:<i>Polis: A New History of the Ancient Greek City-State from the Early Iron Age to the End of Antiquity</i>

Ma's recent monograph indicates that this tradition is still thriving; its 554 pages of text and 61 pages of endnotes are a vivid display of scholarly interest in the origins, development, and fate of the polis.Obviously, it is impossible to represent such a substantial work in detail here; this review will consequently discuss the major points of the work, including its sources, conceptual-theoretical framework, and overall execution.The volume contains 20 chapters organized into seven parts, beginning with part I, which introduces some challenges of studying the polis.Parts II-V present the chronological narrative-or "biography"-beginning with Ma envisioning the polis as having its origins in village communities and local federations in the Early Iron Age.Ma argues that these developed into the first true poleis in the subsequent Archaic period through an urbanization and consolidation drive.Originally more diverse in nature, the poleis went through a phase of homogenization-the "Great Convergence"-in the Classical-Hellenistic period, where Ma sees the beginning of an overall adherence to democratic principles.This is how the poleis entered into the Roman empire, where they, after an "Indian summer" (Ma's expression), gradually lost importance.Ma's narrative spans