Why is Mesopotamia NOT a civilization, and why does it still matter in the group of "firsts"?

The ancient greek city-state of sparta was run as an oligarchy , meaning

Why did the paris peace conference negotiations last over a year?

Which concept is plato expressing in the excerpt below? when men have both done and suffered tyranny, and have had experience of both . . they think that they had better agree among themselves to have neither. . —plato, the republic: book ii