The first mission of any government is to sustain itself, i.e. maintain it’s own existence. 

Think about it.....if a government cannot sustain itself, it cannot do any of those things I mentioned.  Now, it may attempt to do those things within the context of sustaining itself, but without acting to survive, all these goals and actions are moot.  It’s like saying a man can build a moon rocket while discounting the fact that he needs to breathe, eat, drink, and be sheltered.  A dead man can’t build a combustion engine. 

That being said, the process by which governments act to ensure their continued survival differs vastly.  At the advent of civilization, city-states built walls, armies, and levied taxes.  The governments at that time were mostly consumed with survival, so little thought was given to civil rights, or economic freedoms.  Commerce was mostly directed to serve the government, by providing exchange medium (materials, precious metals, or, eventually, money), material to support armies, and reserves to buy off expansionistic neighbors.....even bribery helped to sustain governments. 

Of course, those that ran the government were ridiculously wealthy.  Many were despots, interested mostly in the satiation of their desires for power and fame.  Many took on the religious mantle as well, as that also provided wealth and power.  The motivation for making the government exist came from their own desire to maintain their social status.  We can see this up until this day, from the Pharoahs to Mubarak, from the Roman Senators to leaders in the Ba’ath Party. 

However, something happened.  As governments began to become more permanent (dynastic), adequate financial strength could be accrued to make the immediacies of ensuring the government’s survival less immediate.  Governments expanded, and started doing things such as recognizing the rights of the governed.  The ‘Roman Citizen’ was an outgrowth of that, as was the release of the Jews by the Persians.  Governments became forward thinking.  The building of temples, pyramids, and the expansion of borders (empire building) could now be done. 

Note that empire-building is different than survival.  Building an empire, be it commercial or military, isn’t a function of a government that is precariously teetering on the brink of collapse.  Building an empire takes more resources than a single city-state can muster, and involves a lot more in the way of diplomacy, strategy, and military strength.  It is as inherent as the difference between offense and defense....to go forward, to advance, one must expend more resources than if one merely stood still.  Though it can be argued that nations expand in order to survive, it is more a security issue, as well as a financial one.  The best example is Rome. 

Rome built her huge wealth via military conquest, and was quite comfortable for seven generations (30 BC-200 AD).  However, expansion is finite, and one cannot finance a government forever on military campaigns.  Rome was exhausted after 270 AD, and her collapse to the Osgoths, Visigoths, Vandals, and Huns was precipitated by vain attempts to expand via absorption of the tribes that bordered her. 

However, we have stumbled on something else that a government can do, once the immediate needs of survival are met.  They can create a legacy, and that legacy can be objectively measured to be a function of their ability to maintain themselves above the ‘bare survival’ level. 

The Greeks, who managed to hold onto governments safely for the better part of a thousand years, and their heirs (the Romans), who were stable for another thousand (don’t forget the Byzantines, who were the Eastern Roman Empire), passed on the greatest legacy of the West.  The Justinian Code, the ability to put a round dome on a square structure, the arch, Western art, The Bible, mercantilism, and French/Spanish/Italian language all sprang from this legacy.  Add to that the invaluable debt we owe post-Roman nation-states (Charlemagne’s empire, and the Byzantine Empire) for holding off the militarry expansion of Islam.  Roads, Stadiums, aqueducts.....all are also part of this legacy.  There is much more, but you understand. 

Now, Islam has a great legacy.....the magnificence of Toledo, high math, the Koran, the effective sailing ship.  All are great things.  The concept of depth in paintings comes via the Islamic tradition.  Chinese empires have a legacy as well, including Confucism. 

However, there have been a great number of nations, and not many have gifted us with a legacy.  Why?  Because they could never get past the first mission....that of survival.  How many lost cities are there?  How many governments we will never know about?  How many dead societies, plans, dreams, and aborted legacies? 

Why couldn’t they get past that first measure, that prime task?  Because they could not create peace. 

Even while Rome fought Judeans and barbarians, the greatest part of the Empire knew peace.  Peace brings people time, and the ability to invest in things other than raw survival.  It does the same things for governments.  It allows for the amassing and storage of information.  It allows for participation in society, both rural and urban.  It allows people to learn crafts, build businesses, and make money.  Money allows people access to information.  Inventions are produced, books are written and shared.  Men aren’t forced to incessantly fight in the army...they can remain home, to aid in raising children.  More hands create more family wealth, more wealth means more education.  More education means more skilled laborers and artisans, and, therefore, more commerce and, you guessed it, more wealth. 

It is the hallmark of great civilizations.....peace at their core areas.  Those societies that left great legacies knew peace.  Rome did, the Mongols did not.  Greece did, the Huns did not. The Persians, Babylonians, Romans, Byzantines, Muslims, Chinese, Japanese, and English all had more than 3 straight generations of peace, of PAX POPULUS. 

Stable government, peace.  Two keys to great civilizations. 

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