An Island Polity

The Greek Island Of Melos In The Cyclades Has Been Inhabited For At Least Five Thousand Years. Two Periods Of Its History Are Well Documented: The Late Bronze Age When It Supported An Important Urban Centre At Phylakopi And The Late Fifth Century Bc When As An Independent City-State It Briefly Defied And Was Then Destroyed By The Expansionist Power Of Athens. The Case Of Melos Is Thus Relevant To The Understanding Of The Processes Of Early State-Formation And Of The Integration Of Small-Scale Societies Into Larger Political Units. As The Contributors To This Volume Show A Small Island Provides A Very Suitable Area - Clearly Defined Self-Contained - In Which To Examine The Processes Of Social Cultural And Economic Change And The Forces - Sometimes Gradual And Almost Imperceptible In Their Effect Sometimes Sudden And Dramatic - By Which Changes Are Initiated.