The ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome were two of the most influential to Western government and culture. Due to political conflict in each, they both developed their own forms of government that changed the way politics was viewed. These newly created methods, democracy and representative republic, consisted of the revolutionary idea of political involvement of the common people. Each form of government had huge impacts on the development of future Western nations, though these nations are more closely based on the principles and organization of the Roman republic.
Due to geographical barriers preventing a united empire of Greece, city-states developed that differed in their values. For example, Athens and Sparta were set up based around very different ideals. Athenians valued education and thought, and put a lot of emphasis on philosophy, while Spartans valued military above all. These values were reflected in their education systems, as
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This shift was not in the form of a sudden revolution, and rather grew as a gradual switch from a monarchy previously under the Etruscans. The republic stood for liberty and extended citizenship of the people. In the Roman republic, the people chose officials to represent their interests. Dominating the government was a senate that was primarily made up of the wealthy, landholding class, known as patricians. This outraged the lower class plebeians, who later gained power and elected their own officials. The Roman republic created and embodied the idea that government officials were elected by the people and were responsible for representing them. This also touched upon the idea that if elected officials do not represent the interests of those that elected them, they could be voted out of the government. These principles have largely influenced the governmental development of Western nations, one of which being the United