More at home in ancient demo or modern dictatorship?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Would you feel more out of place in a modern dictatorship (if you currently don’t live in one) or an ancient democracy/republic? Rules are:

– Language is not a barrier.
– You would be a citizen of the ancient democracy.
– You would not be a citizen of the dictatorship in the sense of having any power. However, you would not be part of a persecuted class, either.
– Financially, you would be one step above the dire poverty level for the time (i.e. petty bureaucrat in a dictatorship, yeoman farmer in a democracy.) so you could afford SOME of the things in the world, but not all.

So, would access to a very few of the world’s modern conveniences offset not having basic freedoms? Or would having the freedom of a democracy be offset by an even more provincial world experience (for example) than even the most oppressive modern regime?

2

My answer’s different than it usually would be, since I’m watching 1900 House. I want my electricity, indoor plumbing, running water, modern appliances, etc… Give me dictatorship.

3

I would prefer the low-tech democracy. I’ve lived low-tech and it’s not so bad, so long as one is familiar with basic hygiene.

4

One factor to keep in mind about ancient democracies is that the number of rights and privileges that came with your citizenship depended on your economic class. The people on the lowest rungs of the citizenship ladder typically could not vote in elections or assemblies, and would invariably get the short end of the stick in any dispute with a wealthier citizen.

As I recall, ancient Athens classified its citizens by the number of bushels of grain they could be expected to produce (or purchase) each year. The ability to own and maintain a horse was the most basic status symbol – the way of showing everyone that you were living above the hand-to-mouth level.

The Roman Republic likewise classified its citizens economically, by yearly income. The poorest citizens were day laborers and the like who were called the capite censi (head count) because in a census they had no possessions but their own bodies to declare. They could vote, but the system was rigged so that their individual ballots were pretty worthless. Until the first century AD, members of the capite censi couldn’t even serve in the army, where they might have a chance to get a little extra income from pillaging.

So the quality of your life in ancient democracies were very much determined by the amount of cash you had (let’s not even get started on the significance of ancestry).