Contents

2.1 From Nomadic to Sedentary Society: The Neolithic Revolution............................................... 10

2.2 The First Literate Societies: Power and Social Structure in the Great Ancient

Civilization of the Near East.........................................................................................................

2.2.1 The Civilizations of the Indus Valley............................................................................ 11

2.2.2 Egypt Under the Pharaohs............................................................................................ 12

2.2.3 Power in Ancient Mesopotamia.................................................................................... 13

2.2.4 Confucius and the Origin of the State in China............................................................. 14

2.3 Family and Power in the West.................................................................................................... 16

2.3.1 The Indo-Europeans Lay the Linguistic and Social Foundations of Western

Culture........................................................................................................................................... 16

2.3.2 Indo-European Family Structure and the Formation of Society in the West:

From the Tribe to the City............................................................................................................ 16

2.4 The Greek Polis as the First Precursor of the State in the West................................................. 19

2.4.1 An Initial Stage of Monarchy: The Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations................ 19

2.4.2 From the Homeric Kingdoms to the Appearance of the Polis (800-500 bc)... 20

2.4.3 Synoecism as the Basis of the Polis............................................................................. 21

2.4.4 The Consolidation of the Polis and Its Aristocratic

Model: The Case of Sparta............................................................................................................ 22

2.4.5 The People Versus the Aristocrats: The Origin

of the “Democratic” System.......................................................................................................... 24

2.4.6 Athens’ Cleisthenes, History’s First “Democrat”......................................................... 25

2.4.7 Pericles’ Athens............................................................................................................ 26

2.5.1 The Division of Hellas................................................................................................... 27

2.5.2 Attempts to Improve Upon the Polis Model.................................................................. 27

References.............................................................................................................................................. 33

2.1