Equality Before The Law: Equality In The Athenian Democracy

In republican Rome, the Patricians held most of the political power. The Patricians were only a very small percentage of the population that were educated, wealthy, and powerful. The Romans created a code a law called the 12 Tables of Law. It was not fair but it demonstrated punishment for bad behavior. America can learn from the past and history of Rome to make better decisions for America’s future.

The book Anthem by Ayn Rand is a different universe than ours where all men are treated equal and have all the same rights that must be followed. This society has lots of rules and laws you would never think about. Throughout the book, you learn about how different Equality is from all his brothers from thinking of things others wouldn’t and exploring places that haven’t been explored in many years. Since he is different from all his brother's Equality is not very good at following the quite different laws given to every man in the society. From our world to Equalities laws are very different from not being able to write or separating women and men.

I believe that ancient Athens was not a true democracy. In a democracy all of the people are able to vote, and have a choice on who runs their city. In ancient Athens only the men were able to vote. Their government was Demokratia, and this excluded the women, the children, the metics, and the slaves. Even though their government was ran by the people themselves, only the men in the city could vote.

Perhaps the most obvious rights Americans enjoy are acquired from the freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, and press guaranteed in the First Amendment. It is this amendment that gives America its environment of freedom, because if expression were restrained, oppression of the people would soon imitate. As George Washington said, "If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. " When the people can 't voice their perspectives, tyranny begins. The government cannot take control over my opinions and thoughts.

All citizens have an equal say and representation in the government, regardless of their economic or social status. Additionally, the Supreme Court provides an essential layer In Ancient Rome, the Senate and consuls had complete control over the citizens and their laws. This heavily favored the wealthy Patricians and created a society that was divided by socio-economic status. The common people had no say in the government, making it difficult for them to seek legal redress or challenge existing

The belief that America is an exceptional nation that in several ways does not conform to the norm has been referred to as American exceptionalism. It is our country 's uniqueness that rates it high and special among others. It can be argued out that America is one of the freest nations across the world at both personal and political stories. This is enabled by the fact that the nation is governed by public as well as private interests. These interests that govern the America are based the country 's own constitution, which came to be in order to make each and every individual within the nation a window of success in the ever growing culture.

Introduction The Roman Republic was established in 509 BCE, after a long struggle against kingship. The Roman Republic was characterized by elements of democracy, such as the election of officials and the creation of a representative government. However, the Republic was also marked by undemocratic practices, such as the exclusion of plebeians and women from political power. This paper will discuss the circumstances that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic, the democratic elements of the Republic, and the undemocratic practices that made the Republic questionable.

Democracy, a form of government, allows the people in their own nationality to vote for people in order for them to become representatives as a result to vote on new laws that would affect their own nationality. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not inclusive, other than male citizens, to gain authority in ancient Athens, ¨Demokratia was ruled by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(Metics) and slaves.¨(Document D), therefore ruling Athens was only accessible to male citizen since since women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves were not allowed to rule as a result of not being male citizens. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens, was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not even using the essentials of democracy that is used today, “Thus, by our standards, it was oligarchy, not democracy.¨(Document D), therefore ancient Athens was not using democracy as their form of government, they were using oligarchy,another form of government in which a small group of people has power and control, as their form of government instead of democracy.

Citizenship : Why Athens was the Better System Athens was a small city compared to Rome that honored and protected citizenship. There was a constant importance of acknowledging all citizens hard work and participation. Athenians made it clear that the poor helped build the city 's power and not just the wealthy. They took politics very seriously and made sure that everyone had a voiced opinion. Hard work and equality is what makes a nation outstanding.

This example is found in the law that sates that no Roman citizen could pass from a Patrician family to a Plebeian, or the other way around. Also, a father had the power of life or death over his own children; no son was able to purchase property without his father’s permission. The laws also indicated the importance of Roman inheritance and it continuity. Roman citizens were not allowed to marry a slave or a foreigner, unless the people permitted it. The Twelve Tables laws appreciated fair judgment to all Roman citizens.

5). Since the Plebeians made up most of the Roman population, the Patricians realized they could not afford to lose the Plebeians, else they could not endure war with their enemies. The revolt led to many changes: debtors were released from their collectors, two tribunes were appointed to counteract the Patrician magistrate, a permanent Plebeian assembly was created, and Spurius Cassius attempted to pass an agrarian law to right the unequal land distribution (Morey, 1901, chapter 7, para.

The magistrates and tribunes… were the only ones who could place legislation before the voters.” The small percent of citizens that actually did vote in Ancient Rome were spoon-fed their candidates by higher ups like the magistrates in

Ancient Rome, after the famine, the plebeians were demanding for their price for the city's grain supply. With the protests going the patricians granted the plebeians five representatives to discuss Caius Martius, who does nothing else but look down on the plebeians. He states that because the plebeians did not fight in war, they don't deserve that power. Patricians and plebeians in ancient Rome were based on birth, a modern society patricians of the middle class, same wealth as the plebeians but because of their background they are put in a class above the plebeians. They class the plebeians as their less fortunate families when they are the same wealth as the patricians but because their background is the lower class they are put in the

In response to the first secession, the patricians established two “tribunes of the people” (Morey, 1901) for the plebeians; who were later disrespected and disregarded by the patricians. Eventually, after years of class identification struggles, the plebeians had the right to choose their own assembly members – tribunes and aediles, entitled “lex Pubilia” (Shindler, 2014). However, the journey to secure “political equality” (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2015) proved to be an arduous and tedious campaign. In view of their tenacity and non-violent strategies for equality, in my opinion, the plebeians displayed true nobility. Likewise, their economical and cultural diversity showcased the strength of inclusiveness versus the vulnerability of

the idea of representative government began to take root in some city states, specifically Athens. Athenian reformers moved toward democracy, rule by the people. In Athens citizens participated directly in political decision making. However there were limitations on citizenship to ensure that only the most rational people were able to vote. Through the construction of democracy in Athens, equality of all citizens became greater, and the city would become the top democracy of all the democracies.