In Athens, a small city on the coast of the Aegean, during the time of Pericles and Socrates, during the era of great tragedies and the Parthenon, all the possibilities of a new culture that emerged without monarchs came together and sharpened to the most monstrous degree. World history began to make its way to Europe. Christian Meier tells the story of this city, which stood up to the Persian world power, established a great maritime empire, and produced the first democracy in world history.