Athens was the world’s first democracy, and it became leader of the Greeks. Rome was a lonely republic in the ancient world, yet it rose to become the most dominant polity of antiquity. The leading power of Renaissance Italy was the Venetian Republic, the only major Italian city-state to retain its status as an independent republic throughout this time period. The Dutch Republic was the first republic of early modern Europe, and it overthrew the Spanish yoke and established its own global empire.
