1. why is john smith "one of those persons about whom historians are apt to lose their temper?

it proved indian land claims were unjustified.

polisit can also mean a body of citizens. in modern historiography, polis is normally used to indicate the ancient greek city-states, like classical athens and its contemporaries, and thus is often translated as "city-state". the body of citizens came to be the most important meaning of the term polis in ancient greece.