Greek and Roman Democracy

Contemporary notions of democracy have undoubtedly evolved from their foundations in ancient Greece and Rome. However, despite noble intentions, democracy in Greece and Rome was neither fair, equal, nor representative. These civilizations practiced direct democracy, whereby all eligible citizens would actively engage in democratic processes and gather to debate state matters (Hirst 2012). Influential Greek historian Herodotus remarked that, under such a system, “there is, first, the most splendid of virtues, equality before the law” (Herodotus & Thucydides et.al 1955 p.223).

However, in both Greek and Roman democracy, true equality was virtually non-existent. Only native men above the age of 18 were permitted to vote, thus; women, slaves, children and immigrants were excluded. Therefore, in Athens during the 4th Century BCE only approximately 45,000 people out of an estimated population of 300,000 were eligible to vote (Patterson 2006). Similarly, estimates suggest that at the height of the Roman Empire only 30,000-70,000 Romans, the maximum capacity of The Forum, would have been able to vote - a comparatively insignificant percentage of the total Roman population (Patterson 2006). Additionally, members of the social elite were granted preferred entry to The Forum, as they were viewed as more politically astute (Patterson 2006). This indicates that, although public meetings and voting played a central role in Roman life, “those involved were likely to be a select and unrepresentative body” (Patterson 2006 pp. 355). Hence, the role of common people was largely a façade, and represented a selection between, and validation of, members of the social elite.

Evidently, Greek and Roman democracy did not concern itself with a “liberal s...

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...democracy strove to deliver a fair and equal political system, in practice, these systems were inherently flawed. Therefore, despite their intentions, Greek and Roman democracies were neither fair, equal nor representative.

Works Cited

Ballot, RK 2009, A companion to Greek and Roman political thought, Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, MA.

Herodotus, Thucydides, Rawlinson, G. & Crawley, R 1955, The history of Herodotus, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chicago.

Hirst, J 2012, The Shortest History of Europe, Black Inc., Collingwood, Victoria, pp. 68-71.

Howard, G 2010, ‘Equality in Athens: Between Lot and Specialization’, viewed April 1 2010 .

Patterson, J 2006 ‘The City of Rome’ in Rosenstein, N & Morstein-Marx, R, A Companion to the Roman Republic Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 345-364.