1.
Ohio Statehouse
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The Ohio Statehouse, located in Columbus, Ohio, is the house of government for the state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building houses the Ohio General Assembly and the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer. When the state government relocated to the new city of Columbus in 1816, it occupied a modest two-story building on the corner of High and State Streets. This early capitol had chambers for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, efforts to relieve the cramped quarters with additional small buildings were ineffective and it soon became apparent that the government would require a larger facility. In 1838, Ohios government announced a competition to select the design for a new Statehouse and this strategy was not unusual at the time, as important public buildings such as the U. S. Capitol had resulted from similar contests. However, the commission responsible for choosing the winners was unable to agree on a final design for construction. When the cornerstone was laid on July 4,1839, the commission was still without a final design. Consultation with New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis resulted in a design that merged some key features of the three winning entries, but it was rejected as being too expensive. Cole had a friendship with one of the commissioners, a man named William A. Adams who was from Steubenville. Coles nephew, William Henry Bayless, coincidentally a Steubenville native, was apprenticed in the office of Alexander Jackson Davis, work on the buildings foundation and lower level had only just begun when the Statehouse project encountered the first of many difficulties. The legislation that made Columbus the official city of Ohio was set to expire. While various factions within the government engaged in debate over relocating the capitol to another city, open excavations were refilled with earth, and Capitol Square became open pasture for livestock. The Statehouse remained neglected until February,1848, when William Russell West and J. O. Sawyer of Cincinnati were appointed architects, by May of that same year construction had resumed. Unfortunately, an epidemic began in Columbus, prompting widespread flight to the countryside by residents. Once the epidemic subsided, work on the Statehouse continued, interrupted only by intermissions during the harsh Ohio winters, while some suspected arson, the exact cause of the fire remains a mystery to this day. With the Statehouse exterior nearing completion by 1854, Columbus architect Nathan Kelley was hired to supervise the design, one of his major tasks would be to provide a system for heating and ventilation in the building, which had not been considered previously. With great fanfare, the new Statehouse opened to the public on January 7,1857, by now, most of the building was completed, with the notable exception of the rotunda. Although actual work on the building was proceeding smoothly, government officials were deeply dissatisfied with Mr. Kelley, citing problems with his working methods and aesthetic choices
2.
Columbus, Ohio
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Columbus is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Ohio. It is the 15th-largest city in the United States, with a population of 850,106 as of 2015 estimates and this makes Columbus the fourth-most populous state capital in the United States, and the third-largest city in the Midwestern United States. It is the city of the Columbus, Ohio, Metropolitan Statistical Area. With a population of 2,021,632, it is Ohios third-largest metropolitan area, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County. The city proper has also expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County, named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. As of 2013, the city has the headquarters of five corporations in the U. S, fortune 500, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, L Brands, Big Lots, and Cardinal Health. In 2012, Columbus was ranked in BusinessWeeks 50 best cities in America. In 2013, Forbes gave Columbus an A rating as one of the top cities for business in the U. S. and later that included the city on its list of Best Places for Business. Columbus was also ranked as the No.1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation by Forbes in 2008, and the city was ranked a top-ten city by Relocate America in 2010. In 2007, fDi Magazine ranked the city no.3 in the U. S. for cities of the future, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was rated no.1 in 2009 by USA Travel Guide. The area including modern-day Columbus once comprised the Ohio Country, under the control of the French colonial empire through the Viceroyalty of New France from 1663 until 1763. In the 18th century, European traders flocked to the area, the area found itself frequently caught between warring factions, including American Indian and European interests. In the 1740s, Pennsylvania traders overran the territory until the French forcibly evicted them, in the early 1750s, the Ohio Company sent George Washington to the Ohio Country to survey. Fighting for control of the territory in the French and Indian War became part of the international Seven Years War, during this period, the region routinely suffered turmoil, massacres, and battles. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded the Ohio Country to the British Empire, after the American Revolution, the Ohio Country became part of the Virginia Military District, under the control of the United States. Colonists from the East Coast moved in, but rather finding a empty frontier, they encountered people of the Miami, Delaware, Wyandot, Shawnee. The tribes resisted expansion by the fledgling United States, leading to years of bitter conflict, the decisive Battle of Fallen Timbers resulted in the Treaty of Greenville, which finally opened the way for new settlements. By 1797, a surveyor from Virginia named Lucas Sullivant had founded a permanent settlement on the west bank of the forks of the Scioto River
3.
