Ancient Greece and Rome: Democracy's Roots (PDF)

The Legacy of A nc ie nt Greece and Rome POWER AND AUTHORITY The Representation and citizen government direct Greeks developed democracy, participation are important...

The Legacy of A nc ie nt Greece and Rome POWER AND AUTHORITY The Representation and citizen government direct Greeks developed democracy, participation are important monarchy democracy and the Romans added features of democratic aristocracy republic representative government governments around the world. oligarchy senate democracy Pictured Above : SETTING THE STAGE Thro ugho ut history, peop le have recog nized the need (L) Young girl for a syste m for exerc ising authority and control in \\~nnm g chariot their socie ty. Smal l band s of peop le often did not need a formal organization. Coun I race. Engraving cils of elder s, for exam ple, worked toget her to contr ol a group. However, most from red-figure peop le in large r group s lived unde r ruler s, such as chieftains, kings , or phara ohs, I Greek vase. (R) The Propylaea and the Parthenon, Over the cours e of thous ands of years , peop le began group s they could gover n them selve s without a powe who often had total power. to believe that even in large rful ruler. Athens, Greece Athens Builds a Limited Democracy Abou t 2000 B.c., the Gree ks established cities in the small fertile valle ys along Gree ce's rocky coast. Each city-state had its own 1overnment, a syste m for controlling the society. The Gree k city-s tates adopted many styles of gover Use the graphic organizer nment. In some , a singl e online to take notes person calle d a king or mona rch ruled in a gove rnme nt called a monarchy. on the contributions of Other s adop ted an aristocracy (AR uh STAHK ruh s Greece and Rome to ee), a gove rnme nt ruled by a small group of noble, land-owning families. Later democracy. , as trade expan ded, a new class of wealthy merc hants emer ged in some cities. Some times these group s took power or share d it with the nobility. They form ed an oli1archy. a gover nmen t ruled by a few powerful peop le. Ancient Gree k civilization claim s the distinction of devel oping the first democracy in a country. ln fact, the word demo cracy. mean ing " rule of the people," come s from the Greek words demo s, mean ing "peop le," and krato s, meaning "power." Building Democracy Athens was the largest and most powerful city-state to emerg e in Greece. In Athen s, citize ns partic ipate d in gove rnme ntal decis ion making. Citizens were adult male resid ents who enjoyed certa in rights and responsibilities. Each year, an assembly of citizens electe d three nobles to rule the city-s tate. After a year of servi ce, the nobles becam e part of a large r coun cil of advisers. Around 600 B.c., Athen s suffered severe econo mic probl ems. In order to pay their debts, poor farmers pledg ed part of their crops to wealt hy lando wner s. They later pledged their land. Then , they sold them selves into slave ry and were not able to leave the land. Even tually, a stron g leade r stepp ed in to deal with the political and econo mic crisis. The Rise of Democroric Ideas 5 11;It,i!I I 3:f,YA ~,,l itI  -- ---- -- - -- ---- ----~- -------------------------------- Refonns of Solon In 594 B.c.. Solon (SO luhn). n respected statesman. passed a law outlawing slavery based on debt and canceled the farmers· debts. This simple act enabled Athens to avoid revolution or civil war. Solon continued his policies of political reforn1. He estab- lished four classes of cittzenship based on wealth rather than heredity. Only citizens of the three higher classes were able to hold public office. Yet, even the lowest class of citizens could vote in the assembly. All free adult males were citizens. Solon also created a new Council of Four Hundred. This body prepared business for the already existing council. Solon also introduced the legal concept that any citizen could bring charges against wrongdoers. Although these acts increased participation in govern- ment. Athens was still limited as a democracy. Only citizens Solon could participate in government, and only about one-tentl1 of 6307-5607 8.C. ilie population were citizens at the time. Athenian law Solon is known as one of the Seven denied citizenship to women. slaves, and foreign residents. Wise Men of Greece. Solon began a Slaves forn1ed about one-third of the Athenian population. series of political reforms that greatly increased citizen participation in Cleisthenes Enacts More Reforms Beginning in 508 s.c. Athenian government. He said that the Athenian leader Cleisthenes (KLYS thuh neez) intro- he #stood with a strong shield before duced further reforms. Because of his refonns, Cleisthenes is both parties [the common people generally regarded as the founder of democracy in Amens. and the powerful] and allowed He worked to make Ailiens a full democracy by reorganizing neither to win an unfair victory. His the assembly to balance the power of the rich and poor. He reforms, unfortunately, did not please either the wealthy or