The Citizenships Between Athens and Rome

The citizenships between Athens and Rome were completely different, yet had a lot of similarities at the same time. The Romans did not have strict ‘barriers’ with regards to citizenship. In the Athenian society people there enforced strict limitation to the extension of citizenship. The situation made the Romans build an empire. While the romans were building their empire they made sure they had trust with the people. However, this later became a challenge to the Roman Republic. As for the Athens, the democracy was unusual in being a ‘direct democracy’ in which the citizen assembly could vote on laws. People were selected by lottery rather than actually being elected by others. As this system went on, adult male citizens were equal (one citizen, one vote), than being divided up. The legal system did not have professionals, but people had to represent themselves in court even without experience.

Both the Roman Republic and the Athenian Polis were established on a city-state model. However, differences in their ‘geographies’ saw the states develop in grow ways. The Athenians had exclusive cities, which later united through force. Rome, on the other hand, developed on a plain and succeeded in establishing a centralized city-state. Both the Roman Republic and the Athenian Polis developed organized political practices. However, the Romans developed a two-party system consisting of patricians and plebeians, while the Athenians had no political parties.

The slave master treated the slave as a member of the family. This is demonstrated by the slave participation into a religious ceremony (same as a newborn baby). Exactly same as in Roman society, over time, the slave may develop a close tie with master / mistress by function