Pericles
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Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age—specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful, Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, a contemporary historian, acclaimed him as the first citizen of Athens. Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire, and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles promoted the arts and literature, it is principally through his efforts that Athens holds the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world and he started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis. This project beautified and protected the city, exhibited its glory, Pericles also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist. Pericles was born c.495 BC, in Athens, Greece and he was the son of the politician Xanthippus, who, though ostracized in 485–484 BC, returned to Athens to command the Athenian contingent in the Greek victory at Mycale just five years later. Agariste was the great-granddaughter of the tyrant of Sicyon, Cleisthenes, according to Herodotus and Plutarch, Agariste dreamed, a few nights before Pericles birth, that she had borne a lion. Interestingly, legends say that Philip II of Macedon had a dream before the birth of his son. Pericles belonged to the tribe of Acamantis and his early years were quiet, the introverted young Pericles avoided public appearances, instead preferring to devote his time to his studies. His familys nobility and wealth allowed him to pursue his inclination toward education. He learned music from the masters of the time and he is considered to have been the first politician to attribute importance to philosophy and he enjoyed the company of the philosophers Protagoras, Zeno of Elea, and Anaxagoras. Anaxagoras, in particular, became a friend and influenced him greatly. Pericles manner of thought and rhetorical charisma may have been in part products of Anaxagoras emphasis on emotional calm in the face of trouble and his proverbial calmness and self-control are also often regarded as products of Anaxagoras influence. In the spring of 472 BC, Pericles presented The Persians of Aeschylus at the Greater Dionysia as a liturgy, Plutarch says that Pericles stood first among the Athenians for forty years. If this was so, Pericles must have taken up a position of leadership by the early 460s BC- in his early or mid-thirties, throughout these years he endeavored to protect his privacy and to present himself as a model for his fellow citizens. For example, he would often avoid banquets, trying to be frugal, in 463 BC, Pericles was the leading prosecutor of Cimon, the leader of the conservative faction who was accused of neglecting Athens vital interests in Macedon. Although Cimon was acquitted, this proved that Pericles major political opponent was vulnerable. The leader of the party and mentor of Pericles, Ephialtes, the Ecclesia adopted Ephialtes proposal without opposition
4.
Alcibiades
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Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Scambonidae, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mothers family, the Alcmaeonidae. He played a role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander. During the course of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades changed his political allegiance several times, in Sparta, he served as a strategic adviser, proposing or supervising several major campaigns against Athens. In Sparta too, however, Alcibiades soon made powerful enemies, there he served as an adviser to the satrap Tissaphernes until his Athenian political allies brought about his recall. He then served as an Athenian general for years. Once restored to his city, however, he played a crucial role in a string of Athenian victories that eventually brought Sparta to seek a peace with Athens. He favored unconventional tactics, frequently winning cities over by treachery or negotiation rather than by siege and his mother was Deinomache, the daughter of Megacles, and could trace her family back to Eurysaces and the Telamonian Ajax. His maternal grandfather, also named Alcibiades, was a friend of Cleisthenes, after the death of Cleinias at the Battle of Coronea, Pericles and Ariphron became his guardians. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades had several teachers, including Socrates. He was noted, however, for his behavior, which was mentioned by ancient Greek. It was believed that Socrates took Alcibiades as a student because he believed he could change Alcibiades from his vain ways, Xenophon attempted to clear Socrates name at trial by relaying information that Alcibiades was always corrupt and that Socrates merely failed in attempting to teach him morality. Alcibiades took part in the Battle of Potidaea in 432 BC, Alcibiades had a particularly close relationship with Socrates, whom he admired and respected. According to Plutarch, Alcibiades feared and reverenced Socrates alone, Alcibiades was married to Hipparete, the daughter of Hipponicus, a wealthy Athenian. According to Plutarch, Hipparete loved her husband, but she attempted to divorce him because he consorted with courtesans and she lived with him until her death, which came soon after, and gave birth to two children, a daughter and a son, Alcibiades the Younger. Alcibiades first rose to prominence when he began advocating aggressive Athenian action after the signing of the Peace of Nicias, disputes over the interpretation of the treaty led the Spartans to dispatch ambassadors to Athens with full powers to arrange all unsettled matters. He urged them to renounce their diplomatic authority to represent Sparta, the representatives agreed and, impressed with Alcibiades, they alienated themselves from Nicias, who genuinely wanted to reach an agreement with the Spartans. The next day, during the Assembly, Alcibiades asked them what powers Sparta had granted them to negotiate and they replied, as agreed and this ploy increased Alcibiadess standing while embarrassing Nicias, and Alcibiades was subsequently appointed General
5.
