The ancient Greeks, be they from Sparta, Athens, Thebes, or Ionia, saw themselves as part of one larger community — the community of Greek people. Although the city-states they lived in were geographically isolated from one another, the Greeks still felt a shared heritage and identity. This is primarily because they all spoke (discounting regional variations) the same language and practiced the same religion.

All of these ancient city-states were controlled by the Dorian Greeks, except Thebes, which was controlled by the Aeolic Greeks. The ancient Greeks were subdivided into several distinct ethnicities, including the Dorians, the Ionians, the Aeolics, and the Achaeans.

Greece is an extremely mountainous land. The Greek people might have lived in relative close proximity to one another, but their city-states and small communities were isolated from each other by immense geographical barriers. These mountains, present throughout mainland Greece, kept city-states distinct from one another and led to the development of unique city-state cultures. These geographic barriers also discouraged the formation of a single Greek Empire and allowed city-states to grow strong and independent.

Around 750 BCE, the Dark Ages were drawing to an end in Greece and city-states were beginning to coalesce and organize themselves as distinct polities.

The Bacchiads were a ruling family that controlled the oligarchy of Corinth during the Archaic era. They ruled during the eighth and seventh centuries and presided over a prolonged period of growth and prosperity in Corinth. Corinth, perfectly situated to take advantage of Mediterranean trade, became the wealthiest city-state in Greece and founded several overseas colonies. Nonetheless, the brutal rule of the Bacchiads encouraged the rise of the tyrant and populist Cypselus to power.

The Spartans tended to credit one man with the founding of their city and with the creation of their legal and social codes. That man was Lycurgus, and he probably lived in the ninth or tenth century BCE. Whether he actually founded the city of Sparta seems unlikely, but it is probable that a single individual did provide the foundation for Sparta’s social code of behavior sometime in the ninth century.

Draco, who lived in the seventh century BCE in Athens, is most frequently remembered for the written legal code he established. His written legal code made Athenian justice and law more equitable and consistent; however, he advocated for extremely harsh punishments and contributed to class tensions in Athens. We get the word “draconian” from Draco, which should provide an example of how his legal reforms have been viewed by historians and philosophers ever since.

The two men most responsible for establishing democracy in Athens are Solon and Cleisthenes. Solon is known as the great reformer of Athenian history. He ruled as archon in Athens at a time when most of the citizens of Athens were effectively enslaved by the aristocracy. Solon established that all Athenian citizens were free, at the very least, to participate in the political process; however, Solon’s reforms were soon undermined when the tyrant Peisistratos seized power in 510 BCE. In the chaos that followed it fell to another aristocrat, Cleisthenes, to firmly establish the democratic principles that would guide Athens for the next century.

In the early Archaic Era, many Greek city-states were coalescing and forming distinct identities. Although we tend to think of democracy as the major Greek development of this time period, it was only practiced in a few city-states. The real political innovation of the Archaic Era Greeks was the idea of citizenship. That is to say, that all native and free members of a community are equal and have a right and duty to participate in the governing of the community. This was not an idea that was practiced in the other parts of the world familiar to the ancient Greeks.

Slaves in ancient Greece originated from all of these sources, but the majority of slaves were purchased from international slave traders. The Greeks enslaved defeated enemies, members of neighboring Greek communities, so-called “barbarians” to the north, and even, in some places, those who could not pay their debts. Slavery was extremely common in Greek society, particularly during the Archaic and Classical Eras.