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This chapter explains how a free-market business economy arose in Athens and other Greek city-states. It is a complex story that includes the geography, culture, and social structure of early Greece; the education and opportunities provided by Greece's Middle Eastern neighbors; new military technology and mercenary earnings; changing political structures; and the invention of coinage. The nature and distribution of wealth was the principal reason why the combination of money, markets, and businesses assumed a recognizable modern appearance and economic role in Athens and other Greek democracies. Colonial trade had indeed given business a greater role in Greece than in the Middle East, but it was no coincidence that business thrived in democratic Athens, not in oligarchic Sparta. Democracy protected voters' purchasing power, safeguarding it from clan leaders. With coinage, their demand enlivened urban markets in democracies, expanding wealth and business opportunities far beyond anything previously known.

This chapter discusses the basic structure of Athenian government. It also describes how it resembled the governments of other Greek city-states, and reviews the intricate relationship between “society” and “government” in ancient Athens. It first introduces a conservative reconstruction of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Not long after the period of Solon's reforms, Athens fell under the control of the tyrant Peisistratus and his sons. The important trends that began under Peisistratus are reported. In addition, Athenian history in the classical period is elaborated upon. The Lamian War (323–322) ended in Athenian failure. In 322, classical Athenian democracy and independent Athenian government both ended.

The markets and businesses that supplied democratic Greek city-states might well have remained a regional curiosity had Alexander the Great and his successors not wrought a social and economic revolution in the Middle East. The fascinating story begins with politics and power. This chapter is the prologue to the story of how Alexander the Great and his followers gave business to Western civilization. It provides a brisk summary of Hellenistic political history. It discusses the Hellenistic political revolution that made money, markets, and business common to urban economies throughout virtually the entire civilized Western world. It also had a profound impact on long-lasting features of business life like the guild system and the disrepute of business practitioners.

This chapter examines the presence of the police and policing from the classical world to the medieval. The Greek city states had no significant bodies of people organized specifically to ensure survival and welfare, though militias could be brought together to defend the state and suppress popular disorder. Some officials were charged with checking weights and measures and grain supplies. However, there were no institutions to prevent assaults and thefts, or to detect and pursue offenders. Both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome were similar. Offences that affected the individual rather than the state were usually left to victims, their kin, or passers-by, if they were prepared to get involved. Victims, any servants that they had, their kin, or passers-by did not have to fight, though they sometimes did; but they could act as witnesses when a suspect was accused or brought before a court. Sources for police and policing in the classical world are thin, and much has to be gleaned from between the lines. Meanwhile, the sources for the medieval period are better, and, while these show the similar kinds of divisions and institutions, there are gaps in the sources and little to explore for those looking for police institutions.