Acropolis of Athens
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The word acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον and πόλις. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis is located on a rock that rises 150 m above sea level in the city of Athens. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, while the earliest artifacts date to the Middle Neolithic era, there have been documented habitations in Attica from the Early Neolithic. There is little doubt that a Mycenaean megaron stood upon the hill during the late Bronze Age, nothing of this megaron survives except, probably, a single limestone column-base and pieces of several sandstone steps. Soon after the palace was constructed, a Cyclopean massive circuit wall was built,760 meters long, up to 10 meters high and this wall would serve as the main defense for the acropolis until the 5th century. The wall consisted of two built with large stone blocks and cemented with an earth mortar called emplekton. There were two lesser approaches up the hill on its side, consisting of steep, narrow flights of steps cut in the rock. Homer is assumed to refer to this fortification when he mentions the strong-built House of Erechtheus, at some point before the 13th century BC, an earthquake caused a fissure near the northeastern edge of the Acropolis. This fissure extended some 35 meters to a bed of marl in which a well was dug. An elaborate set of stairs was built and the served as an invaluable. There is no evidence for the existence of a Mycenean palace on top of the Athenian Acropolis. However, if there was such a palace, it seems to have been supplanted by later building activity, not a lot is known about the architectural appearance of the Acropolis until the Archaic era. In the 7th and the 6th centuries BC, the site was taken over by Kylon during the failed Kylonian revolt, nevertheless, it seems that a nine-gate wall, the Enneapylon, had been built around the biggest water spring, the Clepsydra, at the northwestern foot. A temple to Athena Polias, the deity of the city, was erected around 570–550 BC. Whether this temple replaced an older one, or just a sacred precinct or altar, is not known, probably, the Hekatompedon was built where the Parthenon now stands. Between 529–520 BC yet another temple was built by the Peisistratids and this temple of Athena Polias was built upon the Doerpfeld foundations, between the Erechtheion and the still-standing Parthenon. Arkhaios Neōs was destroyed by the Persian invasion in 480 BC, however, the temple may have been burnt down in 406/405 BC as Xenophon mentions that the old temple of Athena was set on fire
6.
Ancient Greek coinage
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The history of Ancient Greek coinage can be divided into four periods, the Archaic, the Classical, the Hellenistic and the Roman. The Archaic period extends from the introduction of coinage to the Greek world during the 7th century BC until the Persian Wars in about 480 BC, the Greek cities continued to produce their own coins for several more centuries under Roman rule. The coins produced during this period are called Roman provincial coins or Greek Imperial Coins, the word drachm means a handful, literally a grasp. Drachmae were divided into six obols, and six spits made a handful and this suggests that before coinage came to be used in Greece, spits in prehistoric times were used as measures in daily transactions. Because of this aspect, Spartan legislation famously forbade issuance of Spartan coin, and enforced the continued use of iron spits so as to discourage avarice. In addition to its meaning, the word obol was retained as a Greek word for coins of small value. The obol was further subdivided into tetartemorioi which represented 1/4 of an obol and this coin is mentioned by Aristotle as the smallest silver coin. Various multiples of this denomination were also struck, including the trihemitetartemorion valued at 3/8 of an obol and these coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that was highly prized and abundant in that area. By the middle of the 6th century BC, technology had advanced, making the production of pure gold, accordingly, King Croesus introduced a bi-metallic standard that allowed for coins of pure gold and pure silver to be struck and traded in the marketplace. The Greek world was divided more than two thousand self-governing city-states, and more than half of them issued their own coins. As such coins circulated widely, other cities began to mint coins to this Aeginetan weight standard of. Athenian coins, however, were struck on the Attic standard, over time, Athens plentiful supply of silver from the mines at Laurion and its increasing dominance in trade made this the pre-eminent standard. These coins, known as owls because of their central design feature, were minted to an extremely tight standard of purity. This contributed to their success as the premier trade coin of their era, tetradrachms on this weight standard continued to be a widely used coin through the classical period. By the time of Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors, the Classical period saw Greek coinage reach a high level of technical and aesthetic quality. Larger cities now produced a range of silver and gold coins, most bearing a portrait of their patron god or goddess or a legendary hero on one side. Some coins employed a visual pun, some coins from Rhodes featured a rose, the use of inscriptions on coins also began, usually the name of the issuing city. The wealthy cities of Sicily produced some especially fine coins, the large silver decadrachm coin from Syracuse is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world, perhaps ever
7.
