Citizenship In Rome Vs Athens

The Roman & Athenian civilizations were truly legends in our world’s history the reinvented the meaning of the word: “society”. In earlier civilizations, the people were treated as lowly subjects, having no rights or responsibilities. By the 6th century the concept that people would actually have a say in the government and take on responsibilities towards the country had emerged. Rome and Athens were among the first societies to practice the “citizenship”. However, the framework and guidelines that the two civilizations followed were very different. So, the question is, which system of citizenship was better? The word “citizenship” is an abstract noun that refers to a state in which a person is recognized as part of that country/nation/state …show more content…
The Romans definitely granted citizenship to more people, as well as under more lenient conditions than the Athenians did. For example, in Athens, there was only one type of person that was allowed to be a citizen, and that was the native-born and free adult male. As a girl/woman/female, I was quite dumbfounded at the fact that the Athenian civilization only granted citizenship to males because I strongly that believe that women should not be held to a different standard than males. For women are perfectly capable of matching or even exceeding the physical and intellectual ability of men. In the Roman Empire, they allowed free and native-born women to become citizens, but with some limitations. Women were allowed to become property owners, but couldn’t vote or hold public office. Even though there were strict limitations to the citizenship of women, the Roman empire definitely held a more progressive system that was less discriminatory towards the people that didn’t fulfill the circumstances that the paragon of society had set. By actually letting a different type of person gain citizenship, it shows that the Roman system was more modernized and “advanced” than the Athenian …show more content…
In the Roman system, the people were ranked into classes based on wealth, heritage, administrative competence, marital status, and physical and moral fitness. This ranking system came with perks if you were ranked into a higher class, and also the ability to be at a higher status than people and gain more power. This forced the people to become better citizens so that they wouldn’t fall into a lower class, because that would have many disadvantages. The people became better citizens to go into a higher class, assuming that they would go into a higher class. In Athens, each citizen had an equal chance to be elected, which is indeed a true representation of democracy. However, with everyone having an equal chance being as they are, it creates an environment where you don’t have to work for what you deserve and it’s a matter of luck. I understand how frustrating it is to not get credit for the hard work that you have done. Therefore, the citizens in Athens probably were less likely to be good citizens as they had nothing to work