The Ancient City :: essays research papers

The Ancient City PompeiiHow democratic was Pompeian administration?In order to process the above question, it is first necessary to consider the exact meaning of the term democracy. Whilst it is difficult to give an exact definition of the word, it is certainly possible to create a list of the implications of democratic governing body for a society and its citizens. Perhaps the most obvious of these implications, certainly when considered from a modern standpoint, would be that every full appendage of a society would be considered as being equal, and thus would have an equal enunciate in the streamlet and appointing of a government. Secondly, truly democratic government would also imply that every member of society would have an equal opportunity to be elected to a governmental position. Such an opportunity should at least, in theory anyway, not be reliant on social class or position, nor financial support. Finally, the existence of a truly democratic system of rules of governm ent would also imply that governments be periodically elected, and during any given term of government, politicians would be fully employed by the state in the running of the country.Given such implications of democracy, Pompeian politics would appear at first appraisal to hardly be democratic at all. Certainly, it can be said that the politics of Pompeii in particular and by extension the politics of roman society as a whole do not meet the modern, Western ideas of a relatively liberal, democratic society. However, such a modern, Western idea of democracy was one that was entirely alien to the citizens of Pompeii and to the citizens of many ancient civilizations. Therefore, the nature of Pompeian politics must(prenominal) be considered not only from a modern political standpoint, but also from a standpoint more relative to the political ideals of Pompeian society and the Roman Empire, where a very different form of democracy was in existence. Whilst such a form of democracy is ve ry different to that of today, it is certainly accurate to say that there was at least some element of democracy in Pompeian politics. Without such an