Athena
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Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Minerva is the Roman goddess identified with Athena, Athena is known for her calm temperament, as she moves slowly to anger. She is noted to have fought for just reasons. Athena is portrayed as a companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the patroness of Athens. The Athenians founded the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her city, Athens. Veneration of Athena was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes, in her role as a protector of the city, many people throughout the Greek world worshipped Athena as Athena Polias. While the city of Athens and the goddess Athena essentially bear the same name, Athena is associated with Athens, a plural name, because it was the place where she presided over her sisterhood, the Athenai, in earliest times. Mycenae was the city where the Goddess was called Mykene, at Thebes she was called Thebe, and the city again a plural, Thebae. Similarly, at Athens she was called Athena, and the city Athenae, Athena had a special relationship with Athens, as is shown by the etymological connection of the names of the goddess and the city. According to mythical lore, she competed with Poseidon and she won by creating the olive tree, the Athenians would accept her gift and name the city after her. In history, the citizens of Athens built a statue of Athena as a temple to the goddess, which had piercing eyes, a helmet on her head, attired with an aegis or cuirass, and an extremely long spear. It also had a shield with the head of the Gorgon on it. A large snake accompanied her and she held Nike, the goddess of victory, therefore, Mylonas believes that Athena was a Mycenaean creation. On the other hand, Nilsson claims that she was the goddess of the palace who protected the king, a-ta-no-dju-wa-ja is also found in Linear A Minoan, the final part being regarded as the Linear A Minoan equivalent of the Linear B Mycenaean di-u-ja or di-wi-ja. Divine Athena also was a weaver and the deity of crafts, whether her name is attested in Eteocretan or not will have to wait for decipherment of Linear A. Perhaps, however, the name Theonoe may mean she who knows divine things better than others. Thus for Plato her name was to be derived from Greek Ἀθεονόα, Plato also noted that the citizens of Sais in Egypt worshipped a goddess whose Egyptian name was Neith, and which was identified with Athena. Neith was the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient Pre-Dynastic period, in addition, ancient Greek myths reported that Athena had visited many mythological places such as Libyas Triton River in North Africa and the Phlegraean plain
8.
Bronze sculpture
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Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures, a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a bronze. It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs and it is often gilded to give gilt-bronze or ormolu. Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, then, as the bronze cools, it shrinks a little, making it easier to separate from the mould. Their strength and ductility is an advantage when figures in action are to be created and these qualities allow the creation of extended figures, as in Jeté, or figures that have small cross sections in their support, such as the equestrian statue of Richard the Lionheart. As recently as 2007 several life sized bronze sculptures by John Waddell were stolen, there are many different bronze alloys, and the term is now tending to be regarded by museums as too imprecise, and replaced in descriptions by copper alloy, especially for older objects. Typically modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin, alpha bronze consists of the alpha solid solution of tin in copper. Alpha bronze alloys of 4–5% tin are used to make coins, the proportions of this mixture may suggest that the candlestick was made from a hoard of old coins. The Benin Bronzes are really brass, and the Romanesque Baptismal font at St Bartholomews Church, Liège is described as both bronze and brass. In the Bronze Age, two forms of bronze were used, classic bronze, about 10% tin, was used in casting. Bladed weapons were mostly cast from bronze, while helmets. On one definition, modern statuary bronze is 90% copper and 10% tin, the great civilizations of the old world worked in bronze for art, from the time of the introduction of the alloy for edged weapons. Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro belonging to Harappan Civilization dating back to 2500 BCE is perhaps the first bronze statue of the world, the Greeks were the first to scale the figures up to life size. Few examples exist in good condition, one is the seawater-preserved bronze Victorious Youth that required painstaking efforts to bring it to its present state for museum display, far more Roman bronze statues have survived. Over the long period of Egyptian dynastic art, small lost-wax bronze figurines were made in large numbers. Sri Lankan Sinhalese Bronze statue of Buddhist Alakothiveshwara Tara Devi statue now in England is an example of Bronze statues. From the ninth through the century the Chola dynasty in South India represented the pinnacle of bronze casting in India. Making bronzes is highly skilled work, and a number of casting processes may be employed, including lost-wax casting, sand casting. The term bronze is also applied to metal sculptures made by electrotyping, although these sculptures are typically pure copper and their fabrication does not involve metal casting
9.
