in the early years of a polis sometime in the eighth century B.C.

假如我们生活在公元前八世纪
Again, I want to emphasize these things that

让我再强调一下
I've been describing don't happen in every place at the same time

我所描述的并非同时出现在希腊各地
and they don't even happen every place in the same way,

甚至出现的形式也大不相同
but over a stretch of time the concepts and the kind of characteristics

但是随着时间的推移
I've been describing appear to spread all over the place.

我所描述的这个特征却传播到了很多地方
But one of the ways in which we can date the time

但是我们通过一种方法可以确定这一时期
when the polis came into being has to do with the Greek traditions

城邦的形成与古希腊人的
about the establishment of colonies

殖民传统有关
throughout the Mediterranean inhabited by Greeks,

他们的殖民地遍布了整个地中海
and the reason that they are a clue is because

因为有一条线索
every time we see a colony,

每当我们看到一个殖民地时