City-states

Examples of City-states in the following topics:

• Italian Trade Cities

  • Italian city-states trading during the late Middle Ages set the stage for the Renaissance by moving resources, culture and knowledge from the East.
  • During the late Middle Ages, Northern and Central Italy became far more prosperous than the south of Italy, with the city-states, such as Venice and Genoa, among the wealthiest in Europe.
  • Moreover, the inland city-states profited from the rich agricultural land of the Po valley.
  • The city-states of Italy expanded greatly during this period and grew in power to become de facto fully independent of the Holy Roman Empire; apart from the Kingdom of Naples, outside powers kept their armies out of Italy.
  • Show how Northern Italy, and the wealthy city states within it, became such huge European powers

• Ur

  • The city-state of Ur in Mesopotamia was important and wealthy, and featured highly centralized bureaucracy.
  • Ur was a major Sumerian city-state located in Mesopotamia, marked today by Tell el-Muqayyar in southern Iraq.
  • Cuneiform tablets show that Ur was, during the third millennium BCE, a highly centralized, wealthy, bureaucratic state.
  • Some estimate that Ur was the largest city in the world from 2030-1980 BCE, with approximately 65,000 people.
  • Shulgi succeeded Ur-Nammu, and was able to increase Ur's power by creating a highly centralized bureaucratic state.

• The Phoenicians

  • Their civilization was organized in city-states, similar to that of ancient Greece.
  • Each Phoenician city-state was a politically independent unit.
  • City-states often came into conflict with one another, with the result that one may dominate another.
  • City-states were also inclined to collaborate in leagues and alliances.
  • The collection of city-states constituting Phoenicia came to be characterized by outsiders and the Phoenicians as Sidonia or Tyria.

• The Rise of Classical Greece

  • The term “city-state”, which is English in origin, does not fully translate the Greek term for these same entities, polis.
  • Poleis were different from ancient city-states in that they were ruled by bodies of the citizens who lived there.
  • The Greco-Persian Wars, also referred to as the Persian Wars, were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia (modern-day Iran) and Greek city-states that began in 499 BCE and lasted until 449 BCE.
  • Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century BCE in the Greek city-state of Athens.
  • Through his reforms, the people endowed their city with institutions furnished with equal rights (i.e., isonomic institutions), and established ostracism, a procedure by which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years.

• The Decline of the Maya

  • The area then degenerated into competing city-states until the Spanish arrived in the Yucatán and shifted the power dynamics.
  • Around 1250 CE these groups had reconstituted themselves to form competing city-states.
  • And although some of the classic cities had been abandoned after 900 CE, architecture continued to develop and thrive in newly flourishing city-states, such as Mayapan.
  • Ballcourts, walkways, waterways, pyramids, and temples from the Classic period continued to play essential roles in the hierarchical world of Maya city-states.
  • The Maya leaders and people were understandably hostile towards the Spanish crown, and utilized bows and arrows, spears, and padded armor in defense of their city-states.

• The Classical Period of the Maya

  • During this period the Maya population numbered in the millions with many cities containing 50,000 to 120,00o people.
  • The Mayans developed an agriculturally intensive, city-centered civilization consisting of numerous independent city-states of varying power and influence.
  • The political relationship between Classic Maya city-states has been likened to the relationships between city-states in Classical Greece and Renaissance Italy.
  • Some cities were linked to each other by straight limestone causeways, known as sacbeob.
  • Some of the most important sites and cities from the Classic and Postclassic periods.

• The Fall of Constantinople

  • For a long time the Turks in Anatolia were divided up into a patchwork of small Islamic states.
  • Osman's son, Orhan, captured the city of Bursa in 1324 and made it the new capital of the Ottoman state.
  • The state fell into a civil war that lasted from 1402 to 1413, as Bayezid's sons fought over succession.
  • By 1400 CE, the Byzantine Empire was little more than the city-state of Constantinople.
  • Constantinople was transformed into an Islamic city: the Hagia Sophia became a mosque, and the city eventually became known as Istanbul.

• Teotihuacan

  • Teotihuacan was a city founded outside of modern Mexico City in 100 BCE and was known for its pyramids.
  • Just 30 miles from modern day Mexico City lies the precolumbian Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan.
  • Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented; evidence of Teotihuacano presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region.
  • Many Maya murals represent Teotihucuan and the leaders of the city during its zenith.
  • These displaced settlers may have founded, or at least helped grow, the city.

• Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization

  • In total, more than 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Indus River and its tributaries.
  • Most city-dwellers were artisans and merchants grouped together in distinct neighborhoods.
  • The city of Mohenjo-daro contains the "Great Bath," which may have been a large, public bathing and social area.
  • The first is that there was a single state encompassing all the communities of the civilization, given the similarity in artifacts, the evidence of planned settlements, the standardized ratio of brick size, and the apparent establishment of settlements near sources of raw material.
  • Cluster of Indus Valley Civilization cities and excavation sites along the course of the Indus River in Pakistan.

• Arabian Cities

  • Cities like Mecca and Medina acted as important centers of trade and religion during pre-Islamic Arabia.
  • Mecca's prominence as a trading center eventually surpassed the cities of Petra and Palmyra.
  • The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between the local tribes, but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage.
  • Along with the port of Jidda, Medina and Mecca kept as thriving cities throughout the years through pilgrimage.
  • During the pre-Islamic period up until 622 CE, the city was known as Yathrib, an oasis city.