Ancient Greek and Roman Influence on America and the Constitution

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Philosophers fromclassical Greeceproposed the ______of powers in government, an idea that the American founders adopted for their new nation. In addition, TheRoman Republic (509-27 BC)served as a directmodel of governmentfor the ______of the constitution. The political thought of the ancient Greek and Roman world profoundly influenced the government of the United States of America.

Plato

Plato (c. 427-328 BC) wrote about the importance of______government, an idea that is fundamental to both the development ofthe separation of powersand the Constitution. Plato believed that all formsof government that existed in his time had specific strengths and weaknesses. InThe Republic,Plato wrote about the ______and ______of each form of government. Plato wrote that oligarchy, rule by rich elites, could capably manage a state due to competition between members of the aristocracy, but Plato criticized this “rule by the ____,” because money was the basis for power, and ______driving factor. Democratic governance was able to able satisfy the voice of the people, but Plato attacked democracy inThe Republicby calling it indecisive, disunified, and prone to political decline.To Plato, tyranny (rule by one man) was effective and efficient, but a tyrannical government could suffer ______and depredation by an unjust ruler. In Plato’s later work,The Laws,Plato discussed how a state that combined elements of oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny would be less prone to the respective weaknesses of these three forms of government. InThe Laws,Plato strongly advocates this amalgamate state; he calls for the creation of a state with a “mixed form of government.”

Aristotle

Aristotle, Plato’s student and successor, further articulated the idea of mixed government and developed the idea of the separation of powers. Aristotle believed that _____forms of government declined and evolved into different political forms. According to Aristotle, a monarchy (tyranny) is the first government to evolve out of primitive ______; the monarchy itself is eventually overthrown and replaced by aristocratic rule (oligarchy). The aristocracy itself would eventually be replaced by ______, which would eventually devolve back into anarchy. Aristotle believed that a mixed government, like the one described by Plato, would halt the decline of government into anarchy. In Aristotle’s mixed constitution, defined in his workThe Politics,there were to be ______branches of government:

“All constitutions have three elements, concerning which the good lawgiver has to regard what is expedient for each constitution…There is (1) one element which deliberates about public affairs [“legislative” branch]; secondly (2) that concerned with the magistrates [“executive” branch]…and thirdly (3) that which has judicial power .”

Aristotle also established the principle that the rulers of a state should be ______to the same laws as the rest of the populace; to Aristotle, the rule of law is better than the authority of “even the ______man.” This concept of a “ruling official subject to the law” is an integral idea to modern government, where all political figures are supposed to be subject to the ______legal code as the average citizen.

Polybius and Roman Republic

The Greco-Roman historianPolybiusinfluenced ______philosophers and American government.His writings were centered around the idea of the separation of powers and mixed government in the Roman Republic. Polybius was born in Greece, in the year 200 B.C., over two-hundred years after the death of Aristotle.The Hellenistic Greece (323-30 BC) of Polybius was an entirely different world than the Greece of Plato or Aristotle.Between 225 and 30 BC, the Roman Republic conquered the various Greek states and forced them to become part of its vast ______.Polybius was caught up in this period of Roman expansion: in his youth he was forced to live in the city of Rome as a ______. He ultimately came toproselytize of the benefits of Roman rule. Having been exposed to Roman civilization, Polybius knew the intellectual tradition of the Ancient Greeks while observing the culture, society, and government of the Roman people. Polybius, in hisHistories, wrote about government’s evolution and ______, noting how monarchy transformed into aristocratic rule, which in turn transformed into democracy, eventually culminating in ______rule and anarchy. This pattern of decay is very similar to the cycle of government described by Aristotle.Polybius also believed, like Aristotle, that a ______constitution can halt this governmental decline.

The executive branch of the Roman Republic was represented by two______, magistrates who were elected annually by the Roman people. The consuls were the Roman heads of state; they were in charge of the ______and presided over the senate. The consuls were representative of monarchical rule, or “tyranny.”The senatewas the Roman ______branch, having the authority to determine foreign policy, control finance, and manage religious affairs. The Roman ______was the embodiment of oligarchy, a lawmaking body governed by the aristocracy. The democratic part of Roman government was in the form of assemblies (Comitia), in which the Roman people directly elected executive magistrates. Ultimately, each branch of Roman government worked together to form a cohesive ______. To Polybius, the Roman government’s mixed constitution allowed the Romans to avoid the cyclic pattern of government decline. Polybius also believed that the three branches of Roman government prevented the usurpation of power by political factions or ambitious men:

“For when one part [branch] having grown out of proportion to the others aims at supremacy and tends to become too predominant, it is evident that… none of the three [branches] are absolute, but the purpose of the one can be counterworked and thwarted by the others, none of them will excessively outgrow the others or treat them with contempt. All in fact remainin statu quo, on the one hand, because any aggressive impulse is sure to be checked and from the outset each estate stands in dread of being interfered with by the others.”

In this excerpt fromThe Histories, Polybius assures that any single ambitious faction cannot gain ______of the Roman government, because the other branches keep the power of any extremist faction in ______.

The Classical Education of the Founding Fathers

The Founding Fathers used Greek philosophy and the model of Roman Republican government into order to form a new ______based on ancient principles. The American founding fathers were well educated individuals, and they all had significant experience with ancient Greek and Roman authors since childhood. HistorianBernard Bailynstates, “knowledge of ______authors was universal among colonists with any degree of education.” Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence, was taught Greek and ______from the age of nine,and Benjamin Franklin received instruction in Latin at grammar school and became proficient in both Latin and Greek later in life.In Franklin’sAutobiography,frequent references are made to classical western figures, such as Cicero and Cato.James Madison learned Greek and Latin as a child, and “immersed himself in the ______of Greece and Rome.” Polybius, a less celebrated but still influential thinker, also left his mark upon the American ______of the

Constitution.Through Polybius, the founding fathers were introduced to the Roman Republic as the “mixed government” described by Plato and Aristotle.Thomas Jefferson owned several copies ofThe Histories of Polybiusin his Monticello home,and in the years prior to the formation of the American Constitution, sent copies ofThe Historiesto several of his friends throughout the ______. James Madison,the main writer of the constitution, used the writings of Polybius inThe ______PapersNo. 63,referring to ancient republican governments. Other founding fathers, including James Monroe, were familiar with Polybius.Clearly, the framers of the Constitution were not only exposed to classical western influence, but well versed in it. The founding fathers, from Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, were familiar with Plato, Aristotle, and Polybius, classical philosophers whose political philosophy created the idea of a ______-tiered government system.

Focus Questions:

Define the following terms in short phrases in your own words from the PPT and give the American equivalent if there is one.

Magistrate:

Consul:

Praetor:

Censor:

Quaestor:

Aedile:

Curule Aedile:

Plebian:

  1. What does Plato say are the benefits and drawbacks of Oligarchy, Democratic Governance and Tyranny?
  1. Draw the circle of political evolution described by Aristotle.
  1. What did Aristotle say would halt the decline of government ?
  1. Aristotle said that rulers of the state should be subject to what?
  1. Polybius stated that mixed government would prevent any ambitious faction from taking over power. How?
  1. What kind of education did Jefferson, Franklin and Madison receive relative to Classical Greek Philosophy.