Read the passage from a speech given by the athenian leader pericles.
our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to be imitated than imitators
ourselves. its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called democracy. if we look to the
laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private [c]lass considerations [are not] allowed to
interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by
the obscurity of his condition.
pericles claimed that the athenian government, unlike other greek city-states,