The Roots and Origins of Government

[Neolithic Cave Painting of a Hunt]

In prehistoric societies, might did indeed make right. The physically strongest simply took power. When a leader was challenged, he had to overcome and vanquish his competitor. If he failed to do so, he lost his power - and usually his life. Life was violent, chaotic and very brief.

[Neolithic Cave Painting of Warfare]

The first major human revolution was in agriculture. It occurred about 10,000 BCE, when certain groups, probably in the middle east, developed a more constant and stable food supply. This was based on higher yielding grains which the humans stored for long periods of time in clay pots. The revolution was also based on the invention of ways of keeping water fresh and safe to drink through the brewing of a mild beer. It also included domesticating animals like goats, pigs and chickens. Humans changed from food gathers to food producers.

Farming allowed early humans to settle in an area for a prolonged period of time. In addition, once agrarian methods were improved, farmers could produce a surplus, which in turn allowed for the specialization of labour.

Not everyone in the society had to be engaged in producing food. Some people were involved in other work. Artisans, builders, religious figures, thinkers and writers, as well as political officers and tax collectors, emerged to serve the changing needs of civilized humanity. (The word civilized comes from the Latin "civis" - meaning a resident of a town, and the earlier Sanskrit "sivá-s" - trusted or worthy.)

[Bronze Mask of King Sargon of Sumer]

Some civilizations relied on a single, powerful warlord. Others chose some form of governing council. Some had hereditary rulers who wanted to perpetuate their dynasties. But all of them had to address a common concern - what was the best method of making decisions within that society? Other important questions emerged: Who would have power? How would it be exercised? What rights would be accorded to minorities? Who would get what?

For the earliest centuries, human existence - and remember that human history compared with the history of the world is like a flat dime seen against the CN Tower - was relatively simple. Survival was paramount. Groupings of people were small. Most people knew one another, or were related to them. Because they were not literate, there was no need for written rules and laws. Everyone understood the unwritten customs, rules, and mores. If they did not, they would suffer the consequences.

[Recreation of Village of Çatal Hüyük, Turkey, c. 6,500-5,650 BCE; population about 5500; houses were entered through a hole in the roof]

[Ruins of the City of Perseopolis]

[Hammurabi Stele, Musée du Louvre]

[Shamash Giving the Law, detail of gypsum version of Hammurabi Stele]

The Governing of Ancient Egypt

[Pyramids of Gizeh]

Geography had a major impact on the location of this civilization. The fortunes - indeed the creation - of Egyptian society depended on the annual flooding of the Nile River. The receding flood waters left behind rich alluvial soil, which allowed the region to be a highly productive agricultural area. The people could depend on a regular food supply. The Nile Delta, the area where the river empties into the Mediterranean Sea, became the largest area of fertile land and the centre for most of Egypt's greatest achievements.

Rivers such as the Tigris and the Euphrates also flooded, but did so unpredictably and often violently. It was the regularity and gentle nature of the Nile's flooding that permitted the Egyptians to plan, not only their planting and harvesting, but their larger society as well.

[The Nile Delta From Space]

In order to provide the stability they needed for their civilization to thrive and progress, the Egyptians devised a workable political system. Politics and religion were united into one. At the core of their political life was the concept of the god-king. Throughout the entire existence of Egyptian civilization, the pharaoh was seen as the earthly embodiment of the god Horus, the son of Amon-Re. The pharaoh was Horus' representative on earth and as such was infallible and perfect. He could not be challenged or criticized, or deposed. His authority was unassailable. The pharaoh was both a religious and political figure and his power in one dimension increased his power in the other. Ruling by divine right provided considerable stability and order to Egyptian civilization. Since the pharoah's word was divinely inspired, there were few challengers to his dominance.

Pharoah Tutankhamon ["In his hands the king grasps scroll-like objects thought to be containers for the documents by which the gods affirmed the monarch's right to divine rule"; c1330 BCE; © Oriental Institute, University of Chicago]

The dictatorships of ancient Egypt were closer to modern monarchies than current dictatorships in the matter of succession. Modern dictatorships often experience difficulties in the transition of power. Egyptian civilization, however, avoided the problem by setting in place an orderly pattern of succession. The pharaoh passed the throne on to the Principal Queen, sometimes known as the Great Royal Wife. Normally, she was the eldest daughter of the previous pharaoh, and the sister of the current king. In the absence of a son born to the Principal Queen, the throne passed to the son of a secondary wife, who then would legitimize his rule by marrying the Great Royal Daughter. She was the daughter of the pharaoh and the Principal Queen, or in the absence of a daughter, the Principal Queen herself (i.e. the stepmother of the incoming pharaoh).

[The Pyramid of Power in Egypt]

Among the most important and powerful government officials were the scribes, the only literate individuals in society. They recorded the achievements of the pharaoh and his relations with foreign dynasties. They also kept meticulous financial records. Often a scribe was appointed vizier or prime minister. Viziers were the real, day-to-day power behind the political system. They set priorities, advised the pharoah, made important decisions on his behalf, and served as heads of the judiciary. Underneath the vizier was an army of government officials who looked after all facets of managing a sprawling empire. The government officials collected taxes, conducted trade, supervised construction, oversaw all facets of agriculture, provided health care, and managed the legal system.

