Similarities of Greece and Rome Essay

Rome and Athens were both superpowers during their time and paved the way for modern day western culture. There were a few things that Rome did better though including their citizenship system. The following reasons are why Rome’s citizenship system works better than Athens’. Firstly the Romans allowed a higher number of people to become citizens. The next reason is that Rome made sure that their citizens were playing a role in society. Lastly the Romans had a more organized and efficient senate than that of the Athenians.

The Greek historian Thucydides says that Pericles, an important political figure in Athens, gave a eulogy for the Athenians who had died in the first year of the Peloponnesian War. The speech that Pericles gave talked about all the great characteristics of Athenian society. According to Pericles, Athenian democracy allows citizens the freedom and power to participate in government. Pericles states that “no one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the polis, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.” This quotation shows that everybody, of any social class, is allowed to participate in political and governmental issues. No matter how poor you may be, you are not allowed to be kept away from politics in Athens if you can be helpful to the government. Pericles also states, “Power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people; this is why it is called democracy. This statement indicates that the power in Athens is spread amongst all the citizens, instead of giving all the power to one group, which describes the entire purpose for democracy.

First of all, Ancient Greece was not a democracy because there were no records to show if people were of citizen birth or of age, such as a birth certificate like we have today. To solve this problem, the current Greek citizens got to vote if the potential voter was of age. As stated in Document B, “... current citizens give their votes first on whether the new candidates appear to be of the age set by the law.” After the current voters got to decide if the potential voters were of age, they voted on whether the new supposedly of-age males were of citizen birth, meaning if both parents were citizens. Also stated in Document B, “... the current citizens give their votes on whether the candidate is free born, and has two citizen parents as the

The polis was made up of several different classes of people, just like many societies of that time as well as the present. There were several drawbacks such as women, slaves, and immigrants not being able to participate in politics. Those involved in the polis were expected to participate in such meetings that dealt with the oversight of the city and its dealings with issues. The Athenian democracy depended on every capable citizen fulfilling his role within the polis. The involvement of all male citizens and the expectation that they should participate actively in the running of the polis is clear in this quote from Thucydides: "We alone consider a citizen who does not partake in politics not only one who minds his own business but useless". Ancient Greece is credited with the identification of democracy because of the large scale in which they produced their governing ways. “As early as 900 B.C., Greece again expanded contacts with civilizations to the east, and Greek civilization became more complex. The rise of empires, most notably the Athenian Empire, brought a more sophisticated economy, trade, colonization, and war” (Curtis).

The Roman and Greek political systems have influenced the government all across the globe today, and have even introduced political words such as democracy, monarchy, and tyranny. However, Rome was influenced by the Greek, they introduced a republic view seen today then the democracy of Greek city-states. During the time of these two civilizations, they held many overlapping similarities, and other times showing the vast difference between the related civilizations such as the location of each city-state, how much power a women had, and the separation of the groups in each political system.

Athens’ constitution is called a democracy because it respects the interests not of the minority but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. (Pericles, 431

Therefore, any citizen could be involved in government despite being rich or poor. Citizens would then be able to decide on the policy initiatives directly. The development of democracy in ancient Greece was a system of direct democracy, in which there was a legislative council of five hundred, Assembly of Demos, and People’s Court. Also during the development of ancient Greece democracy, citizens were free Greek born men of the age 18 and older.

Kyle Oyague Professor Turner ENG 101 16 February, 2016 Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire Forged out of chaos the Ancient Greeks and the Roman Empire are considered the two most influential and expansive civilizations known to man. Ancient Greece and the Roman have many similarities but mostly differences in political structure, economic satiability and social classes. One key difference between the Ancient Greeks and the Romans is their political system.

In modern day, everyone tends to think of the Roman gods when they think of Greece, or when they think of the ancient gods in general. Juno versus Hera, Jupiter versus Zeus, and Mars versus Ares are some examples of their different and separate deities; not just their names, but their personalities as well. There are many differences between the two religions, as well as differences between each culture’s social standings. Not only are there differences, but there are, of course, similarities. While they do indeed have their similarities, though, ancient Greece and ancient Rome will always be ultimately different.

The Greek and Roman civilizations are considered to be two of the best civilizations in history. Even though their civilization has ended, you can still see how much they have influenced and captivated the world with their art and daily lives. With the Greeks and Romans living around the same time and in the same area, they must’ve had something in common.

Greek and Rome were very different. One of there significant differences, was how they were established. Mountainous terrain limited agriculture for the Greeks, and overpopulation was also a problem. This led Greece to spread out into several city-states, a decentralized structure. While the city states shared common language, culture, trade, identity, and festivals/holidays, each city state ruled itself, which often caused them to butt heads quite frequently. Rome was different, it was one civilization, not split up at all. During the beginning times of Rome, it was established with a republican type government.

Weaknesses and Strengths of Democracy of Greek Political Life A standout amongst the most overpowering qualities of Athenian Vote based system was the fundamental Thought that people could make some similarity of political power through their own voice. In antiquated Greece around the 500 B.C.E. was built up a totally new arrangement of government which permitted open investment of certain number of individuals. The most unmistakable city-state amid that time was Athens. The Athenians were considered to present the term popular government which originates from the Greek words demos – the general population and kratos which implies – to run the show. [Dahl;2000;11-12] The sort of government In Athens was to a great degree refined.

In general, we can think of and consider democracy as a system or a structure of government made up of four key pillars. First, as a political system involved in choosing and interchanging the leadership through free and fair voting. The second pillar would be the active involvement of the citizens both in civic life and politics. Third is the safeguarding of the human rights of every citizen. Then finally as rule of law, which apply equally in the society. However, for the purpose of this paper, we focus on discussions of ancient Greeks on the practice and theory of democracy as a system of government.

Democracy began to emerge in Greece during the archaic (800-500) and classic (500-323) period, and it has expanded through the country over time . Greeks came up with the idea of democracy through discussions among citizens and with the majority voting; this was called direct democracy as everyone could debate and vote in one place to determine new policy for the country. During this period, only men were allowed to vote and give their opinions, others were not allowed to participate in government’s decisions . However, over time, the democratic government in Greece changed to be more open for every citizen. The poor, men and women, had the same rights, and equal share of power.

Before democracy developed in the Greek city-states, they were governed by aristocrats and tyrants. During the rule of the aristocrats, due to the expansion of trading, there were several wealthy people in the Greek city-states. “These men wanted political power, but found it difficult to gain because of the power of the ruling aristocrats” (Spielvogel, page 114). This means that the wealthy men wanted power in the government, but they couldn’t get it because of the aristocrats who already had that spot in the government first. Eventually, the tyrants took power from the aristocrats by force. The rule of the tyrants didn’t last very long and paved the way for democracy. “The end of tyranny then allowed many new people to participate in government (Ibid.)” Greek city-states moved towards democracy by granting all citizens the right to vote on government policies. They also gave them the right to be elected as government officials and to be members of a jury. However, women and slaves didn’t have any rights and