DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5625#0152
The Nomad Greeks and Settled Life 129
We see the Greeks struggling with the problem of learning
0w to transact the business of settled landholding com-
munities.
No one had ever yet written a word of the Greek language 222. Lack of
ln this age when the Greeks were adopting trie settled agricul- wntmg
tural life. Cretan writing (§ 200) had perished. This lack of
wnting among the Greeks greatly increased the difficulties
as government transactions began and could not be recorded.
There arose in some communities a "rememberer," whose duty
rt was to notice carefully business matters like the terms of a
c°ntract or the amount of a loan, that he might remember these
and innumerable other things, which in a more civilized society
are recorded in writing.
In course of time the group of villages forming the nucleus 223. Rise of
01 a tribe grew together and merged at last into a city. This ' e clt>'"state
was the most important process in Greek political development;
l0r the organized city became the only nation which the Greeks
ever knew. Each city-state was a nation; each had its own
'aws, its own army and gods, and each citizen felt a patriotic
duty toward his own city and no other. Overlooking the city
from the heights in its midst was the king's castle (Fig. 60),
which we call the " citadel," or " acropolis." Eventually, the
houses and the market below were protected by a wall. The
k'ng had now become a revered and powerful ruler of the city,
and guardian of the worship of the city gods. King and
Council sat all day in the market and adjusted the business
arid the disputes between the people. These continuous ses-
sions for the first time created a State and an uninterrupted
government.
There were soon hundreds of such Greek city-states. Indeed '224. Rise of
tr*e entire ^Egean world came to be made up of such tiny
zation in the
nations. It was while the Greeks were thus living in these little A?eof toe^
cJty-kingdoms under .kings that Greek civilization arose, espe- 750 b.c.)
c>ally during the last two and a half centuries of the rule of
trie kings (1000-750 b.c).
We see the Greeks struggling with the problem of learning
0w to transact the business of settled landholding com-
munities.
No one had ever yet written a word of the Greek language 222. Lack of
ln this age when the Greeks were adopting trie settled agricul- wntmg
tural life. Cretan writing (§ 200) had perished. This lack of
wnting among the Greeks greatly increased the difficulties
as government transactions began and could not be recorded.
There arose in some communities a "rememberer," whose duty
rt was to notice carefully business matters like the terms of a
c°ntract or the amount of a loan, that he might remember these
and innumerable other things, which in a more civilized society
are recorded in writing.
In course of time the group of villages forming the nucleus 223. Rise of
01 a tribe grew together and merged at last into a city. This ' e clt>'"state
was the most important process in Greek political development;
l0r the organized city became the only nation which the Greeks
ever knew. Each city-state was a nation; each had its own
'aws, its own army and gods, and each citizen felt a patriotic
duty toward his own city and no other. Overlooking the city
from the heights in its midst was the king's castle (Fig. 60),
which we call the " citadel," or " acropolis." Eventually, the
houses and the market below were protected by a wall. The
k'ng had now become a revered and powerful ruler of the city,
and guardian of the worship of the city gods. King and
Council sat all day in the market and adjusted the business
arid the disputes between the people. These continuous ses-
sions for the first time created a State and an uninterrupted
government.
There were soon hundreds of such Greek city-states. Indeed '224. Rise of
tr*e entire ^Egean world came to be made up of such tiny
zation in the
nations. It was while the Greeks were thus living in these little A?eof toe^
cJty-kingdoms under .kings that Greek civilization arose, espe- 750 b.c.)
c>ally during the last two and a half centuries of the rule of
trie kings (1000-750 b.c).