The origins, development, and nature of the classical Greek city-state or polis are as much a central concern in this as in previous generations. This book offers a series of fourteen studies representing the different methodological approaches currently being practised, in order to provide an introduction to the state of the art.

The focus of the study is on the autonomous Greek polis from its origins in the `Dark Age' until the point at which it was transformed into a basis for a world civilization by the conquests of Alexander the Great, and the subsequent expansion of polis institutions throughout the Middle East. The urbanization of the Italian peninsular is now regarded as an integral part of the earlier process and an essay from the new school of Italian urban archaeology (B. D'Agostino) is included together with an essay on mobility and the polis (N. Purcell). Recent interest in the relationship between city and countryside is met by contributions dealing specifically with this area (O. Rackham, A. Snodgrass, L. Nixon and S. Price, and M. Jameson). The book also includes recent work on the relationship between public and private spheres in the institutions of the polis, (P. Schmitt-Pantel, M. H. Hansen, D. M. Lewis, R. Osborne, C. Sourvinou-Inwood, and E. Kearns). The collection is opened with an introduction to the phenomenon of the polis (O. Murray) and closed with a discussion of its decline (W. G. Runciman).

This collection is intended for the general reader and the student of social sciences as much as for professional ancient historians; technical language has been avoided and Greek kept to appendices.