Socrates: The Ancient Greece Philosopher

What is love? What is truth? What is justice? Socrates, a philosopher in ancient Greece, asked big questions like these and tried to make people think. Socrates was born in Athens, Greece, in 469 BC. He devoted his life to philosophy. He taught students, made speeches, and debated with anyone who would listen to him.

Socrates wanted to find out the best way to live. He wondered why some people behaved well and others behaved badly. He thought that bad behavior resulted from ignorance. He believed that once people knew what was right, they would choose to behave well. Behaving well, Socrates claimed, was the best way to live.

Socrates’ beliefs made him urge fellow citizens to think hard about what they were doing. Was it right? Was it honest? Was it permitted by law? Through questions like these, he hoped to help people recognize their mistakes. This knowledge would bring them closer to the truth and help them lead better lives.

The Apartheid Law

Apartheid, policy of racial segregation formerly followed in South Africa. The word apartheid means “separateness” in the Afrikaans language and it described the rigid racial division between the governing white minority population and the nonwhite majority population. The National Party introduced apartheid as part of their campaign in the 1948 elections, and with the National Party victory, apartheid became the governing political policy for South Africa until the early 1990s. Although there is no longer a legal basis for apartheid, the social, economic, and political inequalities between white and black South Africans continue to exist.

The apartheid laws classified people according to three major racial groups white; Bantu, or black Africans; and Coloured, or people of mixed descent. Later Asians, or Indians and Pakistanis, were added as a fourth category. The laws determined where members of each group could live, what jobs they could hold, and what type of education they could receive. Laws prohibited most social contact between races, authorized segregated public facilities, and denied any representation of nonwhites in the national government. People who openly opposed apartheid were considered communists and the government passed strict security legislation which in effect turned South Africa into a police state.

Who Invented Democracy?

When you play with friends, who gets to choose the game? Do you all decide together? Do each of you play a part in the decision? If so, you and your friends are a democracy.

Usually, when we speak of a democracy, we mean a country. In a democratic country, the people choose how they will be governed. Most of the time, they do this by electing leaders who run the government.


There is more than one type of democracy. In a pure democracy, elected leaders simply carry out the wishes of the voters. But this is not easy to do. Voters must get together often to tell elected leaders what they want. They must take part in many, many decisions.

Most democratic countries are republics, not pure democracies. In a republic, elected leaders are supposed to do what they think is best. Then, if the voters don’t like it, they can elect new leaders.

Julius Caesar The Brilliant Soldier

Was Julius Caesar mostly interested in serving the people whom he ruled? Or was he only interested in grabbing power? People who met the Roman statesman could not agree. Caesar was a brilliant soldier and a clever, capable ruler. But he was also extremely ambitious.

Caesar was born in 100 BC, to one of Rome’s most famous families. But his family had many enemies, and Caesar thought it best to leave Rome. He trained as a soldier and went to study in Greece. But he hoped for a political career.

Caesar returned to Rome in 73 BC and made plans to run for office. He worked on the election campaigns of army general Pompey and Crassus, a very rich noble. The men were running for consul, which was then the highest office in Rome. To win support for the candidates.