"Favorite Greek Polis" Topic

Polis Poll Q

What is your favorite city state or nation in the Classical Greek World. (5th to 4th Century, including Thrace, Persia, etc…)

Another poll quesion could be what Classical Greek army do you have.

I have Acharnanian and Theban/Boeotian.

I'd have to go with Lesbos.

Argos. Where dull and unintersting people went to retire. So dull that they could not even get ostracized, but had to leave on their own.

Extra credit if you can pronounce "Boeotian".

Athens, hands down. Everyone else was a wannabe.

Athens

Sparta…

Allen I guess someone had to pick that one.

Sparta for me. What you see is what you get. Admittedly , that includes slavery and brutality on a scale unimaginable to modern man, but at least they were up front about it and set the future a great example at Thermopylae. And the girls get a look in as well.

Bee Ocean

Athens

Wannabe? or Wanna beat?

Plataea.
Crazy Plataeans sent their handfull of hoplites to assist the Athenians against the barbarians at Marathon.
Their conduct at the seige of Plataea in the Pelopponesian War was truly courageous and doomed of course.
I like loyalty even if t gets you killed.

Where was the Polis the "Acharnanians" came from? I got a very confusing Google response, and it included this page right here.
I am not a Greek scholar, so I thought I would ask.

I'd go with Sparta too. I hear the schools are really good.

"Acharnanians" seems to have been what certain wargames list writers grabbed, instead of simply "Acharnai" or "Acharnians". Bigger words add credibility.

When *did* the Acharnai have a separate army, rather than just contributing hoplites as an Athenian deme?

I am not a Greek scholar either, but the lady who runs the Holiday Inn Express lives across the street.

I don't like either Athens or Sparta. Both of them laid siege to the Lesbians.

This is SPARTA!
How can you not love guys who like to fight in the shade.
Will let you have their weapons, when you come and get them.

"How can you not love guys…"

Each to his own, but I'll pass, thanks.

YouTube link

"How can you not love guys…"

I notice no one has mentioned Thebes

Sparta. Real men and women, not artsy/fartsy types like those Athenians!

In the words of MC Ren, Ice Cube and Eazy-E:

tha Polis.

YouTube link

Being an Athenian myself, I will vote for Athens, too!

Acharnai an old demos of Athens in the north. Nowdays called also Menidi, and is a suburb of the large city of Athens. There is also the Olympi village.
Acharneis were immortalised by Aristophanes in his well known comedy. Since Acharnai lies at the cliffs of Parnitha, the largest mountain in Attica, had access to the forests crowned it. Therefore were renown for their skills to provide charcoal. Acarneis never had a separate army of course, since they were Athenian citizens.

Acharnanians as Deucey says is another thing, better spelling could be Akarnanians.
Akarnania is a region in West of Greece and lies by the Ionian Sea. They lived together with the Aetolians, and they also have a colloquial administration.
Nowdays the region of Akarnania and Aetolia merged to form one department (capital Agrinio).

Just few notes. Have I answered some questions??

Lesbos is another thing. In the island of Lesbos (north Aegean island) were several towns, rivalling berween them. Sparta and Athens laid siege on Mytilene the capital town!
As it happens now Mytilene had 2 ports. they were connected via a man made channel, which was intergrated in the city.It also served as a moat to the castle, which was built on a small peninsula. [today this channel is covered by tons of sediments and in fact the main commercial street of the town follows it. during the works for the construction of the new sewage systems, remnants of the channel were found]
The importance of Mytilene and generally the island of Lesbos is strategic. An army or fleet can easily block the routes of the wheat commerce so vital in ancient times.

Boy Ocean, or perhaps Voy Ocean

I really love Corinthian pottery before the rise of Athenian black figure ware, but Corinth just don't signify. Syracuse is an interesting alternative.

OK, OK, put me down for Athens, but my heart is LBA Mycenaean.

Akarnanians were country boys. They weren't a polis, but they are an army that a player (playa for snoop) could field in a game.

Acharnians were a part of the Athenians.

Oh, Acarnanians (or Akarnanians)! Why don't these list writers know their kappas from their chis?

