ABSTRACT
The development of the townspeople is hence closely associated with urbanization; indeed, the two processes are virtually identical, for the great majority of the urban people in aristocratic empires are townspeople. Probably more commonly, townspeople develop only after the aristocracy. Directly or indirectly, virtually all townspeople serve the aristocracy. The chapter discusses certain characteristics of the peasantry that seemed relevant in a consideration of its ability to participate in the politics of the aristocracy. The townspeople can, for purposes of political analysis, be broken down into three categories. One category consists of people who play no active role in politics at all or only a very small one. Secondly, there is a category of townspeople who are politically attached to the aristocracy. The third category, finally, consists of those townspeople who play a role in their own political arenas as distinct from the arena of the aristocracy.
