Glossary of ancient Greek political terms
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This for the study and understanding of the forms of government and politics in Ancient Greece and her city-states. After the "General Terms", city states are listed in historical order of ancient to youngest. Ancient Hellas was settled by different tribal groups with different Greek dialects. The two major linguistic groups of the ancient Greeks was the Dorian and the Ionian dialects. Furthermore, even among the same language group, for example among the Dorians who settled in the mainland and scattered about the many islands, there were different words for the same concept.
Modern English political vocabulary comes from the Latin language. Our words, "constitution", "government", "administration", "sovereignty", "statute", "justice", almost every word, comes from the Latin. Latin adds a precision, sonority and solemnity to the words that is not in the Greek. Latin can not do justice to the nuances and flexiblity of the Greek terminology. Sir John Myres, in his concluding pages of his work, The Political Ideas of the Greeks writes that a great "travesty" occured when the Greek philosophical nomenclatures were translated into Latin. 8 Latin is a legal language whereas Greek is a philosophical language; there is a difference of context between the two languages that scholars, academics and researchers must be careful for. As many nuances that are researched, are presented to give justice to the Greek words.
Directions The glossary is divided into four blocks. The first block is the Greek word. The first line is for the most common word form such as the noun; if there is another form of the word such as a verb, it is placed on a second line.
The second block is for the English transliteration of the Greek word. It will be transliterated from the modern Greek so one can sound out the word. The second line is for if the word made it into the English language and what form it took. Other lines can be used for other variations on how it is used with the Latin alphabet.
The third line is for the Latin equivalent(s). And the fourth section is for the definition of the word, its many variations and its dissection.
| Greek word | English transliteration | Latin equivalent | Description |
| αυταρκειας | avtarkia autarchy | self-sufficiency | |
| ??? | asty | (1)a special word for the city as a place of residence; the "asty" lay at the foot of the polis or citadell. 2 | |
| βαναυσος | vanavsos† banausos banavsos†† | roughly translated into English means "fire stoker"; the overall meaning is "mechanical"; it encompasses the retailers, merchants, tradesmen and is a term of contempt. | |
| βουλὴ | bouli | an assembly of the people | |
| δημoς | demos | people | (1)originally signified the ground and soil on which the people lived 6 (2) the country-people; the people of the αγρoς; (3) the villages; 3 (4) the root word for democracy. |
| διoικ�σμoς | dioikismos | to seperate; 4; it is a part of δικ� | |
| κοινωνια | koinonia community | partnership of villages and/or other political units | |
| κω̃μαι | komai | villages | the small towns and villages that surrounded the π�λις |
| νόμος νόμοι(pl) | nomos | law | |
| νόμιμα | nomima | institutions | |
| π�λις πόλεις(pl) | polis | city | (1)It originally meant citadel (as in 'acropolis'); it was the fortified section of the 'asty'; 2 (2)city-state; (3)seat of sovereignty; (4)the whole organized political community; 2 (5)Aristotle's definition: a partnership finally composed of several villages; it has at last attained the limit of virtually complete self-sufficiency, and thus, while it comes into existence for the sake of life, it exists for the good life. 1 |
| πολιτε�α | politeia polity | republic constitution | (1)It actually means a way of life, or a system of social ethics; as well as a system for assigning political offices (2)constitutional government (3)mixed government; it is also translated as "commonwealth". |
| πολιτες | polites | citizen | 7 |
| πολιτευμα | politevma | civic body body politic | (1)to signify the concrete or personal side of the πολιτε�α (2)Aristotle (in III,vi,§1) identifies this word with πολιτε�α, i.e. "the civic body is the constitution itself". It is also translated as "commonwealth" |
| πολιτικαε | politike | politics | signifies the theory (or rather the art) of the common life of the polis and the betterment of that life; it is different from 'political theory' or 'theory of the state'. 7 |
| πολιτικος | politikos | statesman | It can mean politician 7 |
| συνοικισμ�ς | synœcism | centralization | dwelling together; consolidation |
| Doric Cretan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Greek word | English transliteration | Latin equivalent | Description |
| [[Laced�monian]] | |||
| Greek word | English transliteration | Latin equivalent | Description |
| γερουσία | gerousia | senatus senix | literally "old men"; the Senate; the assembly of the elders or the aristocracy |
| δ�μος | daimos | They called their own community this. 5 | |
| δαμοσ�α | daimosia | the train of the king in war. 5 | |
| δαμώδεις | daimodeis | The citizens of Sparta were called this. 5 | |
| δαμώσικτος | daimosiktos | a measure ratified by the community. 5 | |
| νεοδαμώδεις | neodaimodeis | new Spartan citizens were called this. It is a correlation to the Syracusan νεοπολιται. 5 | |
| ξενηλασια | xenelasia | foreigner laws; restricting immigration and importation of foreign culture; forbidding travel by its citizens. One of the most important elements in Dorian polities in preserving their heritage. | |
| περίοικοι | peri�ci | dwellers-around; The Peri�ci were always considered as Achaens; they did not have political rights; and all commerce and manufacturing was left in their hands. 9 | |
| Athenian | |||
| Greek word | English transliteration | Latin equivalent | Description |
Contents |
Notes
†This is how the word is transliterated from the Modern Greek. In Modern Greek the "β" is pronounced as a "v" sound; so is the the "u" after any vowel.
††This is an original construction; the English have always transliterated the "β" as a "b" sound but keeping the "v" sound might make it better sounding in the English language.
Related Topics
References
- Politics, Aristotle, trans. by H. Rackman, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, England, 1990. Vol. 264. Bk I, i, 8; 1252b 25-30; pg 9.
- The Politics of Aristotle; Translated with an Introduction, Notes, and Appendixes, trans. by Ernest Barker, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, reprint 1952. pg lxv
- Prof. Müller intimates that the word is also synonymous with |κωμαι. "The distinction of ranks, which we find existing in the Arcadian towns, my be satisfactorily explained by the opposition between the city, properly so called (polis) and the country villages (demos, komai), which in later times most of the Arcadian cities, ...incorporated with themselves." The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Karl Otfried Müller, trans. fr. the German by Henry Tufnell, ESQ. & Georg Cornewall Lewis, ESQ., A.M., publisher: John Murray, London, 2nd ed. rev. 1839. Vol II, pg 68-69.
- "Hence it was the interest of the the head of the Peloponnesian confederacy again to seperate the inhabitants of the towns (dioik�zein); of the Athenians, to keep them together." The History of the Doric Race, Müller, Vol. II, pg 69.
- "The Spartan communty, however, deviating from this usage of the word, calls itself "daimos" in ancient laws; because it never thought of opposing itself as a body to the Peri�ci." The History of the Doric Race, Müller, Vol. II, pg 73.
- The History of the Doric Race, Müller, Vol. II, pg 70.
- The Politics of Aristotle, trans. by Ernest Barker, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, reprint 1952. pg lxvi
- The Politics of Aristotle, trans. by Ernest Barker, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, reprint 1952. pg lxiv
- The History of the Doric Race, Müller, Vol. II, pg 18.
