What does all of this tell us about the rise of the East and the decline of the West?

The teachers brougth the pupils up on stories about the Old East.

Unlike Americans of our day, however, few in the Roman Republic felt their system should be, or could be, embraced by others in the mysterious ancient societies of the East.

"One day, we will have our own independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital, " he said.

Germans tend to like their Western neighbors far more than they are liked by them, but they look down on their Eastern neighbors, particularly Poles.