Ugarit and Mycenae
This interesting opinion writer Annalee Newitz for the New York Times wrote about "Modern cities can learn from the fate of the collapsed civilizations at Ugarit and Mycenae". It was about the bronze age which is around 3000 - 1200 B.C.E. These cities were not just grand, but believed to be the beginning of "Western Civilization. In these times, it was all about trade especially Bronze which was made from copper and tin. These two cities took everything they could from wars, taxes, fees from their citizens, and trade goods. Many historians have different depictions onto how they fell from rebel from within causing the cities to crumble, outside sources such as pirates coming from the Mediterranean Sea, famine, the plague, drought, and/or many of the people migrated out of these cities forcing them to be unprotected plus unmanned when it came to labor. This changed the power from those high up trying to control everything when they no longer could get a hold of what they needed. The ones in charge needed help from outside sources because they couldn't rely on themselves to survive but it seemed too late. Thus later on, the balance of power that soon created the democracy of Greece giving people the chance to speak up and listen. Even til this day, it's about local trades and depending on international supply chains. As she writes, "Our survival still depends on sustainable local networks, and not tax breaks granted by kings." This is true as all need to work together to thrive and greed does not help at all...
I really like the relationship drawn between the exodus of the working class and the fall of the noble class. It seems especially relevant today, although I bet I would have felt that way regardless of the time period I was in. I mean, have the rich ever not sucked the poor dry? I do think that the inequity felt throughout the West Med is what drove that democracy, for whatever reason making it take hold in Greece.
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