Didn't Thucydides lump them together with the Aetolians, Epirotes, and Macedonians as barbarians? Or was that Diodorus Siculus?

Don't forget that the Persians and Romans (more than once) also besieged Mytilene. It wasn't easy to ravage the Lesbians!

Allen

Kojack

Rome. Nothing like a size 12 hobnail to end all the bickering.

Miletus. If you believe Herodotus, they got that whole thing going.

Plus they gave us all those interesting but ever so tastefully obscure characters. Thales, father of philosophy. Aristides, father of letters to playboy. Eubulides. Without Eubulides, how would Kirk ever have defeated Harry Mudd's androids?

How about the 700! That's the Thespian contingent that died to the last man at Thermopylae, with the Spartans. Thespiae refused to Medize with the other Boeotians and the city was destroyed.
They fought against the Athenians at Delium in 424 BCE and refused to retreat, suffering huge casualties. Perhaps not the best soldiers in the ancient world, but among the bravest and most honorable.

Otherwise Sparta.

Phocis

Yeah, Sparta would totally sweep the poll. Maybe Lesbos as a runner-up.

I've got a soft spot for Corinth.

Phocis? Thats a pretty fuzzy response.

Plynkes – I almost fell out of my chair with that one…:)

and really no mention of Dr Dre????

Hi

Syracuse… family home town.

R

For what it is worth, the DBx lists lump the Aitolian and Acharnanians together in a single (psiloi/skirmisher-heavy) list.

Corinth – Athenians were pretty high minded when talking about themselves but ran their alliance with an iron hand. Spartans pretty much gayed themselves out of existence

The city was pronounced Boy-oh-tea-ah, with a rising pitch accent on the "tea" syllable, in classical Attic; but it is pronounced very differently in modern Greek.

Boeotian is an English word, and is pronounced as Deucey indicated.

I'm surprised no one has gone with Syracuse yet, so I will just for the sake of getting a polis with a really interesting history into the mix. Syracusans were not noted for their friendliness to Athenian tourists – the story is one of the most gripping sections of Thucydides. Also, Syracuse was home to the most ingenious mathematicians, scientists and engineers of classical times, Archimedes, who should be a hero to any modern defense contractor. In addition to the famous claw,

link

he is reputed to be the inventor of the first successful directed energy weapon

link

Rick

He like the Corinthians' helmets.

Allen orated thus;

"I'd have to go with Lesbos."

but Allen, would they go with you?

I'd be a Spartan man myself, mainly because one can paint them really easily (flesh, red, brown, bronze and a brownish wash to finish).

Malc

"I'm surprised no one has gone with Syracuse yet."

Well I'm surprised you didn't bother to read what other people had written before typing that. Actually I'm not, thinking about it. Every single TMP topic of this type has at least one "I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the thing that somebody mentioned three posts above this one."

For what it is worth, the DBx lists lump the Aitolian and Acharnanians together in a single (psiloi/skirmisher-heavy) list.

They however spell it "Akarnanians" (at least DBA 2.2 and DBMM 1.0 do). I admit to mild curiosity as to which lists use the 'ch' spelling.

Plynkes,

Chill. Rocky's post wasn't there when I composed my answer, but his fingers typed faster than mine. It happens frequently enough on an active thread. When I catch it quickly enough in one of my own posts, I'll edit. In this case, I didn't.

It hardly invalidates either post.

Rick

Athens. What a navy!

Allen I guess someone had to pick that one.

Just 'cause you're first, doesn't nean you're the only one.

He like the Corinthians' helmets.

Then there's that Corinthian leather.
mad monkey 1, Critterette will be over with the Thorazine shortly, then go with the nice men to be fitted for your new white suit.

Syracuse… family home town.

Actually some of my family comes from that part of Scicly.

That's the Thespian contingent

Bad soldiers, but good actors.
Plynkes – I fell out of my chair with that one!

Hi

Which wave was your family in coming to 'merica?

R

This should be a poll question!

Eretria – holidayed there once, lovely little town a fraction of the size of classical one.
Great people, and a wonderful little museum.

This should be a poll question!

It will be, when it "sinks to the bottom" of the board.

Thespiae would have to be my favorite.