Why Rome has a Better Citizenship System than Athens 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 first reason why Rome’s citizenship system was better than Athens’ is because they accepted more people as citizens. In document A it shows who could be allowed to become a citizen in both Athens and Rome. Rome allowed all people except slaves to become citizens while Athens only allowed free native born adult males to become citizens. Rome was a lot more lenient when giving citizenship which is probably one reason they boasted a population of 45,000,000. The second reason …show more content…
Documents E and F both describe both the Athenian and the Roman assemblies and senates. The Athenian assembly was much less reliable compared to Rome’s for two reasons, its size and how it was chosen. Athens assembly was made up of every citizen which counted to about 40,000 men. This would make choosing one option very difficult amongst all the citizens since they all have different opinions; also leaders of the assembly were chosen by random lot and that could pave the way towards rigging and that would allow for a non-trustworthy person to lead 40,000 people on one decision. The Roman senate was more efficient compared to the Athenian one because it only had 300 members; these members were also very high ranking officials who belonged to some of the oldest Roman families making them more
Citizenship in Athens and Rome has similarities and differences. Being a citizen is being a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government. Being a citizen meant different things in each empire. The relationship between the citizen and their nation varied from their system of citizenship. Rome had a better system of citizenship because they were more open to who they allowed citizenship, they gave people they conquered citizenship, and personal grudges, judgements about others/topics would not affect the Empire.
When the Athenians were making their laws all 40,000 of their citizens were invited to the lawmaking process,whilst the Romans had a 300 man senate. Also the Romans had an easier way of becoming a citizen. Another way that they differ is that Athens was ruled by a council of 500 and the Roman empire was ruled by the senate and up until third century BCE Roman kings.The Roman Empire is far more superior to the Athenian city-state because of the more efficient government, better laws and more in touch citizens.
In comparing Athenian and American democracy, they are very different however some aspects are the same. The similarities include citizens were allowed to vote for their leader(s). However, the definition of a citizen is completely different now that it was then. A citizen back then was a male landowner in Athens, on the other hand, citizens now days are people that are born within the country or have parents
The Greek society was a direct democracy with people voting on the issues themselves instead of representatives voting on their behalf. Any male citizen over the age of eighteen was allowed to vote. Like the Romans, the Greek government was divided into separate parts. The Greek government consisted of an assembly, council, and courts, with each requiring a different number of voters present. The people all gather and vote on issues by hand, and this is the simplest form of majority rules. The role of the people is extremely important in how the society and state is governed and run. This early form a democracy was detailed by Pericles funeral oration during the Peloponnesian War. Pericles was an eminent Athenian politician who states in regards to the government of Athens, “Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy (Pericles, “Funeral Oration”, pp. 2)”. Here, Pericles states that the people have all the power and their opinion is highly valued. Likewise, the Romans valued the people’s opinions so highly that they entrusted with them rewards and punishments, vital aspects that held the society together. Pericles also states, “…nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, here is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition (Pericles, “Funeral Oration”, pp. 2)”. Here is the essence of democracy, every man no
The Athenian and Roman governments both had similarities in their form of government, but the differences that they had made them unique because of the parties and rules they lived by. To start off, the Athenian Government was a democracy and the Roman Government was a republic. Each of them had very important specific details which make them unique and different like what made them citizens and able to vote for the officials, and how they organized their government system.
If there was anything that Rome and Greece where known for it was there brute military and ruthless violence that brought both empires to the top. Although many people don't see it Rome and Greece did have many similarities in their militaries. One thing that both
Athens and Sparta are the two famous city-states in Ancient Greece. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens.
For Polybius the advantage of the roman republic over Athenian democracy was that, successively more people shared power as a safeguard against abuse until the immorality of democracy again led to conditions favorable for the receiving of the "Fuehrerpinzip." In his plan, there successively occur three "good" forms of government – kingship, aristocracy, and democracy – only for each to succumb to corruption and for its resulting understanding in its distorted form – respectively dictatorship, oligarchy, and adhocracy, or mob rule – to be overthrown by the kind phase of the next. Polybius also tells us that the senate puts forth its control largely because it has the power to carry out investigations of capital crimes and to offer ultimate negotiation in civil disagreement. There are no rights prior to the state Mixed government implies checks & balances (Polybius, Roman Republic), which implies the good of the entire community.
According to document A Rome let female children, sons of freed slaves, Free native-born adult males, free native-born adult females, and free native-born male children could become citizens while in Athens only free native born males were aloud to become citizens. Rome let more people become citizens than Athens meaning they were more open to citizenship than Athens making more people want to live there because they feel appreciated when they are a citizen. When Rome were to capture a city the people would be open to citizenship and feel welcome to Rome. If you had the choice to go to Rome or Athens you would want to choose Rome because you would have a better chance of becoming a citizen and feeling
The story of ancient Rome is a tale of how a small community of shepherds in the central Italy grew to become one of the greatest empires in history, and then collapsed. According to Roman legend. Rome was founded in 753 B.C. By 275 B.C., it controlled most of the Italian Peninsula. In the A.D. 100’s, the Roman Empire covered about half of Europe, much of the Middle East, and the northern coast of Africa. The empire then began to crumble, party because it was too big for Rome to govern.
The second major similarity between ancient Greek and Roman civilizations was that their citizens voted on who to make their elected officials, however the difference was that each culture differed in their definition of a citizen. The Greeks only recognized native-born males having the right of citizenship, women and slaves could not be citizens and therefore could not vote. The Romans on the other hand, recognized foreigners residing within Italy as half-citizens giving them full legal rights but not the right to vote. Greece mostly voted into office people of middle- to upper-class citizens, whereas Rome only voted in the rich 10% of their population. Even though history seems to show that the Greeks were more fair by randomly selecting citizens to run for office, the Roman government specifically chose who would run for election similar to our political race today where the Republican and Democratic parties choose who will be there candidates.
Women in the U.S. weren't allowed to vote until about 60 years ago, but in ancient time they became citizens all the way back in about 500 B.C.E. In ancient Rome was located in Italy and was from 743 BCE to 64 AD, and Athens was located in Greece and was from 500 BCE to 79 AD. Did Athens or Rome have a better citizenship system. Rome had a better system of citizenship for these reasons the Roman Senate cared for foreigners, had 300 men in the Senate, and served for life.
The Athenian citizen had a further contribution to the government than Spartans citizens. The Athenian government allowed its citizens to take part in government positions, aside from military positions, as it stated on a textbook, Echoes from the Past that ”Every citizen had an equal chance to hold public office”(Newman, Echoes from the Past, page132). Which signifies that being in the government position means having the capability to rule and not wealth. In the Athenian democracy, each council member and government officials had an
In contrast Rome did not have the geological barriers that Greece had. Therefore, under the Roman system, cities answered to a central government that was chosen by the citizens. The fact that Romans had to elect senators gave citizens the need for a unified and participant society. The Roman war strategies were also more unified than the Greek strategies, thus, ensuring their success.
Athenians created one of the best early civilizations documented in history. One of the contributions that Athenians made was citizenship. The city-state of Athens they valued citizen responsibility than citizen rights. Citizenship in Athens and Rome became honored and protected. With the population of around 300,000 people, including slaves only 13% actually were considered citizens. In Athens, participating in government and making the city-state work was considered the honorable act to accomplish; if Athenians didn’t fully participate they became known as useless. Athens had a better system for developing citizenship because Athenians cared more about who became a citizen, all citizens having equal rights, and the use of a democracy in the