Focus (or Guiding) Questions:  

Who were the significant philosophers of ancient civilizations that influenced the development of a republic in Rome?

What lessons from Ancient Rome did the founding fathers consider when developing a representative democracy in the United States?

How do varying systems of constitutional government compare today?

Know:

significant political philosophers of ancient Rome

influence of the legal documents and systems of ancient Rome

the roles and responsibilities of citizens in the nation state of Ancient Rome

effect of events in ancient Rome to the development of representative democracy

ways of organizing constitutional governments

the effectiveness of methods used to organize constitutional government.

Do:

identify significant political philosophers of ancient civilizations

examine the legal documents and systems of ancient civilizations

explain the process which Rome instilled unity and built a nation state among its conquered areas

explain the effect of events in ancient Rome to the development of representative democracy

analyze the influence of ancient Rome on the American political process

evaluate the contributions of ancient Rome to the development of the United States Constitutional

compare and contrast the ways of organizing constitutional governments

evaluate the effectiveness of methods used to organize constitutional government.

Plutarch

Cicero

Polybius

Livy

Virtue

Constitution

The Twelve Tables

Checks and balances

Separation of powers

Assembly

Senate

Consuls

Tribunes

Magistrates

Patricians

Plebians

Nation State

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to ancient Roman philosophers and legal documents that contributed to the foundation of our modern representative democracy and The Constitution of the United States of America. Students will use this background information in order to compare and contrast ways of organizing constitutional governments and evaluate their effectiveness. 

Introduction

Explain to students that they have been assigned the duty of creating a new federal government in Iraq. How would organize this new government?  How would the government be protected from a potential dictator? How would they protect the rights of all individuals?  Where would they look for models as to setting up a new government? In collaborative teams ask students to draw up a model of their new system of government and answer those questions.  Then explain to students that our current form of government is based on many ideas form the ancient governments of Sparta, Greece, and Rome, and more contemporary ideas from Europe. However, this unit will focus particularly on those idea and notions that were derived from the ancient Roman Republic and its philosophers.

Phase 1

Students should define essential vocabulary excluding important people. A great source for use would be the free dictionary available online. You could use a variety of strategies including; Frayer Model, Vocab –O-Gram, Own the Word Vocabulary Organizer, all located at http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/FrayerModel.html.   Students should be able to discuss and use vocabulary in a contextual way.

Phase 2

Explain to students that following the American Revolution the founding fathers were left the task of building a new government, and deciding what form this new government would take, and they looked to the ancient history.  They remembered the importance of individual liberty from the Spartans. From the Greeks they knew that a majority rule must possess a system of checks and balances in order to avert instability within their new nation.  From the Greeks, and Romans they understand that a degree of centralization was important in order to create a confederacy among the colonies. In addition they Romans they learned the importance of virtue in order to insure the success of the republic.  Otherwise those ambitious individuals, think Caesar, might work to subvert the republic in order to further their own power.  This tyrannical possibility is what they had fought so fiercely against. The founding fathers used this history in order to create a better federal government to avoid the fate of each.

During the Constitutional Convention the founding fathers adopted the persona and ideals of ancient roman philosophers, and used their names to identify themselves with these notions. Students should choose one of the following ancient philosophers ; Plato, Plutarch, Cicero, Polybius, Sallust,  or Livy and find one founding father that identified with that philosopher. Then they should explain what ideology each founding father took from that philosopher.  They will write a personal letter from their chosen founding father to another founding father explaining their view of the importance of this philosopher’s ideology has upon the development of the Constitution. Founding Fathers and Philosophers, Letter Rubric

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ROME/CICERO.HTM

http://homepage.usask.ca/~jrp638/DeptTransls/Polybius.html

http://www.iep.utm.edu/

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/PLATO.HTM

http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/phils/plato.html

http://profiles.incredible-people.com/plato/

http://mlloyd.org/mdl-indx/polybius/intro.htm

Have students brainstorm what they believe a nation state is.  They should then use the following websites to complete a word map of the nation states.  Nation State   

Explain to students should recognize that in order for the Roman empire to have succeeded that they had to assimilate foreign nations with different languages, and customs into their own way of life.  However, at the same time in order to avoid revolution the Romans had to balance this assimilation with temperance to their cultural beliefs also.  Thus students should be able to identify the rights and responsibilities that these citizens undertook to become a nation state. Have students research and identify what Rome did in order to be classified as an example of a nation state.  Nation State 

Have students hold onto this word map for a discussion following the research of ancient Rome’s influence on the development of the United States government.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nation-state

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nation-state

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-nation-state.htm

Phase 3      

The United States civil laws are adaptations and variations of the Romans Twelve Tables. 

Students will examine The Twelve Tables.  You could project them on the wall, print them off and have a copy for each student, or print them off and use an Elmo to project them.  Have students read them aloud.  Ask them how they are familiar with laws today and explain their thoughts.  If they struggle provide verbal prompting to have students draw conclusions as to the similarities of civil law with that of ancient Rome.

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/twelvetables.htm

Students will examine the following websites and complete the Three Branches of the Roman Republic graphic organizer. Student will examine the legal documents and systems of ancient Rome and record their research about how Rome’s Republic was organized.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html

http://www.unrv.com/government.php

http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture11b.html

http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/romanpages.html

http://www.roman-empire.net/republic/rep-index.html

Students will then research the US governmental structure and record research on the Three Branches of the United States Government and its powers in order to explain the effect and similarity to the organization to that of ancient Rome.

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110221/

http://www.evgschool.org/three_branches_of_government.htm

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/teacher_lessons/3branches/1.htm

Students should now have the background knowledge in order to analyze the influence of ancient Rome on the American political process. Following the completion of the Three Branches of Roman Republic and Three Branches of the United States Government student should compare the two graphics and identify the similarities and differences in the organization. Have students make a Venn diagram identifying both the similarities and difference between the Roman Republic and the United States government. Point out to students that within these two organizations the difference between how to organize constitutional governments.  A possible extension activity could be to have students examine other constitutional governments and compare and contrast their organization with that of the United States, and have them decide which is a more effective way of organizing them.

Phase 4

Students should make a list based upon their new knowledge and research on the following websites of the top 5 contributions of ancient Rome to the development of the United States.  They should record them on a large post it note sheet or other paper that can be displayed within the classroom.  Then students will view each other’s top five in a carousel, or other method. Then as a class determine by majority vote which five are the most important contributions.  Students who disagree will have to explain with evidence and logic why they disagree.  Those who agree should also defend their answers with logical support. Explain that this process has illustrated the importance of being a knowledgeable constituent and active citizen in the democratic system.

http://www.danxner.com/extramaterials/art003/Final_Project/Influences.htm

http://www.historyinanhour.com/blog/read_13576/democracy-in-athens.html

Students should then hypothesize in a discussion the possible influence if any that Rome’s building of a nation state had upon founding fathers minds when they were creating a new federal government.

Students should now return to their introduction activity where they drew up a model for the new government for Iraq.  Based upon what they have learned have them make the changes they feel necessary to protect from possible tyranny, and protect the individual rights of people.  Have students explain why their thinking changed from their first model to how they would organize it now.