when he excavated and described the economic activity of the palace of Knossos. The massive scale of the redistributive economy of Crete as well as its overseas trade networks is indicative of a synoecism from a culture of primarily subsistence agriculture to that of a highly organized and hierarchically structured civilization. Mycenaean Greece Mycenaean synoecism developed similarly to that of the Minoans on Crete. Loosely related and geographically scattered villages eventually concentrated political power in palatial centers which was headed by a wanax which is comparable to king. Evidence in Messenia suggests that this role originated as a simple leadership role in small villages. As the size of the village grew, so too did the power of the lineages which controlled important craft production. As Mycenaean society grew and developed increasingly warlike tendencies, wanaxes developed more defensible and centralized centers from which they could rule. The wanax would then preside over a centralized state administration populated with both local elites and palatial authorities. Synoecism in Mycenaean Greece then further occurred as the highly defensible and economically efficient political centers governed by a wanax gained increasing popularity for residents of the vulnerable settlements on the periphery of the palace's territory. Additionally, synoecism under the wanax and palatial administration was enforced not only through military force but economic taxes as well; however, the damos (rural communities), retained a significant degree of autonomy from these central ones. Classical Greece Development In ancient Greece, society was divided into the demos (δῆμοι, κῶμαι; "country people" or "country villages") and the "asty" (ἄστυ) or "polis" (πόλις). The polis was the situs of the princely nobility, gentry, and aristocracy and the sacerdotal and martial families. The distinction between the "demos" and the "polis" was politically very important in these ancient states. There was much antagonism between the two bodies of the country and city. Where commerce and trade came to dominate culture and ideology, they encouraged men to live together in larger towns and develop democracies. In the city states of classical Greece, synoecism occurred when the "demos" combined with and subordinated, usually by force, the "politiea" in one polity. In the poleis, the synoikistes was the person who according to tradition executed the synoecism, either by charisma or outright conquest; he was subsequently worshiped as a demi-god. Often, the synoikistes executed the synoecism in the interest of consolidating political power for themselves. Theseus The most famous