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The USA is an Enlightenment creation, designed to learn from and avoid the failures of previous government systems; as such they owe more to the spirit of Ancie
by mkempe 9y ago
The USA is an Enlightenment creation, designed to learn from and avoid the failures of previous government systems; as such they owe more to the spirit of Ancient Athens than to that of Ancient Rome.
- baddox 9y agoFrom what I have read, the thinkers of the American and French revolutions seemed to be influenced by Rome rather than Athens.
- mkempe 9y agoThe US revolution is driven by the spirit of the agora and the polis, an alliance of such polities, and the idea that the people are the source of all state power; rather than the Roman Republic or Empire as a centralized entity with absolute dominion over the people. I don't think it is accidental that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson read classics in the original Greek for pleasure. Also, while Cicero was a giant of the Roman Republic, he was a great admirer of Aristotle.