relating to readings, social organisation, religion and historical drama, and surveys the six centuries of Mixtec history covered in the texts.
[For high quality open access of each chapter >  https://brill.com/view/title/15090 ]

Cities on trade routes were always of the utmost importance during every period of history. Amorium, a city located at the intersection of Central Anatolia, the Mediterranean, and the Aegean, gained its importance through its location. The city demonstrated great development since Late Antiquity and was frequently mentioned in
the Middle Byzantine Period. The rise of Amorium coincided with the period when the
struggle between the Islamic caliphate and the Byzantine Empire intensified. In this respect, the city became the center of wars between the two civilizations, and the subject of literary works and music. The tragic event that the city experienced in 838 and the story of the murder of 42 noblemen taken as prisoners still lingers today among the Greek Orthodox religious rituals.

Στο βιβλίο "Η άνοδος και η πτώση της κλασικής Ελλάδας" ο Τζοσάια Όμπερ, σαν γνήσιος κοινωνικός επιστήμονας, αναζητεί τις ρίζες της πολιτισμικής ακμής του κλασικού κόσμου στην πολιτική και οικονομική βάση των ελληνικών κοινοτήτων, στην πολύπλευρη αλληλεπίδραση κρατικών θεσμών, κοινωνικής ζωής και υλικής ανάπτυξης. Τα πάντα ανάγονται στο «πρώτον κινούν» της πολιτικής ελευθερίας και των παρεπομένων της για την οικονομική δραστηριότητα. Καίρια έννοια, από αυτήν την άποψη, είναι η πολιτοκεντρική οργάνωση των αρχαίων κοινοτήτων. Στο κέντρο του δημόσιου βίου βρισκόταν η μερίδα των γηγενών ενηλίκων ανδρών της πόλης, οι οποίοι απολάμβαναν την ιδιότητα του πολίτη και είχαν ορισμένο βαθμό πρόσβασης στα δημόσια αγαθά και στη νομή της εξουσίας. Τα μέλη των κλασικών ελληνικών πολιτειών δεν είναι υπήκοοι κάποιου ισόθεου ηγεμόνα, όπως οι κάτοικοι των βασιλείων της Ανατολής, αλλά πολίτες, μέτοχοι δηλαδή της πόλεως, με δικαιώματα στη διαχείριση των κοινών και ισότητα έναντι των νόμων.

Η συμμετοχή των πολιτών στο δημόσιο αγαθό ευνοεί με τη σειρά της τη συνεργασία μεταξύ τους για την υπεράσπιση της κοινότητας και την προώθηση του συλλογικού συμφέροντος. Η συμμετοχική οργάνωση και το πνεύμα συνεργασίας έχουν ως αποτέλεσμα τη θέσπιση αστικών δικαιωμάτων και μηχανισμών κρατικής πρόνοιας που προσφέρουν δίχτυ ασφαλείας, μια αίσθηση ελάχιστης κοινής προστασίας για τα βιοτικά εγχειρήματα των πολιτών. Ακολούθως, χάρη στους παραπάνω ευνοϊκούς παράγοντες, δημιουργούνται οι προϋποθέσεις για επένδυση στο ανθρώπινο κεφάλαιο. Οι πολίτες αισθάνονται αρκετά ασφαλείς και έχουν κίνητρα για φιλόδοξες πρωτοβουλίες ή επιχειρηματικά σχέδια, για να επιδοθούν στην απόκτηση γνώσης και στην καλλιέργεια των δεξιοτήτων τους. Εκτός από τη σύμπραξη για το κοινό καλό, αναπτύσσεται μεταξύ τους και ο ανταγωνισμός, η άμιλλα για διάκριση — πάγιο στοιχείο της ελληνικής ιδιοσυγκρασίας και αυτό. Έτσι γεννιούνται οι καινοτομίες σε κάθε πεδίο, από τους πολιτικούς θεσμούς έως την επιστήμη και την τεχνολογία. Η καινοτομία είναι φυσικά ο κύριος μοχλός για την οικονομική ανάπτυξη και την κερδοφορία, που παρέχουν την υλική βάση για την άνθηση του υψηλού πολιτισμού.

Αυτό είναι, σε αδρές γραμμές, το αφήγημα (εμβαπτισμένο φυσικά στις αισιόδοξες αρχές του Διαφωτισμού) που προτείνει ο συγγραφέας για την ακμή του κλασικού Ελληνισμού. Ο Όμπερ υπερασπίζεται την αφήγησή του με ευγλωττία, πειθώ, και με την επικουρία του οπλοστασίου της σύγχρονης επιστημονικής σκέψης, από τη στατιστική ανάλυση έως τη θεωρία παιγνίων. Το βιβλίο θα σταθεί πολύτιμο βοήθημα για όσους θέλουν να προχωρήσουν βαθύτερα στη μελέτη της αρχαίας ελληνικής κοινωνίας και δημόσιας ζωής. Προσφέρει επίσης διδάγματα γύρω από τις αρετές και τα τρωτά της δημοκρατίας τα οποία ενδέχεται να αποβούν χρήσιμα στο δύσκολο παρόν μας. Αν η κλασική Ελλάδα υπήρξε, καθώς ακούμε συχνά, η κοιτίδα της δημοκρατίας, το παράδειγμά της μπορεί ίσως να μας καθοδηγήσει πώς να γλυτώσουμε τη δική μας δημοκρατία από τη θερμοκοιτίδα.

