Western Civilization I / Unit 5 WC1 0424 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Polis and Hellenistic Kingdom Compared: Citizen, King, City, Language
The idea
The exam contrasts the Classical polis with the Hellenistic kingdom and asks which statement fits which. The method is four features with paired answers: who rules, what a citizen is, what a city is, and what language means. Learn the pairs and the statements sort themselves.
In practice
Who rules: the polis by an assembly of citizens, the kingdom by a Macedonian king worshipped as a god. What a citizen is: in the polis the basic member with a vote, in the kingdom an elite mark held in several cities. What a city is: in the polis the state itself, in the kingdom a grid-planned outpost of Greek rule over a non-Greek population. What language means: in the polis a dialect of one people, in the kingdom koine as the tongue of state over Aramaic and local speech. Apply: a statement about a lawmaker chosen by lot is the polis; a statement about free food for the poor to keep the peace is the kingdom; a statement about a ruler cult is the kingdom; a statement about a decision by the whole body of male citizens is the polis.
Where people slip
The polis did not vanish. Greek cities inside the kingdoms kept councils and assemblies for local matters, and the Antigonids lost some to independence. The contrast is about where sovereignty sat, with the citizens or with the king.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it