Chapter 17 5. Decline and revival

Greece declined because they lost their spirit. What is the Greek spirit?Independence and freedom, science and democracy.However, just as Greece's democracy was incomplete, their independence, freedom, and equality were not complete.Slaves are not free, women are not independent, men and women are not equal.Athens in the democratic era even had such a law: those who commit adultery with other wives will pay with their lives, and those who rape only need to be fined.Because rape only damages the rights and interests of women, adultery not only provokes the dignity of men, but may also cause their property to fall into the hands of others.For example, the husband who was kept in the dark mistook a "wild species" for his son.

Excuse me, what kind of stupid logic is this? The result of insisting on the logic of the bastard is to go to the opposite of oneself.After the Hippo War, the victorious Athens became greedy, selfish, arrogant, arrogant and immoderate.Perhaps, in the eyes of the Athenians, they were entitled to it.Yes, the two attacks of the Persian Empire were repulsed, and many islands joined the Greek League headed by Athens; and their own city-states reached their peak during the fifteen years of Pericles as the chief general. Known as the "Greek school". So the Athenians thought they could dominate.

The result of hegemony is the struggle for hegemony, the resistance of the Allies, the dissatisfaction of Sparta, and the 27-year-long "Peloponnesian War".Then, it was Macedonia who took advantage of the emptiness and entered, and the city-states existed in name only.Afterwards, the whole of Greece became a battlefield where heroes competed for the throne, and finally merged into the territory of the Roman state. Obviously, the decline and demise of Greece began when Athens sought maritime hegemony.On this day, they bullied the weak and betrayed themselves. The Greek spirit was lost by the Greeks, leaving only "spiritual heritage".

But what a precious legacy this is!Legislation and justice in ancient Rome, Magna Carta and Congress in England, the Renaissance in Italy, the first bourgeois republic in the Netherlands (Dutch Republic), the Declaration of the Rights of Man in France, we You can see its sparkle. It is also necessary to talk about the "urban autonomy" of the European feudal era. The so-called "urban self-government" simply means that the citizens of a city "join up" and pay to buy a "charter" from the king.With this charter, the citizens could unite into associations, have the right to sign agreements with the seal of the association, have their own town hall, courts, and extra-urban dependencies, and manage their own city.They can even ignore the emperor's orders and the laws of the country.In the worst cases, autonomous cities in certain areas formed alliances to wage war against the emperor or king.

To put it bluntly, urban autonomy is the "joint redemption" of citizens. This is something we Chinese have never heard of, but it is of great significance.It not only means that citizens have become a class (civilian class), but also means that they have political demands and the ability to govern.The bourgeoisie is the predecessor of the bourgeoisie, and urban self-government is the precursor of capitalism.When the power of such a freedom is strong enough, the feudal society in Europe will come to an end. However, cities can be autonomous for two reasons.One is that in ancient Greece, independent city-states were originally self-governing.This tradition, although intermittent, has continued.The second is that from ancient Rome until later, no matter how the state system and state form in the Western world changed, the spirit of contract and the rule of law ran throughout.Even the relationship between feudal monarchs and vassals in Europe was regulated by contracts.With these two prerequisites, a new type of country and a new way of building a country will be born sooner or later.

Her name is "United States of America".