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