<P> Ancient Greece is considered the birthplace of many elements of Western culture , with the world 's first democratic system of government and major advances in philosophy , science and mathematics . Greece was followed by Rome , which made key contributions in law , government , engineering and political organization . Western culture continued to develop with the Christianisation of Europe during the Middle Ages and the reform and modernization triggered by the Renaissance . The Church preserved the intellectual developments of classical antiquity , and is the reason many of them are still known today . Medieval Christianity created the university , the hospital system , scientific economics , natural law ( which would later influence the creation of international law ) , and numerous other innovations across all intellectual fields . Christianity played a role in ending practices common among pagan societies , such as human sacrifice , slavery , infanticide and polygamy . The globalization by successive European empires spread European ways of life and European educational methods around the world between the 16th and 20th centuries . European culture developed with a complex range of philosophy , medieval scholasticism and mysticism , and Christian and secular humanism . Rational thinking developed through a long age of change and formation , with the experiments of the Enlightenment , and breakthroughs in the sciences . Tendencies that have come to define modern Western societies include the concept of political pluralism , prominent subcultures or countercultures ( such as New Age movements ) and increasing cultural syncretism resulting from globalization and human migration . </P>
<P> Ancient Greece is considered the birthplace of many elements of Western culture , with the world 's first democratic system of government and major advances in philosophy , science and mathematics . Greece was followed by Rome , which made key contributions in law , government , engineering and political organization . Western culture continued to develop with the Christianisation of Europe during the Middle Ages and the reform and modernization triggered by the Renaissance . The Church preserved the intellectual developments of classical antiquity , and is the reason many of them are still known today . Medieval Christianity created the university , the hospital system , scientific economics , natural law ( which would later influence the creation of international law ) , and numerous other innovations across all intellectual fields . Christianity played a role in ending practices common among pagan societies , such as human sacrifice , slavery , infanticide and polygamy . The globalization by successive European empires spread European ways of life and European educational methods around the world between the 16th and 20th centuries . European culture developed with a complex range of philosophy , medieval scholasticism and mysticism , and Christian and secular humanism . Rational thinking developed through a long age of change and formation , with the experiments of the Enlightenment , and breakthroughs in the sciences . Tendencies that have come to define modern Western societies include the concept of political pluralism , prominent subcultures or countercultures ( such as New Age movements ) and increasing cultural syncretism resulting from globalization and human migration . </P>
why is ancient greece often labeled the start of western civilization
why is ancient greece often labeled the start of western civilization
first democratic system of government advances in philosophy , science and mathematics
first democratic system of government advances in philosophy , science and mathematics