Write an essay examining the effects of the rise of the polis in Greece at the beginning of the Archaic Period (750-500 BC).

The so-called ‘8th-century revolution' fundamentally changed the nature of Greek society.

Discuss the changes which took place during this period, and, in particular, the different ways in which the two poleis about which we have the most information, Athens and Sparta, shaped their governments and societies in order to deal with the problems that were created by these changes. Finally, consider how the choices they made shaped the outbreak and course of the two major major wars of the Classical Period (500-323 BC), the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars.