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Athens Vs Rome Dbq Essay

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Camille Sicat #26 3/16/16 Writing/Social Studies Power of the People: Athens vs. Rome Essential Question: Citizenship in Athens and Rome: Which Was the Better System? Prior to the idea of people being “citizens” of a nation, people were subjects, with no rights and forced to serve under the iron fist of their ruler. The idea of people having rights and responsibilities to their country originated in Athens, Greece circa 500 B.C. (Background Essay). Rome, however, far surpassed the Greeks in their social contract theory of citizenship (Background Essay) for the following reasons: 1) More people were considered citizens i.e. females and sons of freed slaves; 2) According to Claudius, Emperor of Rome, said in a speech, “Romulus was so wise …show more content…

Additionally, if female children were born to citizens, or male children were born to freed slaves, they immediately became citizens.. On the other hand, in Athens, the only people who were citizens were free, native-born adult males. Clearly, citizenship was a privilege given to many more people in Rome, especially since the 50% of all people who were are female did not receive it in Athens. When the emperor of Rome was criticized for giving citizenship to the people of Gaul, known today as France, citizenship, he had a lot to …show more content…

(Document F) As stated in and reflected in a fresco of the Roman Senate by artist Macari (Document F), the Senate had responsibilities and rights, among others, to control war, make foreign alliances, as well as control of public lands among others. While the Greeks may have had more equal representation, it was only through a quorum that they could conduct business (Document E). Athens also ostracized people who became powerful and were seen as a threat, and it was difficult to fulfill their responsibilities of citizenship (Document

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According to the background essay “ … a Roman citizen was judged more by how he behaves with his family, his neighbors, and his property.” This means that instead of doing work and manual labour to become a citizen, you simply had to respect and honor each other and their space. However, this thought can be countered by saying that instead of simply respecting one’s space, you should have to endure military training, and prove that you respect your country. But, if you have a disability, or are unable to serve, that would mean that you can’t become a citizen. Therefore, Rome had a better government system.

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What needs to be taken into consideration is, that Rome’s Senate size was smaller, allowing for more efficient decision-making processes compared to Athens’ direct democracy. This categorization system was an essential part of Roman society, helping maintain order and allocate resources fairly. Without it, chaos would have ensued, and the city would not have been able to function properly. As such, we should recognize the crucial role that the censors played in the development of ancient Rome and its lasting impact on history. A brilliant move by the Roman leaders was their creative approach to granting citizenship to foreigners, by using unique methods.

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All adult males had the right to participating in the deliberations and voting in law making and other governing stuff. Rome had a big part to in

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Within itself, it consisted of 60-80 million people. Rome had a better system than Athens because of their process of citizenship, their citizens’ contributions society, and amazing government system. Unlike Athens, the Roman Republic granted citizenship for all free native-born adults and children. Document A shows us that Athens only accepted free, native-born adult males as citizens. Some may argue that they were more protective,

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Only Spartiate men had the right to participate in public life because they were full citizens and sprung from old Spartan families (Cartledge & Spawforth, 2001). The majority of the people were barred from political decision-making, including helots (state-owned slaves) and perioikoi (non-citizen free inhabitants). Holders of Public Office: Athens: Public office holders in Athens were chosen from the citizenry by a combination of election and sortition. Many government positions, including as the council and the assembly, were available to all qualified residents. Some posts were filled through a vote, while others were filled through a lottery.

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The Romans had a system of indirect democracy where the people had the power to vote for representatives who would advocate for them on the state level. The Greeks had a government in which the people directly were involved in the governmental and legislative process. In addition, both systems were flawed in their representation of their people in their respective governments through neglecting a large portion of their population. Both societies did well to create term lengths to decrease the likelihood of corruption and abuse of power through creating accountability. However, the Greek democracy was a caliber above its counterpart.

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Women, slaves and Metics (foreigners) “who together made up the large majority of the adult population of Athens, had no say in government whatsoever. “ (Brand, n.d., p. 29). Despite this similarity, the way Athenian citizens participated in public life was different to that of the Spartans, for all citizens took part in the government, without the

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Though geographically near, both cities had their own unique characteristics that set them apart from each other. This is witnessed through their governments where Athens rule in a democracy and Spartans in dictatorship (Brand, 2010). Public Life and Political Rights In ancient Greece, the right to participate in public life and make decisions was not granted to all citizens. In Athens, only free adult males who were born in the city or had completed military service were allowed to participate in the Assembly and vote on important matters.

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If you have never had the opportunity to see the Parthenon in Greece and the Pantheon in Italy, it’s possible that the similarity of the names would lead you to believe that they are the same or, at least, almost identical. While it is true that certain elements of the buildings mirror each other, there are major differences in their structures and functions. The architecture of each reflects the cultural ideals of the times. After the Greeks overcame the Persian invasion, Athens became the head of all of the Greek city-states. During this period, the country enjoyed peace and great prosperity.

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For Athens, despite being the origin of democracy, there were some limitations to gaining the right to participate in political life. First, only male citizens above the age of 18 years, whose parents also being citizens of Athens, were allowed to participate in public life (Rothchild, 2017). This means that women, slaves, foreigners, and other males who lost their citizenship rights were excluded from this narrative. It could be said that the citizens held the ultimate political power in Athens. On the other hand, all free male citizens of Sparta were considered as members of the popular assembly excluding women, Perioikoi, Helots, slaves and other Spartan males who lost their citizenship rights (Brand, 2010).

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Another benefit to the government Lycurgus gave was the currency system. The Spartans used pieces of iron instead of silver and gold. This type of monetary system was of very little value outside of the Spartan city-state because other city-states didn’t use iron but by doing this made the citizens of Sparta dependent upon the local economy. The militaristic culture of Sparta was often tested time and time again and proved to be the strongest battle-ready nation within Ancient Greece.

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Athens created democracy, and in their polis, all citizens had a place in the government and army (it should be noted that women, Metics, and slaves were not considered citizens). Although the amount of wealth you had dictated the positions in office you could

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“The Athens’ political affairs were open to all citizens. Every citizen had the right and obligation to take part in state affairs and voice their opinions.” The changes that Athens put in place were so important that they impact us even until this day.

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I would like to educate the masses on a matter of frequent debate. This is none other then Athens vs Sparta, and I can say the thorough research and facts have lead me to concluded that Sparta is a much better city-state then Athens. Sparta is better then Athens because of its respect of women, more equal school system, integrity of government, treatment of slaves, and superior military. First of all, women were given far more rights than in Athens. First of all, Women in Sparta could own there own land, participate in politics and the olympics among other things.

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Each Polis had a patron deity and was named after their patron deity, Athens’s deity being the Goddess of Wisdom and of War, Athena. Athens was one of the largest city-states in Greece, the city-state that came second to Athens being Sparta, but it is one of the most well-known city-states due to having features of its own that were not seen in any other city-states and one other feature that it gave us that is still present today, known as Democracy. An example of one of these distinctive features, according to Polis, was introduced during the classical period, “In about 508-507 B.C., Cleisthenes prevented Athenian aristocrats from controlling the assembly by limiting citizenship” (“Polis”, 1998). By doing this, citizenship was no longer controlled by the rich, making it easier to become a part of Athenian society. But Cleisthenes did not stop there, proposing even more reforms, as according to Polis, “He also instituted the Council of 500, whose members were chosen by lot from male citizens 30 years of age or older” (“Polis”, 1998).

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