The Rise of Greece

Greece, a civilization that has been around since 2000 B.C. It was were western
civilization began. The rise of greece, and it's government has helped shaped the way
they live today. Many people and cultures started in Greece, but it all started with
the Mycenaeans. Sometime before 2000 B.C., people called the Mycenaeans filtered
into Greece and began building communities. Because of the areas
mountains and water barriers, independent city-states sprang up (Ollhaff 6). The
Myceneans were the first people to live in the civilization of Greece. They built little
towns that eventually would spring up into a large empire. Greeces many
governments has made an impact on what government they have today. Many
historians say Greeces Classical period started about the time of the first Olympic
Games in 776 bc. It was after this time that a unique culture grew. It was a culture that
recognized the importance of personal freedoms. Especially in the city of Athens, the
Greeks practiced
the idea that government is better when people are involved (Ollhaff 6). There culture
reconized the importance of personal freedoms. The greeks realized that government is
better when people are involved. As Greece went through many governments and
rulers they invented a more modern way to govern their people. The government
of many city-states, notably Athens, passed through four stages from the time of Homer
to historical times. During the 7th and 8th centuries B.C. the kings disappeared.
Monarchy gave way to oligarchy. That is, rule by a few. The oligarchic successors of the
kings were the wealthy landowning nobles, the eupatridae, or wellborn. However, the
rivalry among these nobles and the discontent of the oppressed masses was so great
that soon a third stage appeared. The third type of government was known as tyranny.
Some eupatrid would seize absolute power, usually by promising the people to right the
wrongs inflicted upon them by the other landholding eupatridae. He was known as a
tyrant. Among the Greeks this was not a term of reproach but merely meant one who
had seized kingly power without the qualification of royal descent. The tyrants of the 7th
century were a stepping-stone to democracy, or the rule of the people, which was
established nearly everywhere in the 6th and 5th centuries. It was the tyrants who
taught the people their rights and power. By the beginning of the 5th century BC, Athens
had gone through these stages and emerged as the first democracy in the history of the
world. Between two and three centuries before this, the Athenian kings had made way
for officials called archons, elected by the nobles. Thus an aristocratic form of
government was established. Http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/. Web. The Greek
government went through many stages of monarchy, until they finally reached the first
ever democracy. The Greeks have had many rulers and government leaders, and they
learned the best ways to govern their country. The rise of Greece started a magnificent
culture that still thrives today.