[00:01.34]To start with,Athens could afford it.

[00:03.97]It was the greatest trading centre

[00:05.81]in the Mediterranean.

[00:07.61]Many foreigners like Herodotus were drawn

[00:09.92]to this cultural magnet.

[00:11.88]Their contribution played an important role

[00:14.58]in transforming Athens from a conservative,

[00:17.40]aristocratic society,

[00:19.42]to a sophisticated urban democracy.

[00:25.09]Renaissance Italy

[00:27.22]In the 15th century,the Italian city-state

[00:30.10]of Florence became the centre of an artistic

[00:32.87]period known as the Renaissance.

[00:35.74]Outstanding painters and sculptors of the day

[00:38.85]included Botticelli,Donatello,

[00:41.19]Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vincii.

[00:44.34]Like the ancient Greeks,

[00:46.11]these artists tried to create an ideal form

[00:48.96]of beauty based on nature.

[00:51.76]Brunelleschi's cathedral dome

[00:53.64]is one example of the architectural splendour

[00:55.94]of Florence during this period.

[00:58.72]The Renaissance occurred in Florence

[01:01.00]because of the city's long tradition

[01:02.94]of cultural achievement,

[01:04.68]and its key position as the richest city-state

[01:07.66]in Italy.Florence's wealth primarily

[01:10.62]came from a commercial revolution

[01:13.16]which saw the development of modern banking

[01:15.88]and accounting.

[01:17.69]To ensure that there was a good supply

[01:20.19]of educated labourers to work

[01:22.32]in the Florentine economy,

[01:24.27]new schools were built and local people

[01:26.71]got the chance to learn to read and write.

[01:28.79]