the poor. also increased the power of the assembly by allowing all cit- Solon left Athens for ten years to izens to submit laws for debate and passage. Cleisthenes travel. He spent that period warning Si II rtl then created the Council of Five Hundred. people wherever he traveled against Samarizing The Council proposed laws and counseled the assembly. rulers who would not uphold ~ Why 1s Council members were chosen at random from among the his reforms. Oetsthenes gener- citizens. These reforms allowed Athenian citizens to partici- ally COflSldered the pate in a limited democracy. However, still only one-fifth '7i' hmhsocialstudies.com founder of Athenian of Athenian residents were actual citizens. ta> RESEARCH WEB LINKS Go online for democracf more on Solon. Greek Democracy Changes From 490 to 4 79 s.c., tlle Greeks fought Persian invaders who were attempting to conquer Greece. The Greek city-states fought side by side as allies and defeated the Persian forces. The Athenians maintained democracy during the Persian Wars by holding pub- lic debates about how to defend tlleir city. After Persia's defeat, Athens continued to develop democracy. A wise and able statesman named Pericles led Athens for 32 years, from 46 l to 429 B.C. Pericles Strengthens Democracy Pericles strengtllened Greek democracy by increasing the number of paid public officials and by paying jurors. This enabled poorer citizens to participate in the government. Through greater citizen participa- tion, Ailiens evolved into a dired democracy. This is a forn1 of government in which citizens rule and make laws directly rather than through representatives. In Athens, more citizens were actively involved in government than in any other city- state. ln a speech, Pericles expressed his great pride in Atllenian democracy when Th e Rise of Democratic Ideas 1  he said, "Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people." Democracy ended in Greece after a war between the two strongest city-states, Athens and Sparta. Macedonia, a nearby state, invaded Greece and defeated the weakened city-states. Greek Philosophers Use Reason During the fourth century e.c. in Athens, several great thinkers appeared. They used logic and reason to investigate the nature of the universe, human society, and morality. These Greek thinkers based their philosophy on the following assumptions: (1) The universe (land, sky, and sea) is put together in an orderly way and is subject to absolute and unchanging laws; and (2) people can understand these laws through logic and reason. The Greeks' respect for human intel- 1igence and the power of reason had allowed the ideas of democracy to flourish. The first of these great philosophers was Socrates (SAHK ruh TEEZ). He encour- aged his students to examine their most closely held beliefs. He used a question- and-answer approach that became known as the Socratic method. Socrates' greatest pupil was Plato (PLAY toh). In his famous work The Republic, Plato set forth his vision of a perfectly governed society. He wanted society governed not by the rich- est and most powerful but by the wisest, whom he called philosopher-kings. PRIMARY SOURCE ll) Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and t · Analyzlls Prillllry s., power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exdusion of the other are compelled to II) 'Mlat iu stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils, no, nor the human race. PTato befie.t to happen ~i PLATO, The Republic peace and '< to cities ar.:l; Plato's student Aristotle (AR ih STAHT-uhl) examined the nature of the world hum.in ooi and of human belief, thought, and knowledge. In Politics, he wrote, "Man is by 8. Answer'·· nature a political animal; it is his nature to live in a state." ph1losopht; who V/0\JC'o Legacy of Greece Greece set lasting standards in government and philosophy. the wisdc~ ·: The Greeks used reason and intelligence to discover patterns and explanations fairly of the world that they called natural laws. The Greeks did not wish to be subject to authoritarian rulers. So they developed direct democracy in order that citizens could actively participate in political decisions. They also were the first to develop three branches of government- a legislative branch to pass laws, an executive branch to carry out the laws, and a judicial branch to settle disputes about the laws. (The chart below compares democracy in ancient Athens and in the United States.) Athenian and United States Democracy Athenian Democracy Both U.S. Democracy Citizens: male; at least 18 Political power Citizens: born in United years old; with citizen parents exercised by citizens States or completed Laws voted on and Three branches of citizenship process 10 proposed directly by government Representatives elected assembly of all citizens Legislative branch propose and vote on raws Leader chosen by lot passes laws Elected president d up o1 Executive branch: a council Executive branch Executive branch ma eOjficiab of 500 men carries out laws elected and appointed. oil 12 ,ur Juries varied in size Judicial branch Juries composed Of 6-..,, tiffS ho · 8 Prologue No attorneys; no appeals; _______________ one-day trials ___- ----------- conducts trials with paid jurors _..::::::...... Defendants and plain ro'e9 attorneys; long appeal~.