Body Paragraph Strong Sample
One way the government model in Ancient Greece strengthened Greek society
was by providing citizens with a voice in political decisions. Under the reforms of
Cleisthenes, “all citizens participated directly in making decisions” (World History 115).
This means that free males who were Greek citizens were allowed to cast their votes in
favor of or against policies and laws that would impact their lives. For the first time in
Greek history, government was truly run by the people. This direct democracy model
empowered individual citizens to govern themselves, rather than relying on autocratic
rulers to make decisions for them. Direct democracy strengthened Greek society simply
because citizens became more invested in and increasingly committed to their city-state
when they were allowed to make the decisions that impacted their city-state. After the
reforms of Cleisthenes, the Greek Assembly was routinely filled with nearly all male
citizens at the hoisting of the meeting flag. All other work would be abandoned until the
policy decisions were voted upon, which reveals the level of dedication Greek citizens
felt toward their governing duties. Although having a direct voice in government
decisions fortified Greek society, so did the format of speaking and debating in the
Assembly.
Body Paragraph Weak Sample
One way the rule of Augustus Caesar was good for Rome was the Pax Romana.
Augustus was a really good ruler. He helped build more roads in the empire, which was
good for transportation. He made a postal system, which was good for citizen
communication and he encouraged a lot of trade, which was good for the Roman people
(The Ultimate Empire). Augustus was the first Roman Emperor and he ruled for over
forty years. He was the nephew of the famous Julius Caesar who conquered Gaul for
Rome, but was assassinated by a conspiracy led by Brutus. Augustus, then known as
Octavian, avenged Caesar’s murder with Marc Anthony (Wikipedia). Augustus’s rule
was an era of peace, prosperity and artistic achievement. He made sure that Virgil’s
Aeneid was not destroyed, which was important because the Aeneid is like the Odyssey
was to Greece, a national epic. The rule of Augustus is known as a great time for Rome,
which is why it’s called a Golden Age. After the Pax Romana, Rome really started to
decline and it lost its status as a really good empire. This shows what a great ruler
Augustus was and I can’t think of anyone in Rome who was more important. Rome
never saw another leader as good as Augustus. Augustus also started the era of Imperial
Rome, which I will tell you about in the next paragraph.