Citizenship in

Athens and
Rome
Which is a
better system?
By Grace, Dylan,
Calista, & Demi

Table of Contents
Form: What is it like?
Function: How does it work?
Roman
Colosseum

Causation: Why is it the way it is?

Change: How does it change?
Connection: How is it connected to other things?
Perspective: What are the major points of view?
Responsibility: What is our/my responsibility?
Athenian
Parthenon

Reflection: How do we know?

Form: What Is it Like?

By...Dylan

Rome:

Rome would have councilmen that were

called Senators. They would pass the laws
A census was conducted every five years.
It is demoting and promoting people's rank
in classes according to the job and their
If you were in the senate for Rome, it was
for life.
Athens:

Athens would have assemblies to

pass laws. To attend, go you had to
be a citizen .
If you became too powerful, you
would be exiled for 10 years. It
was called ostraka it was done every
year
If you were in the Council in
Athens you were could be fired if
you didn't do a good job

Function: How Does It Work?

By Grace Shain
Athens:

Rome:

In Athens, the only citizens were free native-born

adult males. These citizens all had the choice to serve
in the Assembly. About 40,000 citizens had the
choice to attend, but only around 6,000 were needed
to debate on important issues. The minimum at least
always showed. The Council is the executive
committee that oversaw the Assembly. It comprised
of 500 citizens, but the members of the Council were
chosen by lot.

In Rome, to be a citizen you were either a free

native-born male, free native-born adult females, free
native-born male children, female children, or sons of
freed slaves. The government for the Romans was
based on the Roman Senate. In the Senate only 300
men could serve. But they werent chosen based on
abilities but based on their heritage, the oldest
families in Rome and then the sons inherited their
seats.

Causation: Why Is It The Way It Is?

By... Calista
In about 500 BCE, a new idea began to take shape. This notion, or belief, was that
citizens were apart of the state or empire and that being a citizen meant that they had to
complete certain responsibilities, but also enjoyed certain rights. Citizens wanted to have
a voice and be apart of the team. Greek rulers also found that if the people were included,
they wouldnt want to rebel.

Citizenship - the status of a person recognized

under the custom or law as being a member of a
country.

Change:How did it Change?By...Dylan

Athens

Athens was kept the same it didnt change

because of that, they made many mistakes.
They could of have changed how they
governed the city-state such as making the
time that you are ostracized is shortened to
maybe only 3 to 5 years.
They could of also made the time that you are
in government longer than a couple months
maybe to 4 years like the United States.

Rome

Rome was kept the same as well. They could

of changed how they ran the government. By
having more of the citizens as the Senators of
Rome not just the top of the social class
people.
Also they could've changed how they
controlled dictatorship like to bring them out
of power

Connection: How Is It Connected To Other

Things? By Grace Shain and Demi Rieb
Rome:

Athens:
In the Assembly, all citizens (40,000) could vote on
government matters. This is like that of voting for
presidents, senators, mayors, congressmen in the US
today. Athens is also somewhat like the government
system we have today. This is because our
government system passes laws, set budgets, & had
the power to declare war like the Athenian Assembly.

The Senate room resembles the Congress building

we have today. Both buildings have an organized
room with a Supreme Court inside. The Roman
Senate and Supreme Court both try cases for
criminals. Trying a case, means to take it to trial &
have a jury reach a verdict on the suspects
sentencing.

Athens & Rome:

In Athens and Rome, the people had different views of how to handle their government
& citizenship rights. They were alike because the citizens participating voted on
government matters. Athens and Rome were different for many reasons but one is the
fact that the people on the Roman Senate inherited their seats from wealthy fathers and
served for life. All citizens in the Assembly had the right to vote & they were able to
serve on the Council by being chosen from a lot.

Perspective: What Are The Major Points Of

View? By... Calista
Athens:

Rome:

Women- Women arent considered equal to men and

equal to men and could not become citizens.

Women- Women could be citizens but had

limited rights. They could own land, but
could not vote or hold public office.

Slaves- Slaves along with freed slaves and the sons

of freed slaves are also not considered citizens.
Children- Children were not considered citizens
either.
Male- Adult males could become citizens if their
parents were free-born Athenians.

Slaves- Slaves along with freed slaves could

not become citizens, although the sons of
freed slaves could.
Children- Male children could become
citizens and female children could too, as
long as their parents were citizens.
Male- Adult males could be citizens if their
parents were married in certain parts of the
Roman Empire

Responsibility: What Is Our Responsibility?by Demi

Rieb
Athens:

We should learn from Athens mistakes and not

do what they did wrong.
We should not learn from Athens because they
were not organized and they only let free,
native-born adult males become citizens.
They elected the people in the council by lot.
This is beneficial and disadvantageous. That is
acceptable because it gives everyone a chance
to be elected. That is a substandard because if
someone isnt fair, they could get elected and
then the city-state will have a ruler who is
unjust.

Rome:

We should learn from Rome that our

citizenship should be organized and no one
should have more power than another.
For example, one of their mistakes is they
made people in charge based on heritage. They
should be based off their knowledge and
ability, not based on heritage.
Another example of a mistake is they should
not serve for life because they should give
other people a chance.

Lot in Greece
The machine is simple to operate. Holes in the stone, cut
in several vertical lines, held the tokens of each
potential dikast or juror (see the photos for the
kleroterion in the Epigraphical museum and a
reconstruction of one). A wooden tube was held in place
next to the lines of tokens. A series of white and black
balls were put into a funnel at the top of the wooden tube
and allowed to percolate down its length. The horizontal
lines of dikast tickets that ran opposite where one
coloured set of balls had landed (we are not sure if the
Athenians used the black or white balls as the picking
colour), were chosen to act as jurymen for that day.
-

History Extra

The Lottery of Greek Democracy

Reflection: How Do We Know?

Grace: I think that the Roman Republic had a better
citizenship idea because they let children & women
be citizens, but you had to meet certain
requirements to be allowed certain rights and
responsibilities. They gave away citizenship more
freely, but more limited rights/responsibilities
Meanwhile the Athenians only let free-native born
males become citizens and the men controlled the
women and children. The Athenians were more
stingy with their citizenship.

Calista: I think the Roman Empire had a better

system involving citizenship because they
allowed more people to become citizens and
organized them in a better way by giving them
responsibilities and having a specific place
where they all discussed political issues.

Demi: I think the Roman Empire has the better

system because they were more organized. They
had a room where the senators met. In Athens, they
just met by a hill. That shows me that Athens is
less organized and Rome has the better system.

Dylan:I think Rome had a better system

because they had a better organized
system,which was much smarter than
Athens system.

Group: We all believe that the Roman

Republic had the better idea for citizenship
because they allowed more people
citizenship. They also were more democratic,
as Athens was not. The Romans were more
organized and they were more fair.