Was the Roman republic very democratic compared to the American republic

In Federalist No. 34 Alexander Hamilton, arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution, claimed that the Roman Republic had “attained to the utmost height of human greatness.”1 The Roman Republic, at least an idealized version, was explicitly the model that the founding fathers looked to when developing their own democratic constitution. By and large, this model has succeeded in establishing a stable democracy. American success and the subsequent global proliferation of democratic regimes in the twentieth century have made the triumph of democracy, with its roots in Ancient Rome, a persuasive narrative. However, this raises an important question: how democratic was the Roman Republic?

Evaluating the Roman Republic’s constitution and how it was applied in theory and practice it becomes clear that the Roman Republic, while constitutionally quite democratic, was in practice a fundamentally undemocratic society, dominated by a select caste of wealthy aristocrats. This can be seen both through the structure of ‘democratic’ institutions and the power to make war and peace in the Roman Republic.

To properly understand how democratic the Roman Republic was, it is necessary to first understand how ancient scholars understood democracy as a political system. One can find a cohesive answer in the writings of the 2nd century Greek historian, and Roman captive, Polybius. According to Polybius, democracy is “where reverence to the gods, succor of parents, respect to elders, and obedience to laws are traditional and habitual…in such communities, if the will of the majority prevail, we may speak of the…government as a democracy.” 2 Polybius also details how democracy emerges from other political systems. Out of the state of nature, kings emerge as rulers. Over time kingship becomes hereditary and tyrannical and is overthrown by aristocratic plot; “but it is not long before the [minds of the people] roused…their fall therefore was very like the disaster which befell the tyrants.”3 Consequently, “[the people] are driven to take refuge in…a democracy…they regard their current constitution as a blessing and hold equality and freedom the utmost value.”4 Through his description Polybius provides a criteria through which to assess the Roman Republic as a democracy.

7. which was not an important advance made by the maya:

-deviced and accurate map of the world.

8. what was justinian code:

-a single, consistent set of laws for the byzantine empire.

9. which describes what theodora achieved as justinian´s most trusted adviser:

-getting laws passed to give married women more rights and to protect divorced women.

10. what caused the christian church to divide into two branches- the eastern orthodox church and the catholic church:                                             -differences in language, liturgy, and views on religious icons.

11. what was a result of the work done by the monks cyril and methodius:       - orthodox christianity spread to slavic cultures.

12. which is true about byzantine culture:

-it was a blend of greco-roman and persian culture.

13. which was not a major accomplishment of byzantine culture:

-the reconstruction of moscow

14. which group invaded the slavic homeland beginning in the ninth century:

-varangians

15. what did vladimir, prince of kiev, do in 988 to unify his people:       - he converted to orthodox christianity

16. what is the name of the book in which muhammad ´s words and teaching were collected:

-quran

17. what is the hajj:

-the pilgrimage to mecca that all muslims must undertake if possible

18. which accurately describes islamic belief:

-muhammad is god´s only prophet.

19. what happened to islam after the death of muhammad:

-it was practiced by only few people in small parts of the world

20. which region shows the extent of islamic territory 100 years after muhhamed´s death:

-egypt, mesopotamia, persia.(b)

21. which led to the division between sunni and shia following the death of muhammed:

-conflict over who should be the caliph

22. the muslims achieved many spectacular advances, which was not one of them:

-they created the justinian´s code.