Omar Medina

Omar Medina Period 5

Citizenship in Athens and Rome: Which Was the Better System

Roman citizenship was better than Athens citizenship. In Rome more voices are heard. You vote for laws with a majority of the people. Rome had a better structure to. In Rome people were richer. Therefore they were happier.

In a social aspect Rome let women have citizenship. Which led to woman being happier because they could own land. In Rome being a citizen was something to be honored about. But not everyone could be one. Athenians were more stingy with their citizenship. The Romans more freely gave it away. But they gave it away in measured amounts.

In an economic aspect everyone in Rome was happier. Everyone could own land and people were making money. Slaves and freed slaves however couldn’t own land or other things. People in Rome were often rich and had a lot of money. That also improved quality of life of the Roman people.

In a political aspect Rome had a more structured assembly. They had about 300 men and they served for life. The senate had primary responsibilities for foreign relations including selecting ambassadors, making treaties and creating alliances. The 30o members usually came from the oldest Roman families and inherited their seats. People were ranked into distinct classes. This ranking was based on wealth, heritage, administrative competence, martial status, and physical and moral fitness. This determined the citizen’s political privileges.

This in all explains why citizenship in Rome was better than in Athens. Also Rome held its assembly mettings outside on a hill and every citizen could go watch but not participate. This lead to the assembly being noisy.