What forms of government did the cities of Athens, Pylos and Tiryns have in the Bronze Age?
In every case they had monarchical rule under a king whose position implied religious as well as secular leadership. The Greek word for an ordinary king (i.e. of a small/medium area) is Basileus: a king with authority or influence over a wide area (which might include tributary kingdoms) was called a Wanax, a word shortened in the classical era to Anax (the Greek letter W, called digamma, first became silent like a Spanish H, then fell out of use altogether). The king’s secular functions included: judging cases at law, deciding on (and leading his men in) war and local defence, supervising (and paying for, out of taxes) the limited public works the Bronze Age needed – harbours, the odd bridge, temples etc. – and relations with other states. On the religious front, he usually acted as a high priest of the official state cultus, offering sacrifices at major festivals. War, including both aggressive war to widen his frontiers and enrich the land and defensive action against raiders and gr