-.,.  Rome Develops a Republic While Greece was in decline, a new civilization to the west was developing. From about 1000 to 500 s.c., the earliest Romans-the Latins-battled with Greeks and Etruscans for control of the Italian peninsula. The Romans were the victors. From Kingdom to Republic Beginning about 600 B.C., a series of kings ruled Rome. Then, in 509 s.c., a group of Roman aristocrats overthrew a harsh king. They set up a new government, calling it a republic. A republic is a form of government - in which power rests with citizens who have the right to elect the leaders who make governmental decisions. It is an indirect democracy, in contrast to the direct democ- racy in which all citizens participate directly in the government. In Rome, as in Greece, citizenship with voting rights was granted only to free-born males. C, ~ ~ H"11 (1, In the early republic, two groups struggled for power. The patricians were aristo- indirea de- cratic landowners who held most of the power. The plebeians were common farm- differ froo. demoaacy1 ers, artisans, and merchants. The patricians inherited their power and social status. C. Possib~ They claimed that their ancestry gave them the authority to make laws for Rome and Answer · its people. The plebeians were citizens of Rome with the md1reace- ot1zen1 'i:f- History Makers right to vote. But they were barred by law from holding most leader11,;: important government positions. In time, plebeian pressure dec1s1or\ :· on the patricians gained them political power. rather ti":". t1opaurg: Twelve Tables An important victory for the plebeians was mthe de(.~ forcing creation of a written law code. With laws unwritten, making. patrician officials often interpreted the law to suit them- selves. In 451 s.c., a group of ten officials began writing down Rome's laws. They had the laws carved on 12 tables, or tablets, and publicly displayed. The Twelve Tables estab- 1ished the idea that all free citizens had the right to protec- tion of the law and that laws would be fairly administered. Republican Government Like the Athenians, the Romans had established a government with separate branches. Two Justinian 482-565 officials called consuls commanded the army and directed the government. Their term of office was only one year. The Justinian believed that -imperial majesty should not only be adorned legi slative branch was made up of a senate and two assem- 1 with military might but also graced blies. Patricians made up the senate. It controlled foreign with laws, so that in times of peace and financial policies and advised the consuls. The two and war alike the state may be asRemblies included other classes of citizens. In times of governed aright." crisis. the republic also provided for a dictator, a leader who To regulate the Byzantine Empire, Justinian set up a panel of legal had absolute power to make laws and command the army. , experts to comb through hundreds of The dictator was limited to a six-month term. years of Roman law and opinion. The For hundreds of years after the founding of the republic, panel's task was to create a single, Rome expanded its territories through conquest and trade. uniform legal code for Justinian's But expansion created problems. For decades, Rome aJter- #New Rome.- The Justinian Code has had a nated between the chaos of civil war and the authoritarian profound impact on the law of most rule of a series of dictators. Eventually, the republic col- Western countries. lapsed. In 27 B.c. , Rome came under the rule of an emperor. "'Ji' hmhsoc1alstud1es.com Roman Law INTERNET ACTIVITY Go online to Rome had become a great power not only by conquering create a table comparing some of Justinian's laws with similar ones in other lands but also by bringing the conquered peoples into the United States. its system. The Romans tried to create a system of laws that could be applied throughout the Roman Empire. Like the 10 Prologue  Greeks, they believed that laws s~?uld be base~ on principles of reason d justice and should protect c1t1zens and their property. This idea :plied to all people regardless of their nationality. It had a great influence on the developme nt of democracy throughout the western world. some important principles of Roman law were All citizens had the right to equal treatment under the law. A person was considered innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof rested with the accuser rather than the accused. Any Jaw that seemed unreasonab le or grossly unfair could be set aside. A Written Legal Code Another major characteris tic of Roman govern- 1 ?oS51ble A coin from 137 "'.