Ancient Greece

===Political structure===
{{Further|History of citizenship#Ancient Greece}}
[[File:Bust Pericles Chiaramonti.jpg|thumb|upright|Marble bust of Pericles with a [[Corinthian helmet]], Roman copy of a Greek original, [[Museo Chiaramonti]], Vatican Museums; Pericles was a key [[populist]] political figure in the development of the radical [[Athenian democracy]].<ref>Ruden, Sarah (2003). ''Lysistrata''. Hackett Publishing, p. 80. {{ISBN|0-87220-603-3}}.</ref>]]

Ancient Greece consisted of several hundred relatively independent [[city-state]]s (''[[poleis]]''). This was a situation unlike that in most other contemporary societies, which were either [[tribe|tribal]] or [[Realm|kingdom]]s ruling over relatively large territories. Undoubtedly, the [[geography of Greece]]—divided and sub-divided by hills, mountains, and rivers—contributed to the fragmentary nature of ancient Greece. On the one hand, the ancient Greeks had no doubt that they were "one people"; they had the same [[State religion|religion]], same basic culture, and same language. Furthermore, the Greeks were very aware of their tribal origins; Herodotus was able to extensively categorise the city-states by tribe. Yet, although these higher-level relationships existed, they seem to have rarely had a major role in Greek politics. The independence of the ''poleis'' was fiercely defended; unification was something rarely contemplated by the ancient Greeks. Even when, during the second Persian invasion of Greece, a group of city-states allied themselves to defend Greece, the vast majority of ''poleis'' remained neutral, and after the Persian defeat, the allies quickly returned to infighting.<ref>Holland, T. ''Persian Fire'', Abacus, pp. 363–70 {{ISBN|978-0-349-11717-1}}</ref>

Thus, the major peculiarities of the ancient Greek political system were its fragmentary nature (and that this does not particularly seem to have tribal origin), and the particular focus on urban centers within otherwise tiny states. The peculiarities of the Greek system are further evidenced by the colonies that they set up throughout the Mediterranean, which, though they might count a certain Greek ''polis'' as their 'mother' (and remain sympathetic to her), were completely independent of the founding city.

Inevitably smaller ''poleis'' might be dominated by larger neighbors, but conquest or direct rule by another city-state appears to have been quite rare. Instead the ''poleis'' grouped themselves into leagues, membership of which was in a constant state of flux. Later in the Classical period, the leagues would become fewer and larger, be dominated by one city (particularly Athens, Sparta and Thebes); and often ''poleis'' would be compelled to join under threat of war (or as part of a peace treaty). Even after Philip II of Macedon "conquered" the heartlands of ancient Greece, he did not attempt to annex the territory or unify it into a new province, but compelled most of the ''poleis'' to join his own [[Corinthian League]].