Today Greece is a small country of modest means and plays a minimal role in world affairs. In ancient times, however, the Greek city-states and kingdoms long wielded great influence and stood at the forefront of the march of Western civilization. Not only did Greek rulers hold sway in large portions of southern Europe and the Middle East, the Greeks also in a very real sense laid the foundations of much of the political, artistic, and social culture taken for granted in Western countries like the United States. The Greeks invented democracy, for instance, as well as the theater, including plays and acting. They also introduced most of the literary formats used today, including historical writing and the novel. In addition, Greek thinkers became the world's first true scientists and either created or more fully developed most of the scientific disciplines still in use, including astronomy, biology, and botany. Moreover, the Greeks' architectural styles, especially their temple architecture, continues to copied in thousands of buildings across the Western world. These and other important cultural contributions bequeathed to later generations by the Greeks helped to shape the very fabric of Western civilization in remarkably diverse and profound ways. Book jacket.