古代希腊城邦特征探析

The Properties of the Ancient Greek Poleis

城邦特征是指城邦的内在特性,是它区别于其他国家形态的根本所在。古代希腊城邦众多,对其特征进行概括性的总结虽有相当难度,但还是很有必要。小邦寡民是早期希腊城邦的客观事实,习惯上只把它当作是城邦的外部特征,实际上,它是在新的生产关系下形成的一种有效的组织形式,对城邦的发展起着规定性的作用。公民是希腊城邦的根本,公民集体是希腊城邦之核心。组织起来的公民集体追求整体发展,组成了利益一致的有机整体,对希腊文明影响深刻。城邦同时也是自给自足的整体,它既能保障城邦或全体公民的生产资料和生活资料的生产,又能保障作为人类的公民自身的生产和再生产。小邦寡民、公民整体主义与邦内自给自足共同构成了希腊城邦的主要特征。

The property of polls refers to the inner specificities of a city--state, property that differentiates essentially one polis from another. The ancient Greece has numerous poleis, and it is very much difficult to summarize their characteristic commonalities, but it is still worthwhile to have a try. The early Greek poleis are small in scale, which has been habitually regarded as the external property. Nevertheless, that constitution is an efficient organization formed under the relevant new production relation and it hence has a determinant role for the development of the poleis. The citizens are the essence to the poleis and the civil communities are the core. The organized civil communities seek their holistic advancement; so they form a whole that has identical interest. Such a characteristic has exerted great impact upon the Greek civilization. Mean- while, poleis are also self--contained unities that could guarantee not only the production of the capital goods and life neces- sities, but also the production and reproduction of the citizens themselves as human beings. Therefore, small scale, civil holistic interest, and self--containedness constitute the main characteristics of the ancient Greek poleis.