A world whose monumental legacy would leave our own world forever changed.
It was in this environment that the concept of hegemony was born: the idea that one city-state could assert cultural dominance over the entire Greek world. Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece From the Spartans, a culture built on a foundation of slavery, a culture that – with no need to earn a living – had dedicated themselves to the ideals of physical perfection, and ironically espoused the virtues of freedom; to the Athenians, a nation of unparalleled art and architecture – the likes of which, even today, remain unmatched in originality and richness – a nation whose constitution afforded democratic power to even the lowest class of citizen; the stories of Greek civilization must have sounded like myth and legend to an outsider.