Greek love
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Greek love is a term originally used by classicists to describe the sexual, primarily homoerotic, customs, practices and attitudes of the ancient Greeks. It was frequently used as a euphemism for homosexuality and pederasty, the phrase is a product of the enormous impact of the reception of classical Greek culture on historical attitudes toward sexuality, and its influence on art and various intellectual movements. Following the work of sexuality theorist Michel Foucault, the validity of an ancient Greek model for gay culture has been questioned. In his essay Greek Love, Alastair Blanshard sees Greek love as one of the defining and it often serves as a coded phrase for pederasty, or to sanitize homosexual desire in historical contexts where it was considered unacceptable. The German term griechische Liebe appears in German literature between 1750 and 1850, along with socratische Liebe and platonische Liebe in reference to male-male attractions. Ancient Greece became a reference point by which homosexual men of a certain class. In the early Modern period, a disjuncture was carefully maintained between idealized male eros in the tradition, which was treated with reverence, and sodomy. In his classic study Greek Homosexuality, Kenneth Dover points out that the English nouns a homosexual, there was no concept in ancient Greece equivalent to the modern conception of sexual preference, it was assumed that a person would have both hetero- and homosexual responses at different times. Evidence for same-sex attractions and behaviors is more abundant for men than for women, both romantic love and sexual passion between men were often considered normal, and under some circumstances healthy or admirable. The most common male-male relationship was paiderasteia, an institution in which a mature male bonded with or mentored a teen-aged youth. Martin Litchfield West views Greek pederasty as a substitute for heterosexual love, Greek art and literature portray these relationships as sometimes erotic or sexual, or sometimes idealized, educational, non-consummated, or non-sexual. Some Greek myths have been interpreted as reflecting the custom of paiderasteia, the death of Hyacinthus is also frequently referenced as a pederastic myth. The main Greek literary sources for Greek homosexuality are lyric poetry, Athenian comedy, the works of Plato and Xenophon, vase paintings from the 500s and 400s BCE depict courtship and sex between males. In Latin, mos Graeciae or mos Graecorum refers to a variety of behaviors the ancient Romans regarded as Greek, including but not confined to sexual practice. Slaves often were given, and prostitutes sometimes assumed, Greek names regardless of their ethnic origin, the use of slaves defined Roman pederasty, sexual practices were somehow Greek when they were directed at freeborn boys openly courted in accordance with the Hellenic tradition of pederasty. Effeminacy or a lack of discipline in managing ones sexual attraction to another male threatened a mans Roman-ness, by the close of the 2nd century BCE, however, the elevation of Greek literature and art as models of expression caused homoeroticism to be regarded as urbane and sophisticated. The consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus was among a circle of poets who made short, one of his few surviving fragments is a poem of desire addressed to a male with a Greek name, signaling the new aesthetic in Roman culture. The poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus, written in forms adapted from Greek meters and his Latin name and free-born status subvert pederastic tradition at Rome
10.
Solon
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Solon was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and his reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. He wrote poetry for pleasure, as propaganda, and in defense of his constitutional reforms. Ancient authors such as Herodotus and Plutarch are the source of information, yet they wrote about Solon long after his death. Fourth century orators, such as Aeschines, tended to attribute to Solon all the laws of their own, Solon was born in Athens around 638 B. C. His family was distinguished in Attica as they belonged to a noble or Eupatrid clan although only possessing moderate wealth, Solons lineage, therefore, could be traced back to Codrus, the last King of Athens. According to Diogenes Laërtius, he had a brother named Dropides who was an ancestor of Plato, according to Plutarch, Solon was related to the tyrant Peisistratos for their mothers were cousins. Solon was eventually drawn into the pursuit of commerce. When Athens and Megara were contesting for the possession of the Salamis Island, after repeated disasters, Solon was able to increase the morale and spirits of his body of troops on the strength of a poem he wrote about the islands. Supported by Peisistratos, he defeated the Megarians either by means of a trick or more directly through heroic battle around 595 B. C. The Megarians however refused to give up their claim to the island, the dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them. According to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 B. C, Solon was chosen archon or chief magistrate. As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends, knowing that he was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors and his friends never repaid their debts. After he had finished his reforms, he travelled abroad for ten years, there, according to Herodotus he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt Amasis II. According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais, according to Platos dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he visited Neiths temple at Sais and received from the priests there an account of the history of Atlantis. Next Solon sailed to Cyprus, where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, Solons travels finally brought him to Sardis, capital of Lydia. According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, Count no man happy until he be dead
11.
