Question

The polis or city-state of ancient Greece was __________.

Answer 1

The polis or city-state of ancient Greece was an independent city or town NOT including the countryside.

A polis was the typical structure of a community in the ancient Greek world. A polis consisted of an urban centre, usually fortified and with a sacred centre built on a natural acropolis or harbour, which controlled a surrounding territory (chora) of land.

The term polis has been translated as ‘city-state’ as there was only one city and due to an individual polis was independent from other poleis in terms of political, judicial, legal, religious and social institutions and practices, each polis was in effect a state.

Answer 2

In modern historiography, polis is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, and thus is often translated as "city-state".