If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences. If a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. And when you combine that high-minded rhetoric with the undeniable power and beauty of the art and philosophy that was created in ancient Athens, it's not hard to see it as the foundation of Western civilization. And if you buy into this, you have to be glad that the Greeks won the Persian Wars. But even if you put aside the slavery and other injustices in Greek society, there's still trouble. Do I have to say it? Seriously?