fl oor, though there is evidence that most had a second story.
Th e only cult sites were unpretentious, incorporated into the
blocks of domestic buildings and seemingly dedicated to hero
or ancestor cults rather than a pantheon of gods. Th e en-
closed areas varied considerably, from small villages to sites
of several acres, but show nothing like the massive size of the
oppida of central Gaul. By the time of the Roman conquest,
when we start to gain information about the administrative
units, they were generally small. Although some of these sites
developed into major cities such as Nemausus (Nîmes) under
Roman rule, many of them were not urban; rather they were
a nucleation of the total population, with little evidence of
smaller settlements around. Naturally, these sites were also
centers of industrial and trading activity.
Th e Iberian Peninsula was complex, with almost the full
range of types of societies found elsewhere in Europe, from
major foreign colonies such as Ampurias, Cartagena, and Ca-
diz to communities based in small hill forts in the north and
northwest. In the Iberian-speaking areas there is evidence for
defended sites—for instance, in the Ebro Valley—as early as
the Late Bronze Age (2800–700 b.c.e.), but only from the sev-
enth century onward did complex defended sites appear in
numbers in eastern and southeastern Iberia. Some of these
were comparable to those in southern France, with towers
and ramparts on stone footings. Some of the earlier sites,
such as Cortes de Navarra and Cabezo de Monleón, consist
of a series of almost identical conjoined houses with little sign
of social diff erentiation, but by the sixth to fi ft h centuries at
sites such as Puente Tablas near Jaén there are more elaborate
houses with several rooms around a courtyard, indicative of
a more complex society.
In the immediate hinterland of Ampurias, the 27-acre
urban site of Ullastret, dating to the fi ft h century b.c.e., was
enclosed by a massive stone wall with towers. In size these
oppida are comparable to those in southern France. Inland,
however (for instance, around Ávila), there are massive
sites more like those of central France: Ulaca, whose double
enclosures encompass about 200 acres, and La Mesa de
Miranda, which in its fi nal stage enclosed about 70 acres.
Even within one tribal area there are very diff erent patterns
of settlement.
In Britain there is a group of sites labeled by archaeolo-
gists as oppida, but they are very diff erent from the continen-
tal sites. Th ey date somewhat later, from the late fi rst century
b.c.e. to the middle of the fi rst century c.e. Several of them,
such as Colchester, Saint Albans, and Silchester, developed
into major Roman towns aft er the Roman conquest in the 40s
c.e. Th ey are characterized by linear boundaries or “dikes”
that cut off large expanses of land, in the case of Colches-
ter roughly 8 square miles, in which various activities were
concentrated. We know that Colchester, the ancient Camu-
lodunum, was the “capital” of the “king of the Britons” Cu-
nobelin, who controlled much of southeast England in the
period before the Roman conquest, and his gold coins bear
the name of the site. It included a port area that shows evi-
dence of industrial activity, such as coin and pottery manu-
facture, and of extensive trade with the Roman Empire. Th ere
is also a temple enclosure, some probable royal burials under
large tumuli, and a possible royal residence.GREECE
BY TOM STREISSGUTH
To the ancient Greeks the city (polis) was the hallmark of civ-
ilization. Th e city provided the Greeks with an identity, with
culture, and with the means to live well. Urban manners, arts,
trade, and government—along with their language—marked
the Greeks as civilized, in their own eyes, and not as barbar-
ian outsiders.
While a Greek “nation” did not yet exist, Greek cities
were the basic geographical, political, and social units. Every
Greek citizen fi rst identifi ed himself with his family and clan
and then with the city to which he belonged. He lived as the
member of that city, no matter where he resided or moved,
with his citizenship permanently conferred by birth. When
voyaging abroad, he called himself by his given name, his
father’s name, and by the city where he came from. He fought
and died for the polis, if called on to do so, and aspired to
serve it as a civic leader.
Th e ancient Greeks gave much thought to the form
of the city. While their philosophers and mathematicians
sought perfect forms in the natural world, their town plan-
ners strived to build a logical system of streets, districts, and
public places. Th e Greek city was renowned for its orderliness
and sense of proportion as well as the civic pride displayed in
the form of buildings, monuments, temples, schools, theaters,
and other structures that served the public interest.EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS
Th e Greek world of the Mycenaean Age (to about 1200 b.c.e.)
had no towns of any large size. It was a farming society ruled
by kings who lived within palace complexes of homes, bar-
racks, and markets. Th ese strongholds relied on the sur-
rounding farms for their sustenance; trade took place from
harbor to harbor, and many coastal settlements also relied
on piracy. During the Bronze Age in Greece (to about 1050
b.c.e.), farmers lived on communally owned land within ex-
tended families. Th e genos, or family, lived in or near a strong-
hold raised for their mutual defense. Th e families associated
themselves with a tribe, whose members shared a common
founding myth and ancestor and who belonged to a single
religious cult.
Th e families of the tribe shared a meeting place and mar-
ket center near their defensive stronghold, which was also
known as an acropolis, or “high city.” Th e acropolis was situ-
ated on the crown of a hill, usually near a harbor but some
distance from the shore to protect against raids from the sea.
Beneath the acropolis was the agora, or marketplace, where
the people could meet to buy and sell their livestock, tools,
weapons, and crops. Although home industry provided most222 cities: Greece