Hanson aims to connect the rises and falls of varying governments to the degree to which homesteading is a widespread practice among the populace.

At the end of the Archaic period and the beginning of Classical times, the veneration of individuality and equality had destroyed the very system of government it created.

Additionally, the daily struggle of the small farmer against nature created a shared sense of comradery among the yeomen due to the similarity of their experiences.

Hanson suggests that the common culture of farming shared by the "Other Greeks" led them to create a government that protected their interests.

[1] Hanson uses evidence of short warfare duration and the fact that wars typically occurred in the agricultural downtime of August to suggest that the hoplites were Greek yeomen farmers.