Why do people 2,000 years ago and today "revere" the famous?

Compare how one's social status affect his or her opportunities in ancient greece and rome?

In italy, the distance between milan in the north and palermo,sicily, in the south is about 550 miles. in the united states, the distance betweenboston, massachusetts, and savannah, georgia, is about 900 miles. do you think the american revolutionaries of 1776 in the 13 colonies faced some of the same challenges as the patriots who struggled for italian unity in the 1860s?  

In an industry in which there are several providers of a type of good, why can one business not charge much higher prices for their goods?