Athens creates laws to help benefit all people.Athens has a democracy where they have equal justice, class/status does not matter. Athens does not take into consideration of the other neighboring laws they create their own original laws just for them.If you are rich or poor you can both serve the government. Even ordinary people are part of the government. Athens likes to live in peace and does not like to fight with follow citizens. Safeguards teaches us to obey the magistrates and the laws and to protect the injured. Athens does daily sacrifices to the Gods year a round. The city of Athens is open to all and everyone even outsiders are welcome. Through the foreigners we learn new things and new ways and techniques. Athens children are not
The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life” (Pericles’ Funeral Oration, Thucydides). In other words, it doesn’t matter what your social rank is, if you are a citizen of Athens, you have a right (and duty) to serve in the government. This is known as a direct democracy today, and it is where we, citizens of the United States, took inspiration for our current system of government. Pericles is right to praise the city-state in this regard, as its legacy still has effect on the world millenniums after its time.
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 Athenians had good citizenship because when people were granted citizenship they had a say in the government. Unlike in the Roman Republic when citizens were only elected, ambassadors had a say and most of the time the ambassadors came from wealthy Roman families. This action showed discrimination of wealth against the Roman citizens, meanwhile the Athenians had the freedom of speech and could participate in government actions. One example is taken from Document B, which shares that the Athenian government was fulfilled by “Lottery or by-election and that any citizen who wishes should be allowed to speak” in the Athenian government. What is important to notice is how the government was chosen by lottery.
Since ; Athens was a democracy I feel that this better benefitted the citizens living their because it allowed citizens to vote for what they agreed with and what they opposed. For example in Document E it stated that there was an Athenian assembly and they had the power to pass laws, set budgets, and declare war. Whilst in Rome all of the decision making was in the hands of the Senates. All of this could not happen unless the Citizens came to vote. In Athens all forty thousand citizens were allowed to attend, however for some reason there was a shortage of citizens able attend at least six thousand have to be present to make important decisions . Voters had to make the treacherous trip to a hillside called the Pnyx near the Acroplois. Document B The Old oligarch was comparing Rome an Athens for instance it said "It is the poor man's fleet and
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.
In Document D it says that Athens created a law to prevent its citizens from gathering too much power and influence: “Each citizen wrote the name of the man who in his opinion had the greatest power to destroy the democracy, and the man who got the largest number of ostraka was forced to go into exile from his native land for the period of ten years”. Athens wanted to prevent its citizens from changing anything in their city-state, so they exiled people who could make a difference. No matter who you were, even if you were trying to do good things for Athens, you could be exiled for ten years and die attempting to find another place to
In turn, this political equality enabled all citizens to become involved. As a result of the freedom within one's private life, citizens of Athens kept to the law in matters regarding public life. Pericles discusses the Athenians' deep respect and commitment to upholding the laws in which the representatives, whom the people elect, create. With limited legal restrictions on what citizens can and cannot do, free enterprise flourished as well; living in such a dominant, prosperous state such as Athens opened up many international economic options. Through obeying the laws, regulations, and customs set forth by elected officials and supported by Athenian culture, as well as serving their country, the people of Athens stood to gain profit.
In Athens, as we stand today, Metic are not allowed the right to own property, which, as we all know is crippling in our society. They are however forced to pay taxes. Taxed without rights to vote or to serve on our juries. They pay to be excluded. This willingness to remain in Athens as opposed to wherever they may have originated from, or where their parents may have originated from, should be taken as a compliment on our part. The city we run, is such that they are not only willing to stick around through that, but that they stuck with us through a losing war.