Ελάχιστο δείγμα του κειμένου αναρτάται εδώ. Διαβάστε το ολόκληρο στο νέο τεύχος της Athens Review of Books.

В статье предпринята попытка генерализации термина цивилизации, что следует под таковым понимать. На основе в первую очередь археологического материала проводится уточнение количества признаков цивилизации и раскрывается содержательная их часть. Данный тематический очерк затрагивает общие "узловые моменты", в нем прослеживается связь  цивилизации с терминами "город" и "государство". С учетом многочисленных истолкований слова "цивилизация" наиболее перспективным видится его использование в одном значении –  общемировом. На основе проведенного анализа выявлено шесть признаков цивилизации,  совпадающих с признаками государства. 

An attempt to generalize the term of civilization is made in this article, and it needs to be understood as that. Primarily on the basis of archaeological material, the number of hallmarks of civilization is clarified and their content is revealed. This thematic study covers the general "focal points"; it also traces the connection between a civilization and such terms as "city" and "state". Taking into consideration numerous interpretations of the word "civilization" its use in one meaning – the universal one — seems to be the most promising. Based on the analysis performed six hallmarks of a civilization that coincide with those of a state have been identified.

A B S T R A C T Khao Sek, a coastal settlement located in the Upper-Thai Peninsula and 80 km south of the early urbanized port of Khao Sam Kaeo in the Chumphon province, yielded an impressive quantity of glass waste and ornaments suggesting that glass bracelets and beads were manufactured at the site as early as the 4th c. BCE. This article discusses the glass material found at Khao Sek using typological observation but also elemental analysis with laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry. Beyond obvious morphological resemblance, compositional analyses of the glass confirm similarities between the glass industries at Khao Sam Kaeo and Khao Sek and the existence of a fairly standardized glass ornament production at an early period. This article provides new arguments to discuss the fashioning of a regional standardized craft system as early as the mid-first millennium BC and its role in participating in the production of a pan-regional style, the " Late Prehistoric South China Sea style ". Finally, this study contributes to define the political developments that took place in the Upper-Thai Peninsula for the period 500 BCE–500 CE, hypothesizing the emergence of a ranked and complementary confederation of ports-of-trade.

This paper presents the results of the excavations and an overview of the different industries’ technological studies of the late prehistoric port-of-trade of Khao Sek. It shows similarities with the incipient city-state of Khao Sam Kaeo, despite being smaller and less complex. Both excavation and technological reconstructions allow inferring on the possible political model which resembled a confederation of complementary ports-of-trade, here aimed at controlling both maritime and several river-basin systems, such as the upstream-downstream and Mandala-type of Malay polity described by Manguin for the Historical maritime polity of Srivijaya and Malacca. This scenario could explain the diffusion of an industrial model and of the regional craft system producing pan-regional material culture.
The Kra Isthmus with his short and old transpeninsular routes appears like a place for experimentation of political configurations, later to be elaborated and developed in other maritime historical polities, especially in Malay-type polities.

Uruk is one of the largest ancient sites in Mesopotamia. At the time the famous city wall was built, at the beginning of the third millennium bc, a city area of 5.5 square kilometers needed to be encompassed, so the city wall was roughly 9 kilometers long—a gigantic undertaking. Excavations in Uruk have as yet concentrated on the city center, especially the large temple districts of the Eanna andthe Anu Ziggurat, as well as, in smaller endeavors, other temples (Eshgal, Gareus Temple), the palace of the king Sin-kashid, and a few residential districts. The overall extent of the investigated area is an impressive 24.3 hectares, but represents less than 5 percent of the city area. In the center of the city, as we know from excavations, some thirty-five layers of building from more than 4,500 years lie on top of one another to a depth of 25 meters. If one were to take into account the many different cultural phases and calculate how
long one would have to dig to completely understand the city—even if the layers are not of equal thickness in every part of the city area—the ancient levels so far investigated amount to a tenth of one percent. It would not be sensible, either scientifically or from the point of view of international standards for the preservation of archaeological heritage, to excavate the entire city. All the more important, then, are the prospecting methods repeatedly refined in the past few decades, with which—without even touching a spade—it is possible to gain information about the city that would otherwise have been possible only from decades of excavation.
A range of geophysical prospecting methods are available that have already been successfully applied in the search for archaeological structures.