Fair Greece, Sad Relic

If we can explain the rise of classical Greece, we may gain a better understanding of what it took to bootstrap the wealth and democracy package in the first place. If we can explain the fall of the Greek political order - that is, why major city-states did not maintain full independence for longer than they did - we may better understand democratic frailty. 

Ober, Josiah. The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece. Princeton University Press, 2015, xvi.

This is from the introduction to a new book by Stanford University Professor of Political Science and Classics, Josiah Ober. The problem of why certain societies rise to greatness and influence is of great interest to me. It's why I decided to purchase Ober's book after reading a review of it in last week's Wall Street Journal. It's also why I recently purchased In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire, a book I'll be reading soon after this one.

Εἰ μὲν τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀναγράφουσι τὰς πράξεις παραλελεῖφθαι συνέβαινε τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς τῆς ἱστορίας ἔπαινον, ἴσως ἀναγκαῖον ἦν τὸ προτρέπεσθαι πάντας πρὸς τὴν αἵρεσιν καὶ παραδοχὴν τῶν τοιούτων ὑπομνημάτων διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν ἑτοιμοτέραν εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διόρθωσιν τῆς τῶν προγεγενημένων πράξεων ἐπιστήμης.