Ancient Governments

Ancient Greece first coined the concept of democracy, yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker - from Plato and Aristotle onward - was ambivalent toward or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is quite simple: The elite perceived majority power as tantamount to a dictatorship of the proletariat. In ancient Greece, there can be traced not only the rudiments of modern democratic society but the entire Western tradition of antidemocratic thought.

In The Republic, Plato tackles the big issues of the state and the individual: how the state should be ruled, and by whom; and the way the individual should lead his life - and why. The lively quality of the dialogue can be clearly appreciated in this new translation by Tom Griffith.

Hippias of Elis travels throughout the Greek world practicing and teaching the art of making beautiful speeches. On a rare visit to Athens, he meets Socrates, who questions him about the nature of his art. Socrates is especially curious about how Hippias would define beauty. They agree that beauty makes all beautiful things beautiful, but when Socrates presses him to say precisely what he means, Hippias is unable to deliver such a definition.

The United States of America has been the most powerful country in the world for more than 70 years, but recently the US National Security Strategy declared that the return of great power competition with Russia and China is the greatest threat to US national security. Further, many analysts predict that America's autocratic rivals will have at least some success in disrupting - and, in the longer term, possibly even displacing - US global leadership. Brilliant and engagingly written, The Return of Great Power Rivalry argues that this conventional wisdom is wrong.

It was an explosion that reverberated across the country—and into the very heart of early-twentieth-century America. On the morning of October 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times Building buckled as a thunderous detonation sent men, machinery, and mortar rocketing into the night air. When at last the wreckage had been sifted and the hospital triage units consulted, twenty-one people were declared dead and dozens more injured. But as it turned out, this was just a prelude to the devastation that was to come.

In search of an ideal civilization, Socrates leads Glaucon, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, and others in debates about various subjects, including justice, truth, class, and art. For without righteousness, tyranny and injustice give rise to oligarchy. The influential dialogues of The Republic helped shape all of Western literature and philosophical thought. It is as much a doctrine of ethics and politics now as it was for the ancient Greeks, and its dilemma remains: how to create a perfect society populated by very imperfect human beings.

In this acclaimed Plato masterpiece, you travel back in time to attend an elaborate high society dinner. At this party, you meet Plato's mentor, Socrates, and the comic poet Aristophanes. During the banquet, each of these men is invited to praise Eros, the god of love and desire. You witness them deliver speeches that embody their wisdom and philosophies on love. You hear Socrates' celebrated account of Diotima, the prophetess who taught him that love is the manifestation of human goodness. Finally, you even hear from the famous Alcibiades.

What was life like in Ancient Rome? If your sixth grader has ever wondered what it’s like to live in the ancient times without technology, then this book should be listened to. Ancient history can be a wonderful, interactive listen, if you give your child the right learning tools. Learn about the early history, science, architecture, art, and government of ancient Rome. Start listening today.

In order to understand today's democracy, we need to start from its earliest beginnings by understanding the works of the ancient philosophers who laid the foundations of democracy from the early days. Even looking at the democracy around the world today, it's clear that there are degrees to which countries choose to adhere or stray from democratic ideals. Understanding where these ideals developed from and the development of democracy over time is essential to determining what endangers these ideals in the present.

Ancient Greece was once a hub of philosophy, government, and culture. There were a lot of thoughts and ideas that flourished in Ancient Greece and later on influenced the Western World. To know how its government once operated is to understand how the governments of today take their roots from. This is definitely an interesting listen. Grab a copy today!

The expansion of the congestion charge zone, prices going up on the Underground, bendy buses - all ideas brought about to try to make the traffic situation in our capital city run more smoothly. Surely there must be a better way? In fact there is. In Roman times, when the streets were even more crowded, Caesar decreed that all vehicles (except those involved in building work) were banned from the City, while Nero took advantage of a major fire to broaden the streets to improve access.

The advice handed down by Sun Tzu in "The Art of War" is surprisingly practical. Strategic principles such as planning, precise timing, and gaining the advantage are just as important to modern political campaigns as they were 2000 years ago. In "Ancient Wisdom for Modern Campaigns," Caitlin Huxley, a campaign strategist with over 15 years of experience, translates the ancient time-honored wisdom and shares relevant personal stories from the campaign trail, taking candidates through the process of planning, organizing, and winning political campaigns using these proven methods.

Stiamo lasciando volontariamente aperte le porte della nostra civiltà ai barbari, dimenticando le nostre radici greche e romane? O forse siamo noi i barbari, quando utilizziamo il nostro passato per giustificare il peggio della nostra civiltà? Ecco un piccolo "libro nero" sull’uso politico dell’antichità, che ci aiuta a comprendere cosa c’è di vivo e cosa c’è di morto nel nostro legame con i Greci e i Romani. L’insegnamento dei classici greci e latini è certo un antidoto efficace alla barbarie dei nostri tempi. Giusto?

From the time of the ancients came a mighty warrior who conquered the known world! Never before or since has there been anyone like this man, Alexander the Great. What was his secret? How did this son of a warlord rise to such power? How was he able to lead a small army of Greeks to victory over the mightiest empire of the world?

In today’s modern world every political regime, even the most authoritarian or repressive, describes itself as democracy or a Democratic People’s Republic. It is also generally accepted that democracy, as a political ideology, began in Greece, specifically in Athens, in the 7th century BCE and reached its zenith in the 5th century under the leadership of Pericles. The Greeks and Romans would not have recognized, or accepted, any of today’s modern versions of democracy as being truly “democratic”.

The Pyramids and the Pentagon is a detailed study of how and why government agencies have, for decades, taken a clandestine and profound interest in numerous archeological, historical, and religious puzzles. Focusing primarily upon the classified work of the U.S. Government, The Pyramids and the Pentagon invites you to take a wild ride into the fog-shrouded past.

Few mixtures are as toxic as absolute power and insanity. When nothing stands between a leader's delusion whims and seeing them carried them out, all sorts of bizarre outcomes are possible. Whatever their background, these rulers show that dynastic politics made sure that a rightful heir always got on the throne - despite that heir's mental condition - and that power can destroy a mind worse than any mental illness.

"From Rome to the West: Parallels in Empire, Mobility, and Rhetoric" is a meticulous exploration of the cyclical narratives that underpin the strategies and rhetorics of empires, drawing direct lines between the colossal Roman Empire and contemporary Western democracies. Delving deep into the Roman Republic's dualistic nature, it unveils the contradictions between internal democratic ethos and external imperialistic endeavors, offering readers a panoramic view of how power and morality intersected in the classical world.

Given how bad some of Rome's emperors were, it's a testament to just how insane and reviled Caligula was that he is still remembered, nearly 2,000 years later, as the epitome of everything that could be wrong with a tyrant. The Romans had high hopes for him after he succeeded Tiberius in AD 37, and by all accounts he was a noble and just ruler during his first few months in power. But after that, he suffered a mysterious illness that apparently rendered him insane. Indeed, the list of Caligula's strange actions is long.

Let’s talk about democracy beyond its most basic definitions. Learn about democracy as a legacy of ancient Greece. Use this social studies audiobook to grow your child’s interest in learning the democratic system as well as the rights of the citizens. By knowing its origins, perhaps your child can better understand how the ancient Greek concept has impacted future governments.