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Perhaps the best book I've read on this subject was titled From Plato to NATO. In it the author portrayed the Western concepts of liberty as not deriving from the Greek, but from a confluence of Roman Republicanism and Germanic tribal concepts of the freedom of the individual. Athenian Democracy is described for what it was, rule of the majority, and as Socrates could have told us, rule of the majority without liberty is destructive.

Yet the author here praises the Persians a tad too much. Their rule was despotic, and while Cyrus and his heirs could have been benevolent despots, any despotic rule is far more open to tyranny than that of a democratic city state. Persia trumped Greece in wealth, sophisitication, and size and power, but as Steven Pressfield says, through the voice of Dianekes in Gates of Fire,"You have never tasted freedom, else you would know. It is purchased, not with gold, but with steel." That is the lesson of Leonidas and the 300.

"It is purchased, not with gold, but with steel." That is the lesson of Leonidas and the 300.

Best not to forget. Once forgotten, it's almost pointless to try to teach again.

I would think that credit for the American Republic belongs to Tom Jefferson. Was it not he who, learned in the classics, read the histories of the nations of the world; the great works of religious authors; the philosophers of freedom and liberty, etc... and cooked up a stew containing the best flavors of all of 'em??

Our Declaration was penned in his hand.

Steven Pressfield says, through the voice of Dianekes in Gates of Fire,"You have never tasted freedom, else you would know. It is purchased, not with gold, but with steel." That is the lesson of Leonidas and the 300.

Excellent post! That quote effectively summarizes the attention and admiration for the Spartans and the battle of Thermopylae.