Essay Greek and Roman Governments - 772 Words

Greek and Roman Governments The Greek democratic and Roman republic governments each had their own positive and negative aspects making them similar, yet exclusively different. Both have had tremendous influences on governments in our modern world. Rome was a republic where the leaders were chosen through voting, while Greece practiced a more direct democracy in which the citizens participated in the crucial decision-making within the government. This paper will attempt to diagnose the fundamental similarities of each government coupled with the not so obvious differences. Based on the evidence from each type of government, it is clear that each were similar and different in numerous ways, in particular the way each government†¦show more content†¦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. The third similarity/discrepancy noted between these two cultures is the hierarchy. Greece did not elect representatives primarily because their population was small enough that they could practice a more direct democracy, where the citizens actually participated in the politics . On the other side of the coin, the Romans did practice a representative democracy by electing two consuls to act as heads of state.Show MoreRelatedGreek and Roman Concepts of Citizenship and Government1361 Words   |  6 PagesGreek and Roman Concepts of Citizenship and Government Joe Wickenden, Sarah Dowling, Ginger Snyder, Leone Hansen HIS/341 October 27, 2014 Joel Getz Greek and Roman Concepts of Citizenship and Government The definition of citizenship in Greek and Roman cultures can be described much differently than the current democratic definition of contemporary nations. 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