They may have been, but we really do not have a good record of it.
Like, it may be that Greece and Rome were coexistent. They existed at the same time, not one before the other.
And the stories in the Bible may be from a much older time. And may have been parables even then.
However, one thing is for certain, we need to work out governing ourselves much better.
Right. I think it's part of our evolutionary journey to govern ourselves now, in a way that benefits the whole instead of just a few minority.