Afterwards, there was a presentation of the economic life of the Polis. The exploitation of the land and of the mineral wealth. Also of war as a source of income. Finally there was an examination of the free trade between the cities and of the way the markets functioned.
Without taking into account the currency, and the way it was used this work would have been incomplete. Many paradigms and primary sources were presented so as to take an accurate closer view.
No one could deny the great influence of ancient Greece on the development of Western Civilization. It has spread through time and it had stretched across the earth.
Many ancient Greek contributions have persisted more or less unchanged into the modern era. As the poet Percy Shelley stated, “We are all Greeks”.
Ancient Greece has been always relevant, especially in changing times, like ours. It rests therefore upon shoulders to find a new lesson to teach ourselves, on the way we organize our societies.
History, sets an example to us. If they did it, we can make it too.
The free exchange of products, services and ideas. Stories of free men, in independent cities. Let these be our prime examples as we build our societies. And thus, as Pericles said about Athens:
“Future generations will wonder at us, as the present generation wonders at us now.”
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Excerpts from Alex Pardalis, The Economics of a Decentralized Society in Ancient Greece, Startup Societies Foundation.
