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History vocabulary · Empires, States and Rulers

City-state

Meaning in history, with examples

nounCommon term

In history, city-state means: An independent state made up of a city and the land around it, with its own government, laws and army, such as ancient Athens or Renaissance Venice.

In Turkish: şehir devleti, kent devleti, polis

How it is used

Used for Sumerian cities such as Ur and Uruk, the Greek polis, Phoenician cities and Italian states such as Florence and Venice. Usually written with a hyphen. Historians compare how city-states formed leagues, fought each other and were absorbed into larger empires.

Example sentences

  1. Athens and Sparta were the most powerful Greek city-states of the fifth century BC.

  2. Each Sumerian city-state had its own patron god and main temple.

Common collocations

  • Greek city-states
  • an independent city-state
  • Italian city-states
  • rival city-states
  • civilizationA complex society with cities, written records, organised government and specialised work, or the culture and way of life of a particular people or region.
  • ancientBelonging to the very distant past, especially to the period before the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD.
  • empireA large state or group of territories and peoples ruled by a single supreme authority, often an emperor or sultan, and usually built through conquest.
  • sovereigntySupreme authority over a territory and its people, including the right to make laws and to govern without control from any outside power.

More terms: Empires, States and Rulers

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