Ancient Influencers

Ancient Influencers Text Version What do the Greeks, the Romans, and the Founding Fathers have in common? Besides their excellent fashion choices, cool hair, and outstanding cuisine, that is? You might be surprised by how much our modern government was influenced by these ancient civilizations! The U.S. government is divided into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. But we weren’t the ones to come up with this idea. The Romans did it long ago! Americans just borrowed the concept of a government divided into branches that provide a system of checks and balances. And that’s not all we borrowed from the Romans. The idea of a republican form of government where representatives are chosen to speak for a group of people? That’s the Romans too. Having a government where citizens get a say in what happens, or a democracy, was a concept modeled by the ancient Greeks, who even gave our Founding Fathers the blueprint for a constitution, while the Romans gave them the idea of a written rule of law. Every law is recorded, and every citizen is subject to following them. Even the layouts of our House and Senate chambers are modeled after the Roman senate. So, what did the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Founding Fathers have in common? A whole lot more than you think!