Could Rome Let Women And Athens Be Citizens Dbq Essay

Athens and Rome were two powerful civilizations. Their impact still influence us today. About 500 BC, people were no longer considered subjects. They are now called citizens, and had to meet certain responsibilities. If you meet the requirements then you could be granted citizenship. Only certain people could be granted citizenship, and it was to be honored and protected. Athens had a better system then Rome, because the Athenians where more cautious and gave people equal chances for obtaining citizenship. They also did ostracism, and believed in The Old Oligarch.

According to Document A, free, native-born adult males and females were capable of becoming citizens, and so were female and male children and sons of freed slaves. For a male child to be a citizen, he had to complete school and military training. Whereas in Athens, only free-born, native adult males could be citizens. Having so many different kinds of citizens in Rome had many advantages. They had many varying opinions and many voters, so their leaders could be selected with careful detail. There would be a lot of societal variety as which could teach others to be more kind to other races and

Rome had a superior system of citizenship to Athens. In general, the significance of being a citizen is that it allows someone to vote on laws, become an active part of their government, and manage their own land. A citizen would be free to speak their mind and express their opinions. If one was a citizen of Athens, they would be expected to participate in the government, go to assemblies, vote on laws, have an education, and have been in military training for two years. One would be expected to help make Athens a better place for its people. However, a citizen of Rome would be expected to bear healthy children for the Roman army and become the best citizen they could. In Rome, someone was not expected to participate in the government but

First, Romans created a strong government where not just one branch had unlimited power. The Romans had strong leaders almost like the president and senators. For example, if one branch wanted to pass a law, all branches would vote to see if the law could last or not be a law at all. Even though the people of America vote, the Romans still influenced a lot of people.

The role of women in ancient Rome is not easily categorized; in some ways they were treated better than women in ancient Greece, but in other matters they were only allowed a very modest degree of rights and privileges. One thing that does seem clear is that as the city-state of Rome evolved from its early days into a more complex society; women were not always limited to secondary roles. In some areas of Roman society, women were allowed more freedoms than in many other ancient civilizations.

Rome recognizes that the basis of their wealth is on the shoulders of the lesser. Granting foreigners citizenship is not only fair, but strengthens the foundation of Rome to make it a better

In Ancient Rome, The way society worked was much similar to America. The Roman social class is and has been very significant in the operational American social class. None of the Roman class’ was oppressed or enslaved rather they were split into two. Once the Romans defeated the Etruscans they went on to build an empire that would change the world. Their influence in today’s society is still very present. We still borrow ideas from them. They formed a government where they would elect people to represent for them, called a republic. This is still the foundation for government in most of today’s world. They formed a system of law that was completely ahead of it’s time so much so that it has become the base for many countries legal system today; one of these being The United States. The political system they built, coincidental caused a division between the Romans. Plebeians were the common people of Rome; the Patricians who were the ones of higher class could serve in the consul. This was the highest position in the senate. The Assembly was made up of Plebeians. They had gained a significant amount of importance when they were the ones given the power to elect Consuls. The Assembly head position was a tribune; he was the leader of the Assembly and had a lot of power. Then they developed the Law of Twelve Tables, a

Rome is known for its’ empire (The Roman Empire). Rome started out small and ended up becoming this huge and undefeatable force of nature. Rome received their success by either attacking other nearby towns/neighbors or granting them treaties or citizenships. E. Badien, the author who created an article called, The Organization Of Italy, explains how Rome organized Italy, and got their neighboring cities and nations to join them and turn ancient Italy into a leading state of power. In Badien’s observations, he finds that granting citizenship and the Latin’s helped Rome to become powerful and assisting Italy to be more structured.

Women in Athens lived in a society dominated by men. They had very few rights and essentially, there was nothing equal about it. The education of Athenian women was to say the least, lacking. Unlike men, they weren’t taught in school by actual teachers. They were taught at home by their mothers or tutors of some sort. Much of their education focused on household skills and many men viewed women as being inferior. Women were held back from participating in the sports that were ever so popular with the men.

This investigation will attempt to answer the question what are the similarities and differences of the role of women in Athens and Sparta. The question is relevant because women’s roles have developed over time and knowing women’s history helps women’s rights to keep moving forward. The issues that will be addressed are the religious, job roles and the expectations of women in their society. Women of wealth and women of lower classes will be included. This investigation will focus on the time period of 600 BC to 300 BC and the places investigated will include Athens and Sparta. This will be accomplished through a thorough examination of academic journals, books and websites.

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.

As Rome conquered communities, more and more people were becoming Romanized, and noticed as Roman citizens. Of course these new citizens were expected to pay taxes, allowing the empire to grow economically as well as militarily. During the Roman rule of Augustus, Caesar and Trajan, Rome's laws were continually improved making Rome ever more powerful and ethical. (Ferril)

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.

Men and women did not have the same rights as each other. The romans limited citizenship and did not let everyone vote and could not be elected. Slaves were considered property and lacked personhood. Women could not vote or hold political office. Men were named more frequently than women by Roman historians. “Plebeians” were peasants compared to others. They lived in apartments but had no political rights. If they were lucky enough, they could be a client or a “Obedient servant” to a Patrician family. The family would in return offer their protection to the servant. Patricians were powerful, noble, ancient families. They were wealthy, lived in large homes and had political power in the Senate. They only married and had businesses with their

Greek and Roman women lived in a world where strict gender roles were given; where each person was judged in terms of compliance with gender-specific standards of conduct. Generally, men were placed above women in terms of independence, control and overall freedom. Whereas men lived in the world at large, active in public life and free to come and go as they willed, women's lives were sheltered. Most women were assigned the role of a homemaker, where they were anticipated to be good wives and mothers, but not much of anything else. The roles of women are thoroughly discussed in readings such as The Aeneid, Iliad, Sappho poetry, and Semonides' essay.