HCS515 Midterm: midterm_west_civ)
Document Summary
Excluding modern western democracies, ancient greece and rome were two of the most liberal and intellectually proactive civilizations in history. The most conspicuous difference between them were their slightly different systems of governance. While greece (athens) was a direct democracy, rome was a republic. Athens was run directly by the citizens, while rome was governed by the senate. Another consequential difference between them was their centralization of authority. Greece, however, did not exist as a national entity. Greece was comprised of dozens of powerful city-states spewed throughout the mediterranean. Although rome and greece shared many political values, their social and mortal constructs were quite different. The greek values have allowed it to linger i our thoughts when so many others have been forgotten. In time, greece was destroyed by its disunity, but what cruel irony, that rome was to be undone by the same force that made it great.
