> How many Western governments are trying to draw legitimacy from ancient Rome or Greece? The West has used the aesthetics of the Roman empire as a basis for t

> How many Western governments are trying to draw legitimacy from ancient Rome or Greece? The West has used the aesthetics of the Roman empire as a basis for the trappings of power right through the modern period (see: Napoleon; US civic architecture). The direct reliance on legitimacy as deriving from a historical connection to Rome was basically only broken by the rise of the nation-state idea in the 19th century. We still hold up the example of (a rather simplified view of) Athenian democracy as an example of the ancient legitimacy of democratic and republican institutions in some schools' civics classes. Maybe it isn't as specific and concrete as the Chinese use of history for legitimacy, but I think the influence is there. More fun info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Rome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Rome