Laws were applied equally, and punishments were swift and harsh. Minor crimes brought 100 lashes; sexual assault resulted in castration; corrupt government officials had hands amputated; betraying military secrets resulted in the perpetrator's tongue being cut out.

Egyptian civilization long before both the Greek and Roman empires pioneered and developed standards for governing society. They understood the need for stability and order for progress to occur. They evolved a complex, highly efficient system that addressed the needs of the society. Power was centralized in the pharaoh, who wielded absolute dominance, but did so by balancing the principles of precedent and equilibrium. The transition of power, the administration of justice, and the providing of essential services all contributed to the stability and order that made the greatness of ancient Egypt.

[Painted Jar from Upper Egypt, with Barges and Ostriches, c3600 BCE; © Oriental Institute, University of Chicago]

Ancient Athens: The Birthplace of Democracy

[Silver Athenian tetradrachm coin c.425 BCE. The owl was associated with Athena, goddess of wisdom.]

Democracy, the political system in which citizens are able to exercise power in making the major decisions affecting their lives, was born in Greece during an era that was one of the high points of human civilization. This period of Greek history, known as the "golden age", was made great by philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, playwrights such as Aeschylus and Sophocles, architectural achievements such as the Parthenon, and by leaders such as Pericles.

[Bust of Aristotle]

For ancient Greeks, the center of life was the "polis." The "polis" meant both city and state, and it was where a citizen owed his loyalty. Our word "politics," referring to public affairs of the city, comes from that early Greek term. (The term "government" also comes from Greek. The word "kybernan" which was borrowed from nautical jargon meant to steer or guide a ship.) The "polis" was the heart, the cradle of democracy. It was the place where the idea of democracy - the concept of people governing themselves - first began.

Citizenship in ancient Athens was considered both a right and a responsibility. It was granted only to native-born adult men. Citizenship was denied to women, the young, slaves, servants, and immigrants. All citizens were not simply encouraged to participate in the affairs of the city- it was expected and demanded. What emerged was a unique form of democracy- direct rule by citizens. It was a direct democracy because it was small enough that all adult male citizens could gather at a outdoor assembly called the Pnyx.

[Pynx Site Today]

"The Pnyx is an open space of ground due west from the Acropolis. It originally sloped gently away towards the northeast, but a massive retaining wall had been built around it, in an irregular semicircle, and the space within filled with solidly packed earth sloping inwards, making a kind of open air auditorium. It is a huge place, 394 feet long, and 213 feet at the widest. The earthen slope is entirely devoid of seats; everybody casts himself down sprawling or on his haunches, perhaps with an old himation under him. Directly before the sitters runs a long ledge hewn out of the rock, forming, as it were, the "stage" side of the theater. Here the rock has been cut away, so as to leave a sizable stone pulpit standing forth, with a small flight of steps on each side. This is the "Bema," the orator's stand, whence speak the "demagogues,"[*] the molders of Athenian public opinion. In front of the Bema there is a small portable altar for the indispensable sacrifices. In the rear of the Bema are a few planks laid upon the rock. Here will sit the fifty "Pryantes" in charge of the meeting. There is a handsome chair for the presiding officer upon the Bema itself. These are all the furnishings of the structure wherein Athens makes peace and war, and orders her whole civil and foreign policy. The Hellenic azure is the only roof above her [sovereign] law makers. To the right, as the orators stand on the Bema, they can point toward the Acropolis and its glittering temples; to the left towards the Peiržus, and the blue sea with the inevitable memories of glorious Salamis [a Greek naval victory]. Surely it will be easy to fire all hearts with patriotism!
[*] A "demagogue" (=people-leader) might well be a great statesman, and not necessarily a cheap and noisy politician."
William Stearns Davis, A Day in Old Athens

Formerly a place of worship in a natural amphitheatre, the Pnyx became a public meeting place after the Athenians abolished their monarchy. There, meeting as the "ecclesia" or popular assembly, they would discuss, debate, and vote on the issues of the day. This could involve the punishment that should be accorded a criminal, something minor such as the location of a proposed road, or something much weightier such as the decision to go to war. Famous orators such as Pericles, Themistocles and Demosthenes all spoke here. And it was here that concepts such as freedom of speech and the rights of man were first proclaimed.

[Bust of Pericles]

This system of majority rule grew out of the twin beliefs that the heart of life was the polis and the essence of the polis was the citizen. Every citizen was a vital member of an organic community. Citizens were expected to be informed and active in order for the city to progress. They enjoyed rights including certain freedoms and the right to influence decisions. At the same time as they enjoyed the rights of citizenship, Athenian citizens had to fulfill the responsibilities of citizenship. They had to obey all the laws, be informed about issues, and discuss and vote on those issues.

