As I have said, this precessional parallel is just one factor among other terrestrial and accidental factors, so there are bound to be points of convergence and points of divergence. My approach does somewhat suggest the ancient Mediterranean was a playpen compared to the bigger modern empires, so it is no slight to Britain to compare it to Greece. Alexander the Great was quite a figure, and Koine Greek was a lingua franca like english - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek. The Greeks lost power to Rome at about the same point in the cycle that the British lost power to the Americans, cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Macedonian_War .