Citizenship Dbq Essay

Citizenship in Athens and Rome: Which was the Better System?

1. The idea of citizenship, or a status given by a government to its people, emerged in approximately 500 BCE. Citizens were responsible for playing significant roles in the life of the state or nation, but in turn were able to possess and benefit from certain rights. Compared to Athens, the Roman Republic's system of citizenship was better in the fact that it was more generous, although careful, in granting citizenship in which rights made the government much more organized.
2a. The Romans' considerable generosity in granting citizenship was one reason why their system was superior to Athens.
2b. Document A shows how the Roman Republic, unlike Athens, was fairly generous in granting citizenship and the different requirements the nation had for being a citizen. For example, it shows that in Rome, anyone but slaves who fit the requirements could be citizens, while in Athens, no one but free, native-born adult males were granted citizenship.
3a. Although

Document C gives examples of how the Romans' citizenship was granted in these "measured amounts". One example was how the Foederati, or people of states with treaty obligations with Rome, were given limited rights for serving in the military.
4a. Unlike in Athens, citizens' rights would not have reduced the level of organization during political events.
4b. Document E explains that the Athenian Assembly, which met 40 times a year to discuss political issues, was open to the general public; all of the 40,000 citizens of Athens were eligible to attend. With so many attendees, the events would have been rather difficult to keep organized.
4c. Document F explains that not all of the Roman Republic's citizens had the right to attend the senate’s meetings. This senate's 300 members inherited their seats from the oldest Roman families. This made the meetings exceptionally less difficult to keep organized than Athens's because of the limited amount of