THE SPLENDOUR OF GREECE 81 



better than elsewhere in Greece. However that may 

 be, it was a comparatively peaceful province. Further, 

 the men of Attica were closely related to the Greeks on 

 the islands and on the Asiatic coast, and from Athens 

 they could keep up fair communication with them. 



Hence when, in the eighth and seventh centuries 

 before Christ, Greece became more or less settled 

 and civilized, the Athenians were among the fore- 

 most. At this time there was a considerable ferment 

 among the new pupils of civilization. They roamed 

 over the sea, and founded colonies in Italy and Sicily. 

 They began to overhaul their ancient religious tradi- 

 tions and their laws. Civic life and commerce were 

 growing. Men's minds were expanding and getting 

 more receptive of new ideas. 



Then occurred one of the really momentous changes 

 in the evolution of civilization. The people affirmed 

 their rights by abolishing the monarchy. Up to the 

 present every civilization we have studied was a 

 despotic monarchy, and now Europe opens a new 

 strain of political development. We must remember 

 that such a change was much easier in Greece than 

 it would have been in Egypt or Asia. All the States 

 in Greece were very small monarchies, each lodged in 

 a very small territory ; and it was more possible for 

 the people to think and act together. Moreover, the 

 Greek monarchs were not despotic. The nobles — the 

 successors of the chief's "captains" — always had a 

 good deal to say in an Aryan tribe, and they checked 

 the power of the king. Then arose a commercial 

 class and a body of artisans, with claims of their own. 

 However it was done — we have no accurate history 

 of these times — the Athenians abolished royalty and 

 became, in effect, an aristocracy. 



