Democracy in Ancient Athens and Rome
Modern democracy didn't appear out of nowhere. It grew from ideas and experiments that began thousands of years ago in ancient Greece and Rome.
When America's founders sat down to design a new government, they looked at these civilizations for inspiration and for warnings about what could go wrong.
Ancient Athens and the Birth of Democracy
The city-state of Athens in ancient Greece is often credited as the birthplace of democracy. Around 500 BCE, an Athenian leader named Cleisthenes introduced a series of reforms that gave ordinary male citizens a direct voice in government. This system became known as direct democracy, meaning citizens participated in government themselves rather than electing representatives to speak for them.
In Athenian democracy, every citizen was required to participate or suffer consequences. This stands in stark contrast to modern democratic governments where people can choose whether or not they wish to vote or participate. In Athenian democracy, all citizens pulled their weight.
Not everyone in Athens was considered a citizen, however. Only free, adult men enjoyed the rights and responsibility of citizenship. Only about 20 percent of the population of Athens were citizens. Women were not citizens and therefore could not vote or have any say in the political process. Enslaved people and foreigners were also not citizens and also could not participate in the democracy. In the end, democracy existed only for the free men who were originally from Athens.
Usually, the citizens of Athens would gather in the agora when there was an assembly meeting. The agora, a fixture of every major Greek city-state, was a large open space in the middle of the city-state that contained a marketplace as well as government buildings. There, citizens would mingle and discuss the issues of the day before gathering for the assembly meeting. They might take a vote on laws, military decisions, or public policy. Athens also developed a Council of 500, chosen by lottery, to manage the day-to-day business of government.
The Roman Republic
Athens gave the world direct democracy. After overthrowing a king in 509 BCE, the Romans established a similar, but different form of government: a republic. This would be copied by countries for centuries In fact, the government of the United States is based partly on Rome's model.
A republic is a government in which citizens elect representatives to rule on their behalf. This differs from a democracy, in which every citizen is expected to play an active role in governing the state.
A wealthy class known as patricians dominated the early Roman Republic. The highest positions in the government were held by two consuls, or leaders, who ruled the Roman Republic. A senate composed of patricians elected these consuls. At this time, lower-class citizens, or plebeians, had almost no say in the government.
Rome also developed a written legal code called the Twelve Tables. This established that laws applied to all citizens equally, a foundational concept in democratic governance.
Gradually, the plebeians obtained more power and eventually could hold the position of consul. Despite these changes, patricians used their wealth to buy influence over elected leaders.
In contrast to Athens, both men and women were citizens in Rome, but only men could vote. They wore togas to distinguish themselves from enslaved people and other noncitizens. The Romans also invited conquered subjects to become citizens.
Rome's system of checks on power, its elected representatives, its written laws, and its system of juries for trials all became models that the United States has used. The very word "republic" comes from the Latin phrase res publica, meaning "the public thing".
Lessons for America
Both Athens and Rome eventually declined. Athens lost its independence to Macedonia, and the Roman Republic collapsed into dictatorship under Julius Caesar. The founders of the United States took these cautionary tales seriously. They admired Athenian participation and Roman structure, but they also recognized the dangers of mob rule and unchecked power.
The American system of government blends elements of both: a representative republic with democratic participation, designed with safeguards to protect against the failures that brought down its ancient predecessors.
