Ancient Greeks and Romans

Ancient Greeks and Romans

1. monarchy

   • rule by one person

2. aristocracy

   • rule by a small group of noble landowning families

3. oligarchy

   • ruled by a few powerful people; military

4. DEMOCRACY!!

   • Athens: largest/most powerful city state
     • citizens participated in governmental decision making
       • citizens include adult male residents
       • assembly of citizens elected three nobles to rule
         • after a year of service, they became part of a larger council of advisors
   • Solon
     • pulled Athens out of revolution/civil war by outlawing slavery based on debts/cancelling farmer's debts
       • established 4 classes of citizenship based on wealth, not heredity
         • only top 3 could run for public office but all could vote in assembly
         • new council of 400; prepared business for other council
           • any citizen could bring charges against wrongdoers
     • increased participation, but still limited
       • women, slaves (1/3) and foreigners still weren't citizens
   • Cleisthenes: Father of Democracy
     • worked to create full democracy by balancing power in the assembly between the rich and the poor
       • increased assembly's power: allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate and passage
         • created council of 500
           • proposed laws/counseled the assembly
           • members were chosen at random from the assembly
         • more gov't participation, but only 1/5 population were citizens
   • Pericles
     • Athens maintained democracy through the Persian War by holding public debates about how to defend the city.
       • "Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people"
     • increased # of paid public officials and paid jurors- poorer citizens could participate
   • democracy ended in Greece after a war between Athens and Sparta. Macedonia invaded Greece and defeated the city states

5. Greek philosophy

   • 1. the universe is put together in an orderly way and is subject to absolute and unchanging laws
   • 2. people can understand these laws through logic and reason
     • respect for human intelligence and power of reason allowed Greek democracy to flourish
   • Greek philosophers
     • Socrates
       • encouraged students to examine their most closely held beliefs
         • question-and-answer approach called Socratic method
       • Plato
         • wrote The Republic; wanted society governed by the wisest: philosopher-kings
         • Aristotle
           • examined the nature of the world and human belief, thought, and knowledge
             • in Politics he wrote: "man is by nature a political animal; it is his nature to live in a state"

6. Greece set lasting standards in government and philosophy

   • used reason and intelligence to discover patterns and explanations of the world called natural laws
     • developed the first direct democracy so citizens could actively participate in their government
       • developed the first 3 branch system:
         • legislative branch
         • executive branch
         • judicial branch

7. in 509 B.C. a group of Roman aristocrats overthrew a harsh king and created a new government called a REPUBLIC

   • a form of government in which power rests with citizens who elect leaders to make governmental decisions; indirect democracy
     • citizens still were only free-born males
     • 2 consuls commanded the army and directed the government for 1 year
       • Senate made of patricians
         • 2 assemblies made of other class citizens
         • controlled foreign and financial policies and advised consuls
     • in times of crisis, a dictator with absolute power to make laws and command the army, 6 month term
   • patricians vs. plebians
     • aristocratic landowners with the most power; inherited power and social status
     • common farmers, artisans, and merchants; could not hold important government positions, but eventually gained political power
     • the Twelve Tables: written law code, publicly displayed
       • idea that all citizens have right to protection of the law, and laws to be fairly administered
         • laws were applied throughout the entire Roman Empire
           • laws based on principles of reason and justice to protect citizens and their property
             • influenced western ideas
             • right to equal treatment under the law
             • innocent until proven guilty
             • burden of proof rested with accuser not accused
             • any law that seemed unreasonable or unfair could be abolished
       • 1,000 years later Emperor Justinian ordered completion of all laws since in The Code of Justinian consisting of 4 works

8. expanded territory through conquest and trade, but had problems like civil war and authoritarian dictator rulers

   • eventually came under rule of an emperor