Did the civilians in Athens in ancient Greece refer to citizens?

The essence is slavery democracy, taking turns to sit in the village, primitive direct democracy.

In the process of Rome developing into a city and establishing its own politics and culture, the Romans imitated the neighboring Serus civilization. The earliest extant writing in Italy was found in the cemetery of the ancient city of Ossa Inn near Rome in the early 8th century BC. The four Greek letters carved on the clay pot show that the Latin who just founded Rome learned to use these letters soon after the Greeks adopted the Phoenician letters. The early Roman politics was the era of kingship, and the king held absolute power. He is a great legislator, leader of the army, chief justice and chief priest, and his power is only restricted by the Senate and the citizens' assembly. The Senate is the Senate Council, which is composed of different tribal leaders. According to the Constitution and traditional customs, the Senate has the right to pass or veto the appointment of the king and to judge the king's legislation and litigation. The citizens' assembly consists of all male citizens in Rome and is divided into 30 groups according to their kinship; It authorized the monarch to exercise his power and was finally formally approved by the Senate.

With the growth of Rome's power and influence, wealth began to concentrate in the hands of a few people. The nobility is the richest member in the whole society. They control most of the trade, administration and army, and only they can enter the Senate or be appointed and elected as officials. Civilians are mainly small farmers, laborers and craftsmen, who account for the majority of the population, but they rarely have the opportunity to express their opinions in the government.

After romulus (reigned for 37 years), there are six other kings in the traditional records: Numa Pompilius (reigned for 43 years), Tulus Hosty Julius (reigned for 32 years), Ankus Maches (reigned for 44 years), L Tarchi Newcastle Preskus (reigned for 38 years) and Servius Toury. During his reign, Rome greatly expanded its control over the surrounding territories. The clear purpose of establishing kingship is to provide stability and security, and to conquer the surrounding territories to serve this purpose. The Romans did not seem particularly greedy for territory and wealth; Their conquest was mainly to guard against the threat of neighboring nationalities to their own security. With the expansion of territory, the Romans attracted the attention of the powerful Cyrus in the north. In the middle of the 6th century BC, the Cyrus seized power in Rome. At that time, King Cyrus ruled the city-state, which made the Romans very disgusted. Finally, the Romans rose up in 509 BC and overthrew the rule of Tarvin, king of Serus, because he raped Luke Lady, the nobleman's wife. Although Mrs Luke's rape and junius brutus's overthrow of Talvin may be deductive stories, the overthrow of Talvin's regime undoubtedly marks the decline of El Serus's regime and civilization.

The Romans did not elect a Latin monarch, but completely abandoned the monarchy and established a * * * and political power, which indicates the arrival of the maximum expansion period of Roman power. Rome is ruled by the Senate and parliament. The consul holds the highest power and is held by two elected nobles, who are elected once a year. They exercise supreme power, create legislation, act as justices, military leaders and priests, and have absolute ruling power like kings in the Roman monarchy. They even dressed like kings, wearing purple robes and sitting on ivory thrones traditionally used by kings. However, their power is very strictly limited: they only govern for one year and then serve in the Senate; They are two people in power, and any consul can effectively prevent the other's actions or decisions by simply vetoing one vote. In this way, the Roman government tends to be conservative and cautious because the consul does not have many opportunities to show initiative and creativity.

Below the two consuls are two financial officials, called branch officials. With the development of * * * and China, officials named Preait also appeared. First as a sheriff, then as army chief of staff. In addition, the work of classifying citizens according to wealth and tax amount was originally the responsibility of the consul, and was finally undertaken by two new officials called inspectors.

All effective power is concentrated in the hands of nobles, which has aroused the resentment of civilians. From the founding of the Republic in 509 BC to the end of Caesar's hand in BC 1 century, serious conflicts often occurred between the two classes, which were manifested in the persistent pursuit of power by nobles and social and political equality by civilians. At that time, civilians produced food and provided labor, which enabled the Roman economy to develop. They were also the source of the Roman army. It can be said that aristocrats can't survive without civilians. The first written law promulgated in 450 BC, Twelve Bronze Tables Act, attempted to quell the struggle between the two classes. In 445 BC, the common people got the right to marry the nobles. In 367 BC, civilians gained the right to be elected as consuls, and then gained the right to enter the Senate. In 300 BC, civilians were allowed to participate in sacrificial activities at all levels, which made them enjoy the same status as nobles in religious affairs. In 287 BC, the legislation and decisions of the Li Min Congress were recognized as binding on all Roman citizens (whether civilians or nobles), which was the greatest victory of Li Min in power and influence. These reforms were carried out without war or bloodshed. Although the struggle between the two classes was not fundamentally solved, the civil war was avoided.

