The Legacy of Ancient Greece Rome The Roots

The Legacy of Ancient Greece & Rome The Roots of Democracy

MAIN IDEA: • The Greeks developed democracy, and the Romans added representative government and a written legal code.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW: • Representation and a written law code are important features of democratic governments around the world.

ANCIENT GREECE Socrates Plato Aristotle

I. ) Athens Builds a Limited Democracy • A. ) At the beginning of its history, Athens is ruled by a king and later was ruled by aristocracy. • B. ) Solon introduces political reforms that gives rights to more people. • C. ) Cleisthenes also works to make Athens more democratic.

II. ) Changes in Greek Democracy • A. ) In the fifth century B. C. , Pericles introduces the idea of direct democracy & paid government officials in Athens. • B. ) Philosophers, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, use logic and reason to explore new ideas, creating an atmosphere helpful to democracy.

• - Socrates: Stressed importance of knowledge; taught by asking questions • - Plato: wrote “The Republic” which stated rule should be by the wisest (“philosopherking”) • - Aristotle: wrote “Politics” which presented his views of government (rule by the middle class )

• C. ) The Greeks develop a number of ideas about institutions for governing that are important in our government today.

III. ) Legacy of Greece • A. ) Stressed the use of logic & reason rather than superstitions or simple traditions. • B. ) Showed that democracy could work. • C. ) Developed the idea of separate branches of government.

ANCIENT ROME

I. ) Rome Develops a Republic • A. ) Around 500 B. C. , Rome develops a republic. • B. ) Expansion creates problems for the Roman republic, with alternating civil wars and rule by dictators, like Julius Caesar. • C. ) Rome ends republic and democracy when Octavian Augustus Caesar becomes emperor and creates the empire in 27 B. C.

II. ) Roman Law • A. ) Rome develops a set of laws that apply equally to people throughout the empire. • B. ) Roman law furthers democratic traditions in Rome and in civilizations that follow.

III. ) Legacy of Rome • A. ) Created the idea of a republic. • B. ) Adopted the Greek idea that an individual is a citizen rather than a subject of the ruler. • C. ) Greatest legacy was its written legal code and the idea that it code be applied equally to all citizens. • D. ) They preserved, added to, and passed to the future the Greek idea of democracy.