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THE CITY-STATE
chap. ii
like Athene from the head of Zeus, complete organisms and fully armed. By far the greater number of Greek cities were colonies from States already formed and often even over-populated; but as these ultimately owed their existence to the conditions of growth which we have already been examining, the story of their origin does not fall within the scope of this chapter. Far less does that of the military colonies of Rome, which were never independent political units, but at all times a part, strange as it may seem, of the ever-growing City-State which founded them. We may safely leave these, and turn for a while to consider the nature of the State we have seen generated, and of the earliest form of its government.
