Greek and Roman Concepts of Citizenship and Government

In Athens and Rome, citizenship was to be honored and protected. There were many requirements to become a citizen, so not everyone could have it. The Roman Republic allowed free men, women, and children to have citizenship, but the Athens only gave citizenship to free, native-born adult males. Although it might seem like the citizenship system was better in Rome, the system in Athens was better because citizens were given equal rights, Athenians ostracized citizens so there is no dictator, and every citizen could become officials.

The most distinctive feature of Greek political culture lay in the extent of popular participation in political life that occurred within the city-states. This participation was based on the unique ideas of “citizenship,” of free people running the affairs of state, and of equality for all citizens before the law. Political participation in Greek city-states was much wider than in Persia, but it varied considerably between city-states and over time. Early in Greek history, only the wealthy and wellborn had the rights of full citizenship, but middle- and lower-class men gradually obtained these rights in some city-states.

The Athenian government was a direct democracy, meaning the citizens of the city-state take absolute control over any vote. This was the plan for the government to control their people since the citizens

From 509 BC to about 27 BC, Rome was considered a republic. During this time there was no single leader of Rome and the government was run by elected officials. The main leaders of the Roman Republic were the consuls. There were always two consuls in power at a time. Each year new consuls were elected to serve for a one-year term. This kept any one man from becoming too powerful in the government. At the time the Senate was the most powerful governing body in Rome. The Senate had control of the state’s finances and foreign policies. Senators were elected by the people to represent them in government. The Senate was made up of 300 of the most elite and wealthiest of the Roman Republic. One of the most important roles of the Senate to undergo the checks and balances of the Roman government. Checks and balances are the “principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power” (The Editors). The checks and balances of Rome helped to stabilize the government and allowed the power to be distributed somewhat equally between the consul, the Senate, and the people. However, the fall of the Roman Empire eliminated this type aspect of government in Rome (Kagan 101-103).

The Roman Empire was one of the most popular empires that there ever was. It was also one of the largest as it went as far as Memphis in the South and Europe in the North (document 3). The empire’s location was not the best. Water practically surrounded the entire empire. The Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Caspian Sea were all ports of water around it. However, that did not hold back the empire’s power, as it quickly adapted and used it to their advantage. Sea trade, deep harbors, and roads are a few of the ways that the Roman Empire used their location to help themselves.

Rome had a better system due to the vast population, wider acceptance of citizens, and an organized Senate. It is important to include those specific attributes in an empire for organization and prevention of overpopulation. According to the background essay, citizens of a state or empire not only meant meeting certain responsibilities, but also enjoying certain rights. Citizenship is also defined as a status given by a government. In the modern world citizenship involves a balance between individual rights and responsibilities. In Rome however, the idea of a good citizen was particularly different. In contrast to modern day citizens, Roman citizens were looked upon how they acted with their family, neighbors, and property. Rome had a population

Citizenship in Rome and Athens, which was the Better System? Rome and Athens were two great civilizations that heavily influenced the United States of America. Two of the main areas of influence were the ideas of government and citizenship. Citizenship is when a person is legally a member of a state or country in which they enjoy specific privileges and have responsibilities to the state. The background essay for this document based questions states, “Citizenship often balances between individual rights, such as the right to vote, and individual responsibilities, such as a duty to serve one’s country.”

Have you ever think about what Rome and Athens had people achieve to become a citizen of Ancient Rome or Athens? These two civilizations started before Jesus was born. The civilizations had advanced societies and both valued citizenship. Rome was a patriotic empire, while Athens was a democratic city. Rome has a better system of citizenship because of Rome’s senate, tolerance for other civilizations, and their censors.

Compared to Athens, a population of 140,000, Rome with a population of 56.8 million is like a giant. What is special about Roman democracy is that their distribution of citizenship is wide and far-reaching, even to the regions that they invaded. Comprised of information from various sources, a neutral chart written for scholars and enthusiasts of Athenian and Roman government shows that Rome grants citizenship to all people except for slaves, while Athens granted citizenship to only native-born males (Doc A). Children and women of Rome can become citizens with limited rights, but also with slight power in society and the right to own land. While Rome gives out citizenship to almost all, Athens has trouble with giving power to the poor or the minority, even when, as an Athenian Oligarch claimed in 424 BCE, “it is the poor which mans the fleet and has brought her state to power” (Doc B).

Grabber: Background: Thesis: Rome's system of individual rights and responsibilities lead to a more successful and fair society than Athens’ through equal rights to citizenship, foreigners' inclusion into citizenship, and security from corruption. |||||||||||||||||||||||||| While Athens excludes many peoples from their rights to citizenship, Rome regards the issue with equality. In agreement, Document A relays that adult males are allowed to vote in both Athens and Rome, but Rome includes females, male and female children, and sons of freed slaves (Document A).

By around 500 BC, the new idea of citizenship began to take shape. The people of an empire were no longer referred to as subjects, but as citizens. These people were given certain rights, but along with these rights came responsibilities as well. Although both the Romans and Athenians had citizens, they had different outlooks on what an individual’s right and responsibilities were. Athens’ system for citizenship was better than that of Rome’s because all citizens were given equal right, their government was built by the poor, they protected their democracy.

The Roman Republic included leaders that were elected by citizens and the power was spread among several groups. To make the Roman democracy become a republic, they added 300 senators. By adding 300 senators, they were able to control the treasury, they could serve for life, and they were chosen by consuls. The difference between Greek democracy and the Roman Republic is that Greek democracy refers to the direct participation and responsibility of Athenian citizens in decision making, while Roman Republic refers to the governance of the state. A similarity between Greek democracy and Roman Republic is that both systems allowed for some amount of input from all or most of the male citizens of the society. The Roman Republic is better because men, women, and foreigners were all considered as citizens and in the Greek democracy, women were not considered as citizens and were not allowed to vote. Overall, the Roman Republic was known as a republic because of its

The principle of the Roman government was to function for the people, hence classifying them as a republic (Res Publica or the Thing or Matter of the People). Before the commencement of the Republic, Rome was ruled by a line of Etruscan kings called Tarquins. The

Both Greek Democracy and the Roman Republic contributed greatly to the development of the modern world, bringing into it the notions of democracy and republic. The evolution of these concepts took them to a level much higher than one present in Ancient Greece and Rome respectively. However, modern society continues to draw on somewhat idealized accounts of the ancient world for inspiration in improving today’s governing procedures.

Concomitant with the Athenian system, in the city of Rome popular government was introduced as well, albeit under a different name, respublica (from "res" – thing and "publicus" – public). Consequently the republic was similar with Greek demokratia. At the beginning only aristocrats or patricians were allowed to participate at the governing act, but "after much struggle the common people [….] also gained entry" (Dahl, 1998: 13). Only male patricians, later lower castes as well, were able to govern, meaning that women, same as in Athens, were denied any political rights. Starting as a city-state, the Roman Republic conquered territories far beyond its initial borders and gave Roman citizenship to the conquered people. Even though this system might seem sturdy, the impossibility to adjust the institutions of popular government to the increasing number of citizens and the ever-growing Republic is a major flaw. In order to exert their political rights, the conquered people turned into Roman citizens had to participate in meetings in the city of Rome, a tedious and expensive effort, which corroborated with the increase in