ped mainly in the southern and the eastern portions of the peninsula (see fig. 2, below). These are lands of dominating limestone mountains, of intensely dry summers, and deeply indented coastlines. No rivers are navigable; though raging in the winters, most are completely dry in summertime. Agriculturally it is weak and incapable of supporting most crops. Olive trees, one of the few specimens hardy enough for thin Greek soil, has consistently been the region's chief agricultural product. Where the land makes life difficult with weak soil and sparse vegetation, the climate compensates; mild weather generally enables most Greeks to spend much of their time outdoors, engendering a highly social lifestyle (Andrewes 1-4).
Figure 2: Ancient Greece. Retrieved from www.iam.classics.unc.edu
How might the landscape and climate of Greece have contributed to the development of the ancient Greek polis? Robert Garland, author of Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks offers the following: "It was the prominence of the mountain ranges, combined with t
...