“Virtue can only flourish among equals.” - Mary Wollstonecraft. In Athens, all citizens were equal, therefore a strong community thrived. Starting in 500 BCE a new idea of citizenship was starting to form. This idea was used by Athens and Rome, and included giving citizens a balance between rights and responsibilities. This paved the way for modern day citizenship in our countries and many others. Athens had a better system of citizenship because they chose government offices by lottery, to keep a strong democracy they made sure no one had too much power, and citizens in all social classes could participate in government. In Athens, a lottery determined who filled the government offices. The poor men brought Athens its power, therefore they …show more content…
Twice a year, Athens ostracized one person (Doc. D). Ostracism is when all citizens vote on one person who they believe has the potential to gain too much power. The person with the most votes is exiled from Athens. This act kept a stable environment where all citizens shared power and the democracy was safe. Ostracism was a system of controlling citizenship in Athens. Only 10-20 people would be affected. Less people affected is good because then it would cause less problems for the community, and no one would overthrow the democracy. Rome had a census every 5 years. Citizens were counted and ranked into distinct social classes by different standards. Some of these standards included, weath, heritage, marital status, and physical and moral fitness (Doc. E). Many Roman citizens could not meet the standards and were demoted. All in all, many of the expectations from the censors were too high. Censorship also affected all the people in Rome and could hurt the whole community. Athens version of controlling their citizenship was better than Rome’s because less people were affected and it contributed to maintaining the government. This is good because that way, no one could overthrow the …show more content…
In the Athenian Assembly citizens spoke by age, not wealth or position (Doc. F). Even though Athens was exclusive about who could be a citizen, they were inclusive in who could participate. Being inclusive with government was good for Athens because the decisions would represent the whole community rather than only some of the people. Alternatively, in Rome, they were inclusive about who could be a citizen, but exclusive about how much they could participate. For example, the Roman Senate made all of the decisions for the community. The Senate was made up of all upperclassmen who inherited their seats from past generations of family (Doc. G). This made for a bad system of government because all decisions were at risk of being biased toward the elites. Also, the final decision might not represent the opinions of all the people, but only those serving in the Senate. In the Athenian Assembly, choices represented the people but in Rome, the choices in government were all at risk of being influenced by the upper
Athens’s democracy was created to develop a long lasting organizations with a concept in mind of individual rights for citizens. An excellent quality of the Athenian democracy was that citizens were elected annually and allowed to further a long term unless an awry situation, then an abrupt
The city-state of Athens had a better system of citizenship because they cared more about who became a civilian, everybody who was a citizen had equal rights and the citizens had a democracy. With the population of around 300,000 people, including slaves only 13% were considered citizens. Athenians emphasized citizen responsibility more than citizen rights. In Athens, participating in government and making the city-state work was considered the honorable act to accomplish.
Athens was more strict on who could become citizens. document a proves that, because only adult, native-born, free men could become citizens. document C also supports this, because it shows how many people or which people could become citizen's for Rome, white they couldn't for Athens. but that's a good thing, that way no one who secretly hates them is less likely to have power. or have conquered people as citizens and then have them rebel, causing chaos.
The Roman citizens had more rights than Athenian Citizens. In Document C, it said that
My first point is that the people of Athens held annual meets to vote people in and out of their government. “In other words, the Athenians not only voted people into office, but they had a regular procedure for voting one person per year out of office. “(Doc E) This was only done when they believed it be necessary. If they voted someone out of office, they were exiled from any political area. This also supports my second point.
1) The Roman Censors, elected in pairs, are unlikely to be able to ruin the system as much as a collaborative group of Athenians would be able to, due to the process that they
Rome had a superior system of citizenship to Athens. In general, the significance of being a citizen is that it allows someone to vote on laws, become an active part of their government, and manage their own land. A citizen would be free to speak their mind and express their opinions. If one was a citizen of Athens, they would be expected to participate in the government, go to assemblies, vote on laws, have an education, and have been in military training for two years. One would be expected to help make Athens a better place for its people. However, a citizen of Rome would be expected to bear healthy children for the Roman army and become the best citizen they could. In Rome, someone was not expected to participate in the government but
In Document A, it distinctly states “ Our constitution favors the many instead of the few,’’ however if that were so, why could only twelve percent of the population vote (Document C). Plato, a wise philosopher, concluded that women should have the same education and withhold all positions in society (Guided Reading Activity 1-2 question 10). A dispute that even the American government had to fix back in the 1920s (Amendment 19), and still this day, has been addressed. As shown, if the constitution favors the many, 100 percent of the population should vote.
There are multiple reasons why ancient Athens was not a Democracy in its truest sense. In Document A of the Athenian constitution, it clearly states.. “ Our constitution favors the many instead of the few,’’ however, if that were accurate, why could only twelve percent of the population vote (Document C).The Philosopher, Plato, concluded that women should have the same education and hold all positions in society (Guided Reading Activity 1-2 question 10); this is the very same conundrum that the American government had to face back in the 1920’s (Amendment 19), and it still has not been completely addressed to this day. If the Athenian constitution had favored the many as it claimed than 100 percent of the population should been allowed to vote.
Ancient Athens allowed all of its people to vote and participate in the community.(Doc A) If there is a man of low class or low wealth wanting to vote or be a part of the community, they would not say no to that person. (Doc A) For example, if there was a man in Ancient Athens who was of low class I society and wealth, he would be able to still vote on laws or be part of his community and his financial problems would not
Thesis: The period between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars can be considered the Golden Age of Athens. It was the golden age because Athens thrived in multiple characteristics of an empire. Context:
Athens has a better citizenship system than Rome because they believed that every citizens place was to vote, citizen responsibilities were important in keeping a strong government, and equal rights were granted when you became a citizen.
The idea of sacrificing the needs of the individual Athenian for the benefit of everyone in Athens was at the core of the inner workings of its democracy, thus, a distinct privilege was placed on engaging in the political atmosphere. (Of course, said privilege of voting and serving on juries was only afforded to male natural-born citizens, but that is beside the point.) “Our public men have, besides politics, their
However, in order for this to happen the Athenian citizens were to cooperate with the system. The assembly which was part of the Athenian government had several tasks to take care of which included: making administrative declarations, electing individuals into official positions, creating a constitution, and punishing those who committed crimes. The idea of how much an individual will get paid, who can serve in public offices, and who possesses authority were all dealt with in an arbitrary fashion. This is to give everyone an equal opportunity. People were penalized for misconduct. The laws were to be followed strictly according to the Rule of Law. Those who served in high positions were able to run for election as many times as they desired. “They did not have a salary because it prevented them from running for office simply to acquire money” (Hunt 82). These improvements drove the Athenian Empire towards democracy. A change from power in the hands of the archons to power in the hands of jurymen was implemented.
During the reign of Pericles, he brought the idea of citizenship to the people of Athens. In Pericles’ Funeral Orations he stated that “Not membership of a particular class, but the ability which the man processes.” Pericles says that in society, your class does not matter, what matters is how you contribute to democracy. He also shows the idea of citizenship again when he says, “everyone is equal before the law.” Pericles is showing that citizens will be equal no matter what so you should not be afraid to participate because the law will treat you equally. Once again Pericles demonstrates the idea of citizenship when he said, “power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole of the people.” Once more, Pericles shows that everyone has a right to be a part of democracy and encourages you to be a part of. Others would say that because not everyone had the same rights, the rule of Pericles’ was not a Golden Age, however