Correct Option: A

Early influences that shaped the ideology of fascism have been dated back to ancient Greece. In The Republic, Plato emphasized the need for absolute and unlimited authority of a philosopher king in an ideal state. There were a number of influences on fascism from the Renaissance era in Europe. Niccolo Machiavelli is known to have influenced Italian Fascism, particularly his promotion of the absolute authority of the state. Machiavelli rejected all existing traditional and metaphysical assumptions of the time— especially those associated with the Middle Ages, and asserted as an Italian patriot that Italy needed a strong and all-powerful state led by a vigorous and ruthless leader who would conquer and unify Italy. Spencer developed an all-embracing conception of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies. He was “an enthusiastic exponent of evolution” and even “wrote about evolution before Darwin did.