First Post

This is my first post. Our Founding Fathers had a deep appreciation of the political wisdom of the ancient Greeks, and especially their understanding of the nature and significance of citizenship in a republic. The Greeks, like us, struggled with the problem of faction and civil strife. They knew that the private concerns of human beings threaten to overwhelm their commitment to the welfare of the community as a whole. Fund for Teachers has given me a grant to study how the ancient Greeks approached this problem. I am asking several questions: 1) How were the ancient Greek cities laid out? 2) What understanding of the relationship between private and public life, and what conceptions of the nature of the political community and of citizenship are reflected in the geography of these cities? 3) How were sacred spaces integrated into the cityscape and how did their presence help to shape the self-awareness of citizens?