PREFACE TO REPRINT OF 1895
A reprint of this little book having been called for unexpectedly, I am only able to correct a few errors which have been pointed out to me by the kindness of friends and critics. If the work should survive, some parts of it may eventually have to be more thoroughly revised. Among these is the second chapter, in which my use of the term "village community" has been called in question by an able writer in the Classical Review. Readers of the recently published works of Mr. Seebohm and his son, Mr. Hugh Seebohm, on the tribal system in Wales and in Greece, will understand the bearing of this criticism. But until it can be clearly shown that the κώμαι which in so many cases immediately preceded the πόλις were tribal communities like the Welsh, and not a species of village community developed out of a primitive and universal tribal system, I am content to retain the older term in the broad sense which I was careful to give it. I