Most Greek city states were ruled by a small elite group, also known as an aristocratic oligarchy (cite text book). Pericles explains that the Athens government is a democracy because the administration is in the hands of many and not just a few people. This will cause the government to have equal justices exist for all people. This is confirmed by Pericles stating, “When a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as a reward of merit”. This means that a citizen has to earn their privileges, they don’t just get things because of who they are in society. Athens not only takes pride in their government, but is also very proud of their military. Athens considers their military training to be better that their enemies in many ways. The people never try to hide anything from enemies or prevent them from seeing or learning anything that might benefit them. While their enemies are undergoing difficult exercises to make them brave, the people of Athens live the easy life. Although they live the easy life, the people of Athens are equally ready to face the challenges which their enemies face. The people of Athens would rather meet danger with a light heart and not intense training like their neighbors. They also want to do this with courage not enforce by law, but instead gain by habit. When the Lacedaemonians come into Athenian territory they bring their whole confederacy,
Athens was the starting point of the new age in government and took some time for the full effect to take place. In the military, if one were of age, they had to fight, whether for themselves and/or to protect their land. The Greeks also left behind a legacy. Democracy itself was the Greeks’ big achievement, one that still exists today. Their military strictness also exists in today’s armies and military forces, in the form of training and discipline. After all this, the Greeks may have been one of the hardest civilizations in terms of their people, but they will always have a huge influence in the history and formation of the world to what it is
Athens could also be seen as a place where they educated their citizens. Socrates understood that he would not be the man who he is today, without Athens. Like anything, a child would not willingly do harm on a parent, especially if they receive love and protection, and no harm in return. This parental versus child relationship is quite similar to the relationship Socrates had with Athens. The people of Athens could have assumed that Socrates would try to escape and that his death sentence would not follow through, but Socrates did not see this as an important factor. He believed that if he escaped, it would hinder the image of Athens because he would not be following their laws, which might influence the citizens to also break the laws of Athens. People with a lot of influence, have a lot of followers, for example, the people of Athens. If Socrates, supposedly the wisest man were to escape from prison and his death sentence, other people might think it is fine to disobey Athens as well. On the other hand, the citizens expected him to escape, but the fact that he stayed in prison to face his death sentence shows how seriously he took subjects like harming others and obeying the state to heart. Another objection to this argument could be, that Socrates was falsely accused and was harmed when he was truly innocent, he did not commit any of the crimes he was accused of, but Socrates still had the opportunity to a fair trial, he just did not use
As a retired sailor, I am just seeking for peace and forgiveness, all of my arguments will be based on my life experiences and my expertise as the Sailor that I once was. All I want is the best for my family and the people of Athens, I have seen the destruction of war and the best way to avoid war and future problems, in my opinion, is by education ourselves to become better citizens and live peacefully among each other. We have to start making a radical change in this society; we have to stop getting easily influenced by our governors and have our own voice heard, don’t change the country, change the people in the country. I believe that the best way to have our voice heard is by attending Assembly, Despite the fact that we’re getting paid,
During the fifth-century BCE, Athens was one of the most powerful Greek city-states around. Before its demise during the Peloponnesian War, Athenians strongly believed their government was the superior of all and should have been emulated by any state that wanted to be considered a successful society. However, Athenian democracy was not able to withstand the test of time and eventually crumbled as a city. During the height of its success, Athens exemplifies a political paradigm for other societies to imitate. Both Plato and Thucydides argue democracy is the best attainable form of politics for a society.
Athens, democratic or nondemocratic? Our class had a debate about the athens some debated about the Athens being democratic others said they were not democratic. this essay will tell you the answer if the thens were democratic or not.
Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world. The Acropolis (meaning “high city” in Greek), also known as the “Sacred Rock” of Athens, is the most important site in the city of Athens. They call it “Sacred Rock” because there are many Greek gods’ temples. A lot of city-states in Greece had acropolises but the most famous one is in Athens. It is home to one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Parthenon. It also had other temples and sanctuaries. Its focus was for the Athenian festival for Athena, which was the Panathenaia. There were three different building stylizations in Greece. However, the buildings on the acropolis were built using only two of those stylizations: Ionic and Doric styles. Doric columns were the simplest form. The top is made of a circle topped by a square. The tall part of the column is plain and has 20 sides. It does not have a base. The tall parts of the column on Ionic styles were taller than the Doric ones. It makes them look a bit slender. They also have lines carved into them from top to bottom. However, Ionic style is a little more decorative than the Doric.