Greek culture was based on the polis, the city-state. Even before Alexander, the Greeks had established colonies in western Asia Minor and elsewhere and had modeled cities there on Greek city-states. Ideally, the Greek city, wherever located, was autonomous, but when part of an empire, its independence was often limited. The city was ruled by its citizens, that is, prominent land-owning males. From time to time, the citizenry would assemble in a meeting called the ekklēsia