-"'t ment was its regard for written law as exemplifie d by the creation of the Twelve e.c. sh;11ct good works. He said people could be saved only through faith in God. What began has D:r ·- - ----~-------------- she is accused of having done. The court then decides if u"" there is reason ·to hold the accused. Habeas corpus prevents ,t ,',: authorities from detaining a person wrongfully or unjustly. (This right is still important in democracies today. It is men- tioned in the U.S. Constitution.) Glorious Revolution When Charles II died in 1685, his younger brother became King James II. James was a Roman Catholic and a believer in the divine right of kings. Prelude to the American Revolution English Protestants were afraid that he wanted to make James ll's unpopularity extended Catholicism the official religion. They hoped that when across the Atlantic Ocean to James died, his Protestant daughter, Mary, would become England's American colonies. queen. But Jarnes's wife gave birth to a son in 1688. In 1684, a royal court took away Because a male heir to the throne took precedence, or came the charter of the Massachusetts Bay before, a female, it appeared that rule by Catholic mon- Colony. James had decided to create a union of all colonies from New archs would continue. This was unacceptable to most of t he Jersey to New Hampshire. He English people. appointed Sir Edmund Andros as Parliament withdrew its support from James and otfered royal governor of the Dominion of the English throne to his daughter Ml')"' and her husband. New England. Andros abolished ' -n h William of Orange, ruler of the Netherlands, bot elective assemblies, declared town meetings illegal, and collected taxes Protestants. William invaded England, and James fled to the people had never voted on. France. In 1689 William and Mary were crowned co-rulers When word of the Glorious of England. The Clorious Revolution, as it came to be Revolution reached America, the called, was a turning point in English constitutional hi st0_1'Y· colonists overthrew Andros in their Parliament had established its right to limit the English own version of the revolt This action monarch's power and to control succession to the tbrOne, may have contributed to the colonists' belief that it was their right England was now a constitutional monarchy. in which the to overthrow an unjust king. powers of the ruler are restricted by the constitution and the laws of the country. 12 Prologue  Ettpsh Bil of Rights In 1689. William and ~131) accepted from Parliament a ~~- or formal summary of tbe ngbts and hberues belie\·ed essential to the people. The English Bill of Rights !united the monarchy ·s power and pro- tected free speech m Parliament. The Bill of Rights did not allow the mooarch to suspend laws. to tax without Parhament ·s consent, or to raise an army in peacetime without approval from Parliament. It assured the people the nght to petition the king to seek reme- dies for grie\'ances against government. Excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment were forbidden. And fore- most. the Bill of Rights declared:.a. William and Mary PRIMARY SOURCE became rulers of... that fof redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and England in 1689. preservrng ot the laws, par1iament ought to be held frequently. English Bill of Rights England's Lepcy England's Glorious Revolution and the bill of rights that it pro- duced had a great impact. English citizens were guaranteed the rule of law, parlia- mentary gO\-emment, individual liberties, and a constitutional monarchy. This C()fl)pleted a process begun with the Magna Carta. The Bill of Rights also set an example for England's American colonists when they considered grievances against Bntain nearly I00 years later. These legal and political developments, along v. ith the ideas of the Enlightenment, would give rise to democratic revolu- llons m America and France in the late 18th century. a, ~~,-,.-.......,;__,;.__ ft ASSWMENr n.-.s & N... £s - ~ "":' ___________________ 1· · · · l. ~Of each term or name, write a sentence ~~p a1~ing its s1gn1·f1cance.....,_I.. 1ifv. Magn;1 urta due pr~s of law Parliament dMne nght Glonou~ Revolution conshtut1onal monarchy bill of rights ~ "'-41 :ua NOTIS thin\ lhe events listed do MAIN IDEAS l. What were three eventual CRITICAL THINKING I WRITING 6. RECOGNIZJNG EFFECTS What impact did the English "",;,c,n w~ the mo~t consequenc~ of William common law have on the United States? ior,tl E.rp!c1;n. the Conqueror's victory at 1. COMPARING Why was Oliver Cromwell's rule like that of Has11ngs? an absolute monarch? 4. What ,mpoMnt legal practice a. SUMMARIZING What were the main achievements of the dates back to Henry II? Glorious Revolution? lli5 5. Why did Parliament invite 9. WRITING ACTMTY ; PO~ER ~'!_ A~~R'!'f] Think of Wilham and Mary to rule yourself as an adviser to King John. Write him a letter in England in 1689? which you argue for or against accepting the Magna Carti!. T~II the king the advantages and disadvantages of agreeing to the demands of the nobles. ~ Jie:;1t drx.urnee Magna u,na and a copy of the Bill of Right~ of the U.S. Constitution. th~ M.igr,dnC.ts and create a t.ble showing where the US. Bill of Rights reflects the ~ T/11, Ri.w of Dc1110, ·ru11c l.tno 21