6th grade Free people, women, children, enslaved people and foreigners in Athens and Rome worksheet

Free people, women, children, enslaved people and foreigners in Athens and Rome

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   How a person's place could change (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, Pericles's citizenship law (451 or 450 BCE), as reported in a book from Aristotle's school written about a century later: only people with two Athenian parents counted as citizens. Card B, Augustus's own record of Rome's citizen counts: 4,063,000 in 28 BCE; 4,233,000 in 8 BCE; 4,937,000 in 14 CE. Scholars disagree about whether the counts include women and children or only adult men. Card C, the edict of 212 CE: Emperor Caracalla gave Roman citizenship to nearly all free people in the empire; enslaved people were not included. Cassius Dio, a Roman senator who wrote a few years later, says Caracalla did it to raise money, since citizens paid certain taxes. Other scholars suggest other reasons. Card D, the Social War (91 to 88 BCE): Rome's allies in Italy, who had no vote in Rome, demanded citizenship. After fighting, Rome gave citizenship to most free people in Italy.

2. 1.

   Card B: from 28 BCE to 14 CE the count rose from 4,063,000 to 4,937,000. About what share of the first count is the rise, Bo asks?

   • A little over one fifth, since 874,000 is about 21 percent of 4,063,000
   • About 18 percent, since the rise is compared with the later count of 4,937,000
   • About 2 percent, since 874,000 is a small part of the first count of 4,063,000
   • About 874,000 percent, the size of the rise written as a share
3. 2.

   A student says, "Card B proves Rome had almost five million men, women and children in 14 CE." How does card B answer, Esme asks?

   • Weak: a ruler's own record cannot be used for numbers of any kind
   • Strong: Augustus counted the people living in the empire, citizen or not
   • Weak: card B says scholars disagree whether women and children were counted
   • Strong: 4,937,000 is close to five million, so the count must include women and children
4. 3.

   Augustus wrote card B himself. What should a historian ask first about his figures, Jun asks?

   • What the emperor wanted readers to see, and whether he counted the same way each time
   • Which modern book repeats the numbers, since a book is more trustworthy than a record
   • Nothing yet, since an emperor's own record is the most accurate account of his reign
   • Whether to throw it out, since an emperor's record is made up from start to finish
5. 4.

   Cassius Dio says Caracalla extended citizenship to raise money. How should that claim be used, Kira asks?

   • As useless, since a senator would invent a reason for any decision
   • As the settled reason, since a senator knew the emperor's mind
   • As one writer's explanation, weighed against other possible reasons
   • As proof that Rome was ending, since taxes mean the empire was in decline
6. 5.

   How might an Italian ally in 91 BCE and a Roman senator have viewed citizenship for the allies, Luz asks?

   • Both would oppose it, since card D says the allies refused citizenship
   • The ally might fear losing power; the senator might see a fair claim to a share of rights
   • Both would agree it was fair, since the allies helped Rome in its wars
   • The ally might see a fair claim to a share of rights; a senator might fear losing power
7. 6.

   Compare card A with cards C and D. How did citizenship rules change in the two cities, Milo asks?

   • Both cities gave citizenship to residents, free or enslaved, by the end
   • Athens widened citizenship over time, while Rome narrowed it to two Roman parents
   • Both cities narrowed citizenship by requiring two citizen parents
   • Athens narrowed citizenship to two Athenian parents, while Rome widened it over time
8. 7.

   Using card D, what chain led to more people in Italy becoming Roman citizens, Pia asks?

   • Rome offered citizenship to the allies first; they then refused it and went to war against Rome
   • Caracalla's edict came first and led the allies to fight for a vote
   • Allies who already had a vote fought to keep it, and Rome ended the war
   • Allies demanded citizenship; after fighting, Rome granted it to most free people there
9. 8.

   Which find would best settle whether Augustus's counts included women and children, Ren asks?

   • A census instruction from the time saying who had to be counted
   • A copy of Caracalla's edict of 212 CE giving citizenship to free people
   • A new textbook that repeats the counts with a bar chart
   • A tax list from the 300s CE that counts the empire's people
10. 9.

    A student says, "After 212 CE everyone in the Roman Empire was a citizen." How does card C answer, Tala asks?

    • Strong: card C says Caracalla gave citizenship to all people in the empire
    • Strong: the edict made enslaved people citizens too, since it covered the empire
    • Weak: Dio says Caracalla acted for money, so the edict did not happen
    • Weak: card C leaves out enslaved people and says nearly all free people
11. 10.

    Card A was written about a century after Pericles's law. How should a historian use it, Zee asks?

    • As proof of why Pericles made the law, since the book gives his reasons
    • As a record made in 451 BCE, so it needs no checking against other sources
    • As worthless, since a book written a century later cannot describe the law
    • As a later report of the law, drawn from sources closer to 451 BCE