This chapter describes the nature of historical and archaeological evidence concerning ancient Greek cities, and the environmental and agricultural context in which they were situated. Ancient Greece is best known for its amazing literary record, and the surviving sources often convey a vivid sense of what it felt like to live in Greek cities. Greek landscapes and culture were more suited to small-scale farming than the semi-industrial, irrigated agriculture that played such a major role in other early cities, which may be reflected in, or at least related to, political and social organization. Finally, it discusses the diachronic development of the Greek city, during the Early Iron Age, Archaic period, Classical period, Hellenistic period and the beginning of the Roman Empire, focusing on issues of population, settlement size, and urban form, as well as political systems and the distribution of power.