Roman Democratic Republic and Its Imperialist Policy

More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Roman countries annexed the whole Mediterranean region, and its sphere of influence extended to the two river basins in the east, Britain in the west, the Sahara Desert in North Africa in the south and the Danube River in the north. Its territory spanned Europe, Asia and Africa, making it one of the few great empires in the ancient world. But "Roman Empire" is a concept invented in modern times, and the Romans did not know the difference between "* * * and country" and "empire". 1

/kloc-historians from the end of 0/9 to the beginning of the 20th century generally divide the history of ancient Rome into three stages according to the nature of the political system: the royal period (about 8th century BC-509 BC), the * * and the period (509 BC-27 BC) and the imperial period (27 BC-476 AD). In fact, the so-called "kingship", "harmony" and "empire" are all concepts of modern western political science. The ancient Romans only had the concept of "country" and no concept of "empire". Modern westerners like to translate the word respublica into "republic". In addition, the political system created by the ancient Romans is often regarded as the source of western democracy, which makes people mistakenly think that the ancient Roman countries are democratic republics in the modern sense, but this is not correct.

Because the modern "harmonious system" is opposite to the "monarchy", and the "harmonious country" in ancient Rome does not exclude the monarchy. Whether the supreme ruler of Rome is a king (Rex), an elected consul or an emperor (Augustus, Caesar, Imperator, Dominus), the Roman state will always be respublica. Cicero revealed the essence of "* * * and the state" in ancient Rome in On the State. He said, "respublica is the property of the people, and it is the unity of many people for the partnership interests of * * *", and "* * * and the country" can be ruled by a few people or a majority. The best "* * * and the country" is a mixed form of monarchy, aristocracy and civil service. As far as a single form of government is concerned, Cicero even thinks that "monarchy" is the best. It can be seen that the "* * * and the country" in the eyes of the ancient Romans is the "country". No matter what kind of political system is adopted, the only principle that needs to be followed is that the state is the representative of the people's interests. In ancient city-state society, the people were collective citizens, and the interests of citizens were above everything else. Therefore, the Romans did not put forward the concept of "empire", even in the imperial era delineated by historians.

Although the Romans did not have the concept of "empire", they did have the concept of "imperialism", from which the word "imperialism" was derived. The word 19 came into being in 1930s and was widely used in 1980s, which coincided with the wave of early capitalist colonial expansion sweeping the world. In a sense, the historical phenomenon that the ancient Romans expanded and ruled other nations is an ancient imperialism.

Most ancient empires practiced monarchy, but the imperialism of ancient Rome did not come into being during the monarchy period, but in the era of "* * * and the country". Rome's democratic system was highly developed during the * * * and * * periods. The consul, the Senate and the citizens' assembly are separate and check each other. This system has always been respected by western humanists and regarded as the classic origin of modern parliamentary system. But it was the "democratic system" in Rome during the * * * period that promoted the foreign expansion policy of Roman countries. Why do you say that?

The ancient Roman state was founded in the middle of the 8th century BC, and was originally a small city-state on the Tiber River. During the 5th-4th century BC, neighboring tribes invaded almost every year. During this period, Rome's foreign wars were basically defensive. From the 3rd century BC, Rome's military power gradually became stronger, and gradually controlled Latin area and Italian peninsula. In the 2nd century BC, it conquered the whole Mediterranean region. By BC 1 century, Rome had developed into a great empire covering the Mediterranean. What is the secret of the rise of Roman military power? What factors inspired the expansion ambition of the Romans? The answer needs to be found from another clue.

Another clue that develops in parallel with the clue of foreign war is the contradictory struggle between nobles and civilians in Roman society. In the early days of the Republic of China (5th century BC), nobles monopolized the administrative, military and religious powers, excluded civilians and even prohibited civilians from marrying nobles. Economically, the nobles seized the public land, which caused the people to fall into heavy debts. From 496 BC to 382 BC, Roman civilians rebelled against the oppression of nobles in the form of collective evacuation, striving for equal status, demanding the redistribution of land, abolishing debt slavery and serving as officials at all levels, including consuls. At the beginning of the 3rd century BC, the civilian movement ended successfully, the demands of the civilians were met, and a settlement was reached with the nobles. It was after the end of the civilian movement that Rome quickly embarked on the road of military expansion. What is the inevitable connection between the democratic movement within Roman society and the foreign expansion policy? This is because foreign wars provide an opportunity to solve the contradiction between civilians and nobles.

