Lauren Adler
December 2, 2014
Period 2
Political Rome and Greece Compare/Contrast The Roman and Greek empires were both very powerful throughout the Classical Era in political terms. Even though they were both powerful, they had political conflicts with poorer classes. However, they also differentiated in many ways as well. One way is that Greece was more focused on the democracy side of the government while Rome took pride in their republican values. Another difference is both of them started out as city­states, however,
Rome became a unified empire around 509 b.c.e. In both Rome and Greece, there was a period of intense class conflict. In Greece, the conflict started when Solon began reforms in 594 b.c.e. This led to the extension of citizens’ rights by Cleisthenes and Pericles. By 450 b.c.e., the Assembly was open for participation by all citizens and was the center of their political life. In Rome, the conflict was with the plebeians. They wanted to be a part of the government, and the solution to this problem was for tribunes to represent the plebeians and have the ability to veto the legislation. As you can see, both of these Classical Era Civilizations had political conflicts with their citizens and the government. And they both had to compromise in order to prevent a Civil War within themselves. In Rome and Greece, while they were similar, they also had many differences in the way they ran their government. In Greece, they focused on a democratic way of running things, and in Rome, they ran things with a more republican view. In Sparta, Greece, they gave most of their political authority to the Council of Elders, but in Athens, they express political participation by all citizens. However, there were some differences between Athenian and modern democracy. In Athens, the democracy was direct rather than representative excluding women, slaves, and foreigners. In Rome, they overthrew monarchy and established a clear republican political view around 509 b.c.e. Wealthy patricians dominated and they were ruled by two consuls, with advice from the Senate. They developed into a political role for the plebeians. They took pride in the republican values such as the rule of law, citizens’ rights, and morality such as