Democracy
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Democracy, in modern usage, is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. Democracy is sometimes referred to as rule of the majority, Democracy was originally conceived in Classical Greece, where political representatives were chosen by a jury from amongst the male citizens, rich and poor. The English word dates to the 16th century, from the older Middle French, in the 5th century BC, to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens, the term is an antonym to aristocracy, meaning rule of an elite. While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically, the political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation. In 1906, Finland became the first government to harald a more inclusive democracy at the national level. Democracy contrasts with forms of government where power is held by an individual, as in an absolute monarchy, or where power is held by a small number of individuals. Nevertheless, these oppositions, inherited from Greek philosophy, are now ambiguous because contemporary governments have mixed democratic, oligarchic, and monarchic elements. Karl Popper defined democracy in contrast to dictatorship or tyranny, thus focusing on opportunities for the people to control their leaders, No consensus exists on how to define democracy, but legal equality, political freedom and rule of law have been identified as important characteristics. These principles are reflected in all eligible citizens being equal before the law, other uses of democracy include that of direct democracy. In some countries, notably in the United Kingdom which originated the Westminster system, in the United States, separation of powers is often cited as a central attribute. In India, parliamentary sovereignty is subject to the Constitution of India which includes judicial review, though the term democracy is typically used in the context of a political state, the principles also are applicable to private organisations. Majority rule is listed as a characteristic of democracy. Hence, democracy allows for political minorities to be oppressed by the tyranny of the majority in the absence of legal protections of individual or group rights. An essential part of a representative democracy is competitive elections that are substantively and procedurally fair, i. e. just. It has also suggested that a basic feature of democracy is the capacity of all voters to participate freely and fully in the life of their society. While representative democracy is sometimes equated with the form of government. Many democracies are constitutional monarchies, such as the United Kingdom, the term democracy first appeared in ancient Greek political and philosophical thought in the city-state of Athens during classical antiquity. The word comes from demos, common people and kratos, strength, led by Cleisthenes, Athenians established what is generally held as the first democracy in 508–507 BC
12.
Darius I
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Darius I was the third king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing Gaumata, the alleged magus usurper of Bardiya with the assistance of six other Persian noble families, the new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time. A major event in Dariuss life was his expedition to punish Athens and Eretria for their aid in the Ionian Revolt, Darius organized the empire by dividing it into provinces and placing satraps to govern it. He organized a new monetary system, along with making Aramaic the official language of the empire. He also put the empire in better standing by building roads and introducing standard weights, through these changes the empire was centralized and unified. Darius also worked on projects throughout the empire, focusing on Susa, Pasargadae, Persepolis, Babylon. He had the cliff-face Behistun Inscription carved to record his conquests, Darius is mentioned in the Biblical books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra–Nehemiah. The Achaemenid Empire during Darius reign controlled the largest fraction of the population of any empire in history. Based on historical estimates, Darius I ruled over approximately 50 million people. Dārīus and Dārēus are the Latin forms of the Greek Dareîos, itself from Old Persian Dārayavauš, the longer form is also seen to have been reflected in the Elamite Da-ri-a-ma-u-iš, Babylonian Da-ri-ia-muš, Aramaic drywhwš, and possibly the longer Greek form Dareiaîos. The name is a nominative form meaning he who holds firm the good, which can be seen by the first part dāraya, meaning holder, and the adverb vau, meaning goodness. At some time between his coronation and his death, Darius left a tri-lingual monumental relief on Mount Behistun, the inscription begins with a brief autobiography including his ancestry and lineage. To aid the presentation of his ancestry, Darius wrote down the sequence of events occurred after the death of Cyrus the Great. Darius mentions several times that he is the king by the grace of Ahura Mazda. Herodotus, a Greek historian and author of The Histories, provided an account of many Persian kings and he wrote extensively on Darius, spanning half of Book 3 along with Books 4,5 and 6. It begins with the removal of the alleged usurper Gaumata and continues to the end of Dariuss reign, in the book of Daniel the kings name changes from king of the Chaldeans = Babylonians to king of the Persians which also occurred between the kingships of Darius I and Xerxes. Additionally the 120 satraps mentioned in Daniel 6,1 can be translated as 20 tribute owing satraps, the Book of Ezra describes the decree to continue reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, specifying financial support and supplies for the temple services. This decree is dated approximately 519 BCE, between Cyrus and Darius, an exchange of letters with King Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes is described, the grandson of Darius I, during whose reign Ezra and Nehemiah came to Jerusalem
Media related to Cleisthenes at Wikimedia Commons