Nevertheless, only a small fraction of eligible voters attended the ecclesia on most occasions. Civic duty was not always popular, and sometimes Athenians had to be pushed to vote. On a slow day the Scythian or slave police were ordered to gather up hesitant or recalcitrant voters with ropes dipped in red paint and herd them to the Pnyx.

Lazy citizens were scorned. In fact, our term "idiot" comes from old Greek. In ancient Athens an idiot was someone who concentrated solely on his own affairs ( "id" meaning self) and took no part in community life. To the Greeks, this lack of interest in public affairs was a certain sign of "idiocy."

Civic Virtue

It was hardly surprising that the great philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, considered civic virtue to be one of the highest and most important of all virtues. They saw that the progress and health of the polis depended on its citizens getting actively involved. Citizens shared in the glory that was Greece, because they played a part in its development.

Pericles, a staunch supporter of the Athenian way of life, in his "Funeral Oration" most eloquently captured the sense of civic virtue and responsibility in ancient Athens. . Elected as "strategegos" (or military commander) during a war with the detested city-state of Sparta, Pericles put into words how the people felt about their native polis. While Sparta was a military state with no public participation in decision-making, Athens was the model of democracy. In his Funeral Oration, Pericles tried to give solace to the relatives and friends of those brave Athenians who had died trying to preserve the Athenian way of life. He tried to show that they had not died in vain, but rather, had given their lives to defend and preserve something very valuable and admired.

The words of Pericles still resonate in our ears. They provided a model for the stirring words of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address". To this day, the "Funeral Oration" is regarded as the classic statement of democratic values and beliefs. Recorded by "the father of history," Thucydides, the words echo through the ages.

"Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability the man possesses.... No one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty.... Each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the state as well.... We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all...."

Government of the Roman Empire: System & Structure

[Roman Coin of the Caesars]

The Roman Republic, in five centuries, grew from a small city-state to a major world power. In the early period, Roman government and society was dominated by a group of wealthy landowners, called patricians. The vast majority of the people, the plebeians, were regarded as citizens and could own land, but they could not hold political office or marry into patrician families. Slaves, mostly acquired through foreign conquest - though some plebeians were enslaved for debt, were not classified as citizens and were the lowest rung of the ladder.

Patricians controlled the early government of Rome through the Senate. It was comprised of three hundred patricians who served for life. Every year the Senate selected two consuls (officials) from the patrician class to administer the laws of Rome. In addition, the consuls directed the government and commanded the army. Each consul had identical power and each held a veto over any action undertaken by the other. A popular assembly, elected by the plebeians, had to consent to the Senate's choices. In the early days of the Empire, however, the assembly held little power and did not challenge the Senate.

After serving his term the consul automatically became a member of the Senate. In times of crisis, the position of consul was replaced by a dictator who held absolute power, but for only six months.

The plebeians, in reality, had little real power and few rights. Upset with this situation, in 494 BCE, they staged a civic protest. They refused to work until such time as real reforms were made to the political system. They also vowed that until their demands for more political rights and power were met, they would leave Rome. Their strategy worked - they forced the patricians to capitulate. Over the next several centuries the plebeians won greater rights, including the all-important power to have input into the laws under which they lived.

Despite their victory, the real power still resided in the patrician-controlled Senate. It was the focal point of government. Two different assemblies; the Assembly of Centuries and the Assembly of Tribes replaced the popular assembly. The Assembly of Centuries was comprised of the entire Roman army, both patricians and plebeians. It passed laws and elected the consuls, who had formerly been chosen by the Senate. It appointed other officials, including the praetors, or judges, who ruled in all legal matters; and censors, who registered the population for purposes of taxation and voting. The Assembly of Tribes, composed of plebeians, elected ten tribunes to represent their interests.

Over the next two centuries, the plebeians again made important progress in gaining more rights. The ban on marriage between patricians and plebeians was lifted. So too was enslavement for debt. The Assembly of Tribes gained the right to pass laws, first with Senate approval and later without it. By 367 BCE, one of the two consuls was a plebeian. Eventually, plebeians won the right to hold political office, even the right to sit in the Senate.

Even with all these reforms, however, there was not equality among citizens. By the third century BCE, a new class of rich plebeians who had married into old patrician families dominated the government. The bulk of their wealth came from the many Roman wars of conquest.

If one of the major developments in the evolution of the Roman government was the growing power of the plebeians, the other resulted from wars of expansion. The Romans called the Mediterranean Sea "Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea) because they controlled all the lands that bordered it. By 120 CE, the Roman Empire included all of present-day Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Bosnia, and Turkey. With such great expansion, the Romans had to develop a system for efficiently managing and ruling their far-flung area. An immense system of roads and aqueducts, and a phalanx of civil servants was essential to enforce "Pax Romana" (the Roman Peace) in the far reaches of the Empire.

[Bust of Julius Caesar]

As with ancient Athens, citizenship within the Roman Empire was never awarded to women, slaves, servants, or children. Our term "city" also derives from "civis" in that the Romans, like the Athenians who preceded them, believed that only city inhabitants could effectively participate in public decision-making.

[Augustus Caesar]

[Ruins of the Coloseum of Rome]

[Bust of Julius Caesar]