Podina 1

Daniel Podina

Professor Kimberly Lark

HIST 134

14 August 2019

Portfolio Reflection

People from the earliest river valley civilizations, such as the Mesopotamians, to the

modern-day United States of America have relied on similar principles for the purpose of

maintaining order, safety, and prosperity for their citizens. Some of those principles such as

laws and a military first require politics. Politics is simply the act of governing a population.

This governance can take many forms from a representative republic, like we in the United

States live in, to the sometimes-oppressive monarchies much of the ancient world. These

two and all other forms of governments rely on politics to achieve their goals. Throughout

history there have been some civilizations that have failed due to their ineffective use of

politics while others have had great success through its skillful use. By examining the

political systems and bureaucracy of these successful civilizations of the past we can learn

much about how each of us can be better citizens of the world.

One of the most famous forms of governance developed in the ancient world is the

democracy of Athens. Athens is usually credited with being the birthplace of democracy

having begun the system around 460 BCE (Cartwright). The Athenians had a firm belief that

the citizens of Athens needed to have a say in the governance of their city-state as well as

believing that all citizens were equal in under the law. To this day this is a core tenant of

much of the industrialized world and was a fundamental principal in the founding of the

United States. The citizen body of Athens was made up of all free males of at least eighteen

years of age. It is quite clear that the prejudices of the Athenians left a large portion of the

citizens out of the democratic process with the exclusion of women and the keeping of

slaves and by all our modern sensibilities that is abhorrent. That being said the democracy

of Athens was massively influential in future governments and as the historian R. Waterfield
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“The pride that followed from widespread involvement in public life gave Athenians the

energy to develop their city both internally and in relation to their neighbors” (qtd. in Mark).

The energy that this gave to the Athenians led to Athens becoming the “cultural and

intellectual center of the ancient world” (Mark).

Another side of politics is controlling how those in control are perceived by those

being governed. Few civilizations have been as successful at controlling the narrative as the

Persians were. Persia was one of the great expansionist civilizations of the ancient world

yet, as Peter Weller said in the documentary “The Persian Empire - Most Mysterious

Civilization in the Ancient World”, “In 539, Cyrus conquered Babylon; but he did not present

himself as a conqueror. He presented himself as a liberator, rescuing these people from

their despotic ruler” (Corsica). Positioning himself in this way and allowing the locals to

maintain their customs, religious beliefs, and not enslaving them made the governance of

the conquered people much easier. The Persians required different amounts and forms of

tax from each “satrap’ based on their productivity and potential (“Achaemenid Empire”). By

doing this they ensured a constant flow of wealth from the people they had subjugated

while not overtaxing them to the point that they could not continue providing those taxes.

Part of politics is understanding what the people of the culture need or want and the

willingness to change long held traditions to meet those wants and needs. While for the

most part the Romans had a reverence for tradition and an aversion (Berger) to change

when it became clear that they needed to change they did so. At the beginning of the

Roman Republic power was largely reserved for the patrician class while the plebeians had

little. In 494 BCE, in an effort to gain some influence in the government, the plebeians

began leaving Rome beginning what is referred to as the Plebeian Secession. After some

negotiations they agreed to return to Rome in return for the right to elect plebeian tribunes.

Later following a similar protest, the plebeians demanded a public display of laws so as to

protect the poorer people of Rome. This led to the creation of The Twelve Tables on which
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were inscribed the Roman legal code. This willingness to change gave Rome the ability to

continue being the political, military, and economic power of their time.

Politics is at the root of how all large groups function, not just governments. Politics

at its most basic is the way in which we solve problems through discussion and negotiation

rather than violence. Every person in the world needs these skills to be a positive force in

the world. Athens was as successful as it was due to the pride its citizens took in being a

part of the political process. In today’s world we need to be a part of this process if we hope

to make it better. But first we need to be educated on what has come before. As William

McNeill says in his article “Why Study History”, “democratic citizenship and effective

participation in the determination of public policy require citizens to share a collective

memory, organized into historical knowledge and belief” (McNeill). Knowing that the success

of the Persian Empire was partially due to the tolerance and acceptance of those with

different beliefs can show us that we need to strive to understand those that are different

than us in culture or ideals. A Michael Postma stated in his article “the study of history can

encapsulate perspectives from different groups, genders, or classes who may have varying

views of the events that have unfolded in the past, and it can provide a platform for

authentic discussion, compromise, and empathy” (Postma). In our modern political

landscape, it is easy to see your side as right and the other side as wrong. But as David

Perry says in his article about the retirement of Pope Benedict’s retirement and the following

election process, “history tells us to reject "either/or" in favor of "both/and”” (Perry).

History shows that often there is merit in both sides of an argument. Rather than

demonizing those of different political ideologies maybe we should first try to understand

them.
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Works Cited

“Achaemenid Empire.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Aug. 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire#Government.

Berger, Eugene. World History: Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500. University of North

Georgia Press, 2016.

Cartwright, Mark. “Ancient Greek Government.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient

History Encyclopedia, 10 Aug. 2019, www.ancient.eu/Greek_Government

Corsica, Prince. “The Persians: Engineering an Empire.” YouTube, YouTube, 15 May 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6cmvM5oj3Q.

Mark, Joshua J. “Athens.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 11

Aug. 2019, www.ancient.eu/Athens/.

McNeill, William H. “Why Study History? (1985): AHA.” Historians.org,

www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/historical-

archives/why-study-history-(1985

Perry, David M. “How History Can Help Us Predict the Next Pope.” The Atlantic, Atlantic

Media Company, 12 Mar. 2013,

www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/03/how-history-can-help-us-

predict-the-next-pope/273945/.

Postma, Michael. “What Can History Teach Us Today?” ASCD Express 6.22 - What Can

History Teach Us Today?, www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol6/622-postma.aspx.