I particularly enjoyed reading that when a Persian king dies, everyone was expected to shave their hair, cut the manes of horses short, and extinguish sacred fires. This sends a message to me that their empire had a strong community. This makes me think about our own community, and question whether it's as strong. If Obama was assassinated today, I do think a fair number of people would put their American flags out in front of their houses, but this does not compare to the dedication of the Persian Empire in my opinion. As our population grows, I believe our community weakens.
Once I read about the city-states of Greece, I immediately thought of America. "Each of these city-states was fiercely independent and in frequent conflict with its neighbors, yet they had much in common, speaking the same language and worshiping the same gods." (124 Strayer). While fights between states are not nearly as prevalent now, they were around the time of the civil war. When the city-states of Greece suspended fighting to watch the Olympic games, it made me think about how wars were put on hold during the winter because the conditions were miserable for everyone to fight in. While the U.S. is not the same as Greece, there are many parallels to draw from.
The term "plebians" in the book refers to a poor class of Roman citizens. On the internet
I find many people today using this term toward those they are arguing with. This is a minor example, but there's so many things Americans borrow from the Romans/Greeks. I understand why the more cynical people of our society believe our country will collapse from within as they did.