On the one hand, the civilians and nobles in Rome need to rely on the polis to resist foreign enemies and safeguard personal freedom and safety; On the other hand, it is in their interest to unite to plunder, exploit and enslave foreigners. Citizen soldiers are the pillars of the polis, and their main fighting capacity is civilian soldiers. Civilians often use this to put pressure on nobles at the critical moment of foreign invasion. Faced with the threat of war, the nobles had to compromise and open their positions at all levels to the people. Reduce the debt burden of civilian soldiers. In 376 BC, a law was even promulgated to abolish debt slavery. This means that Roman citizens cannot enslave each other, but Romans can conquer, plunder and enslave foreigners through foreign countries. Internal contradictions turn to the outside.

Most of the land and debt problems of civilians are solved by foreign plunder. Take the land issue as an example: in 396 BC, Rome conquered the city of Vier in northern Trulia, which increased the public land in Rome by112000-150000. From 343 BC to 264 BC, Rome allocated 60,000 pieces of land, and 40,000 Roman families got a piece of land. Most of the money for debt repayment also comes from foreign plunder. The Roman government became rich by collecting tithes from the occupied areas, so it was able to make extensive legislation to restrain debts. four

The war of foreign plunder effectively reduced the economic pressure within the city-state, eased the contradictions and conflicts between civilians and nobles, and laid a material foundation for Roman democracy. Because the war brought a lot of wealth and slaves. The development of slavery prospered the economy and improved the economic status of the self-sufficient small-scale peasant class. A stable group of yeomen farmers is not only the citizens' assembly, but also the cornerstone of the citizens' soldiers, which not only ensures the development of democratic politics, but also ensures the strong combat effectiveness of the citizens' soldiers. The unity among citizens and the enhancement of military strength in turn led to greater military victory and promoted the continuous expansion of Roman territory. This is the secret of the rise of the Roman Republic. The freedom of all citizens in the "Roman Republic" depends on the victory of foreign wars, and Rome's democratic system and economic prosperity also depend on the constant plunder of land, wealth and slaves.

However, the liberal democracy of "* * * and the country" is only internal, not external. Even among Roman citizens, only slave owners can fully enjoy democratic rights. Rome's Republic needs "imperialism". A series of wars of aggression launched by the Romans in the Mediterranean world are always "imperialist" wars in the name of "Republic", but the excuse of annexing other countries is not always "just".

In human history, democracy and democratic thought have a long history, which can be traced back to ancient times. The word democracy comes from the ancient Greek Δ η ~ μ ο s, which is a very old word. The line character B in Mycenae culture is da-mo (village), which is synonymous with δ η ~ μ ο s. In Homer's epic Iliad and Odessa, there are also δ η ~ μ ο s, but it is not the old line character B form, but written by newcomers in Greek letters. After that, the meaning of δ η ~ μ ο s gradually expanded, from "region" to "people". Then in the 5th century BC, Herodotus used "democracy" or "democratic politics", which was later translated into democracy in Clasey. It is generally believed that the word democracy was first discovered by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus [1] in his book History. That is, Herodotus began to use this word when recording the historical events of the Persian War in the 5th century BC. Etymologically, the ancient Greek word γ куρ η а (democracy) is a combination of γροOS (people) and ρ ο s (rights), which means people's rights, that is, the people are in charge of political power, which means governing the country. Later, western languages literally translated this into Demo Clasey (Democ? Racy), when used as a political term in modern times, its connotation has been extended and expanded, mainly referring to people's sovereignty, which is not in line with the ancient meaning.

In ancient Greece, democracy refers to a national form, that is, regime, which is called democracy, democracy and democracy in modern political terms. According to Herodotus and other classical scholars' traditional method of classifying government types according to the number of people in power, purpose and method, it can be divided into three authentic governments and their corresponding three abnormal governments: monarchy and tyrant; Aristocracy and oligarchy embody minority rule; Most rule is achieved through democracy and extreme democracy (or mob politics) [2] (pp. 133 ~ 134). The democracy mentioned in this paper is a form of government of a slave city-state. While putting the interests of the whole city-state in the first place, this regime can indeed ensure that the vast majority of citizens have certain rights to participate in politics, which has a positive impact on all aspects of national life and can indeed ensure the safety of the lives and property of the vast majority of citizens.

According to the current historical data, among the ancient Greek city-states, Athenian democracy was established before other city-states, so it can be considered that Athens is the birthplace of ancient Greek democracy, and the cause of Athenian democracy can be regarded as the cause of ancient Greek democracy. These reasons are nothing more than: the legacy of primitive social democracy; The development of industry and commerce and the stability of independent small-scale production economy; The strengthening of civilian power and the division within the nobility; Represented by Solon and others.