Ancient Greece

Cities and ideas.

The polis

Hundreds of independent cities shared language and religion while differing sharply in government. Athens developed direct democracy for adult male citizens; Sparta was organised around military service.

Democracy excluded women, enslaved people and foreigners.
Persian wars and then Peloponnesian war shaped the classical period.

Legacy

Philosophy, drama, historiography and mathematics from this period were preserved and extended by later Hellenistic, Islamic and European scholars.