In the modern Western World, our model of democracy is highly valued and defended. This system of government famously owes a great debt to the Ancient Greek city of Athens. Yet ancient Athens was originally only one among a thousand autonomous city states, each with their own form of government.  The word ‘polis’ refers to an autonomous city state, and these ‘poleis’ were spread throughout Ancient Greece, all of which began as aristocracies and then developed into either democracies or…