It is easier to divide the tragedy into acts. We can at once discern two dramatic crises--the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and the foundation of the Roman Empire. We can for convenience take precise dates--431 B. C. and 31 B. C.--and group the action into three acts or phases, one before, one between, and one after these critical moments. It is best to give the analysis in tabular form: _Act I_ (11th cent.-431 B. C.). 1. Synoikismos (formation of the city-state, the cell of Greek society), 11th cent.-750 B. C. 2. Colonization (propagation of the city-state round the Mediterranean), 750-600 B. C. 3. Economic revolution (change from extensive to intensive growth), 600-500 B. C. 4. Confederation (repulse of Oriental universal empire and creation of an inter-state federation, the Delian League), 500-431 B. C. _Act II_ (431 B. C.-31 B. C.). 1. The Greek wars (failure of inter-state federation), 431-355 B. C. 2. The Oriental wars (the superman, conquest of the East, struggle for the spoils, barbarian invasion), 355-272 B. C. 3. The first rally (change of scale and fresh experiments in federation--Seleucid Asia, Roman Italy, Aetolian and Achaean 'United States'), 272-218 B. C. 4. The Roman wars (destruction of four great powers by one; devastation of the Mediterranean world), 218-146 B. C. 5. The class wars (capitalism, bolshevism, Napoleonism), 146-31 B. C. _Act III_ (31 B. C.-7th cent. A. D.). 1. The second rally (final experiment in federation--compromise between city-state autonomy and capitalistic centralization), 31 B. C.-A. D. 180. 2. The first dissolution (external front broken by tribesmen, internal by Christianity), A. D. 180-284. 3. The final rally (Constantine τον δημον προσεταιριζεται {ton dêmon prosetairizetai}--tribesmen on to the land, bishops into the bureaucracy), A. D. 284-378. 4. The final dissolution (break of tradition), A. D. 378-7th cent.