Is this reasonable for an 11th grader? The assignment was to be 3-5 pages.

[SheWhoWaits]

Ancient Governments and their Influences on America

 

The Roman Republic had its start in 509 BC when Lucius Junius Brutus overthrew the Tarquin monarchy. During this Republic, Rome was ruled by a group of elected magistrates, a senate and three assemblies. These offices were all held by at least two men who were of equal rank and any magistrate had the power to veto acts of other members who they were of equal or greater rank than. Most of these offices had one year terms with, with possibilities for re-election, although there are some exceptions to this rule.. Now before moving on, it is important to understand the Roman concept of imperium which is the supreme power held by certain magistrates to command military, judicial and civil affairs.

At the top of the Republic were two consuls, who were the chief civil and military magistrates. They had imperium (which was considered greater than that of the Praetors) and were the main people in charge of initiating legislature. These consuls were as close to a king as the Romans had during the Republic, but they also had checks on their powers. For a start, a consul could not act with out the other consul in agreement. They could also veto any decisions made by their counterpart. Below the consuls were two to eight praetors, who were essentially the central generals of Rome. They had duties as military commanders but also administered civil law. Below them were quaestors who were financial officers and administrative assistants in charge of the state treasury. In times of war they served as both quartermasters and second-in-comands. Then there were the two censors who had the tasks of conducting the census and set their tax status. Since the censors were setting the tax rates they had much opportunity for corruption and therefor this office was only open to ex-consuls.

The Senate was an assembly of former magistrates, normally numbering 300, that was the only governing body in Rome capable of developing long term policy. They were in charge of foreign policy, appointing officials to govern conquered provinces, and appropriating funds for projects and management of the Republics money. In time of emergency the senate had the authority to nominate a dictator, who would act as a single leader with ultimate imperium. They had knowledge of most all public matters and did not prepose legislation but rather approved and vetoed various laws. Legislation approved by the senate was then delivered to the citizen assemblies, who would further edit and either pass or veto it.

The last of the three major Roman governmental institutions were the three citizen assemblies, which both held the real law making power, and prosecuted criminals. These assemblies were made up of all Roman citizens, but were organized in different ways so that the vote of a single citizen had a different weight in each assembly. The assemblies were all made up of units each with a single vote decided by the majority of voters in the unit, and laws were passed by a majority of units. The oldest of these assemblies was the assembly of the curia, which during the Republic quickly became obsolete as a legislative body but continued its religious functions. Next was the assembly of the centuries, which was the assembly of the Roman army. Their duties including electing censors, consuls and praetors, passing some legislation, and deceleration of war. This assembly was divided into 193 groups (called centuries), which were based on age and wealth. The last assembly was the assembly of the tribes, which was divided into the 31 Roman tribes. They passed most of the legislation and elected the lower magistrates.

There are many similarities and differences in the Roman Republic and Athenian Democracy. Where the romans had their assemblies the greeks had the ecclesia, which held much of the same power as the roman assemblies. The ecclesia was formed from all greek citizens and took votes on important affairs, much as the Roman assemblies did. Even though there are many similarities between these two institutions, the ecclesia did not have the judicial power of the assemblies. Judicial power in Athenian Democracy was assigned to the dikasteria which was a group of 6,000 jurists assigned annually by a draw. Another comparison that can be made is between the Greek boule and the Roman senate, which both prepared work for their respective citizen bodies to vote on and governed foreign policy. The Greeks also had magistrates similar to the Romans, who were elected for one year terms with no limit on re-elections. Their duty was to of make sure sure the decisions of the boule and ecclesia were carried out. These magistrates were also the heads of the Athenian army and navy. Another difference between the Republic and the Democracy was the Greeks use of draws instead of votes to elect their magistrates and council members.

Both the Athenian Democracy and the Roman Republic correspond roughly and have majorly influenced the American form of government. First off, the American legislative branch is almost a combination of the Roman senate and assemblies, but instead of the citizens having most of the real law making power it goes to the American form of the senate (in combination with the house) which is formed by regionally elected representatives. So the people have the power to chose who gets to make the decisions, but not make the decision themselves. Almost the same parallels can be made with the Athenian boule and ecclesia. Another influence was that of the Roman magistrates on the American executive branch, and more precisely that of the consul on the president. The consul was the highest position in the Roman Republic in the same way as the president is in America, although with slightly different powers. Where the consuls had the power to initiate legislature, where the president has the power to approve or veto legislature. This is so that this one (or two in the case of consuls) do not have to much sway in the legislation, but can still provide checks and balances in the system. Another thing America takes from these ancient governments is the use of juries to persecute criminals, although that is one of the few similarities in the way our judicial system works.

The influences of these earlier governments on our own is plain to see, even though it is mixed and jumbled. While some of the parallels may not exactly fit, if we look at the systems as wholes we can see how many things we have taken from them, and some of the most important influences that we have taken have been not from the positions, offices, groups or assemblies, but the ideas behind them. We did not take the office of consul or the assemblies themselves but the idea of checks and balances in the government that makes it work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources

1. http://www.utexas.edu/depts/classics/documents/RepGov.html

2. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ROME/REPUBLIC.HTM

3. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/imperium

4. http://www.unrv.com/empire/the-senate.php

5. http://www.uah.edu/student_life/organizations/SAL/texts/misc/romancon.html#cthree

6. http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ANCIENT/polybius6.html

7. ANCIENT HISTORY FROM THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS TO THE RENAISSANCE, J.M. ROBERTS, P. 307-309

[choirfarm]

Well...what was the assignment? I'm guessing that it was to discuss the influence of ancient governments on America by the title. If so, I have a huge problem with the paper. What is the thesis?? The very last paragraph seems to be the real topic of the paper. But I'm not sure because there is no thesis. He just starts talking about the Romans, then comparing them to the Athenian, then to America. The first two paragraphs are like a report, then you have a comparison/contrast. Also, he needs to work on being a little more formal. Do not use first person.

 

Now this has the makings of his thesis:

 

we can see how many things we have taken from them, and some of the most important influences that we have taken have been not from the positions, offices, groups or assemblies, but the ideas behind them. We did not take the office of consul or the assemblies themselves but the idea of checks and balances in the government that makes it work.

 

He needs to tighten up the ideas and make it less wordy and then work on proving this throughout his paper. He has TONS of good information. He just needs to take it and make it prove his point. You only list a point if it proves your thesis. Otherwise it is unneccessary.

 

Christine

[prairiewindmomma]

I'm a little lost in reading this paper. I think the student needs to work on the organization of his/her material. I would suggest having him/her outline his/her essay. Right now I feel as if I'm reading something copied from a website with a few concluding sentences stuck at the end. The student needs to separate the material into opening, body, and conclusion.

 

I would re-organize it to something like this:

 

introduction of thesis that Athenian democracy and Roman republic influenced American government

example one: structure of Roman government

1.a. magistrates explained

1.b. consuls explained

1.c. citizen assemblies explained

---compare/contrast Roman and American government structure through applying thesis

example two: Athenian democracy

(follow structure of example one)

with a conclusion re-stating the thesis

 

Once the structure is in place, then I would work on style and grammar issues. There's a lot of good information here but the piece just needs some work.