Since the early stages of civilization, men have created a form of government to help bring order to society. One of the greatest philosophers, Thomas Hobbes, believed that men left in their natural state were lonely, poor, evil, brutal and low; however, for men to achieve peace they must give up their freedom for a form of government to achieve freedom. (Hobbes, 1865) Government has shaped many civilizations and brought many changes to each new civilization. Throughout history many forms of government can be observed, some systems of government have brought peace and prosperity to states while others have brought destruction, war and famine, as can be seen in ancient Greece and Rome. The question then arises: what is the perfect form of government? If not, can a perfect government exist? ,• The Rise and Fall of Ancient Greece A government is a group of people or a single ruler who rules a nation. It establishes and administers public policies and exercises executive and sovereign political power through customs, institutions and laws within a state. It is an exclusive policy-making body. There are many forms of government, democracy, republic, monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy and dictatorship, to list a few. (WebFinance, Inc., 2013) Ancient Greece had many forms of government which can be observed by looking at the different poleis, and the two famous polis were known as Athens and Sparta. Athens was formally founded on monarchy, a form of government controlled by one person, however by 564 BC Athens had formed the first form of government known as democracy. (Mathisen, 2012) Democracy was a system that required the active and continuous participation of citizens, while all Athenian citizens were allowed to take… middle of paper… not a perfect system of government. To create a perfect government, one must create a perfect world where people are willing to follow the laws established by my society, a utopia. However, government is essential to every society and without some form of government there would only be destruction and war. Works Cited Fabi, F. (2003). Fall of the Roman Empire. Retrieved from Rome.info: http://www.rome.info/history/empire/fall/Frank, S. (2009). An imperfect democracy. Microhistory and world chronology, 4-5.Hobbes, T. (1865). The natural condition of humanity. In T. Hobbes, Leviathan (p. 74). London: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Mathisen, R. W. (2012). Ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean. New York: Oxford University Press. WebFinance, Inc. (2013). Government. Retrieved from BusinessDictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/government.html