The Roman Republic: How Democratic was it?
You will write a four paragraph essay using evidence from the source documents, your notes and your organizer. This outline can be used to guide your writing.
Paragraph 1: Introduction. Explain how the Roman Republic came into being. In your explanation, be sure to define what a Republic is, and what does it mean to be democratic. The last sentence in this paragraph will be your thesis statement: The Roman Republic was democratic because … or The Roman
Republic was not very democratic because …
Paragraph 2: Present evidence from the text to support your thesis statement - for instance, if you believe that overall the Roman Republic was indeed a democratic form of government, then provide the reasons from the documents you studied to convince your reader. Be specific in your evidence, you may quote the text, and be sure to put the source of each statement you use in parenthesis after the statement. The end of your paragraph will be your comments on why this evidence supports your thesis.
Paragraph 3: Present the counter argument - that is, explain some of the reasons why your thesis statement might not be true. You will present evidence to go against your thesis statement, and then explain why this counter argument does not significantly change your opinion (thesis) stated in the first paragraph. The end of your paragraph will be your comments on why this counter argument is not as strong as your argument.
Paragraph 4: Conclusion - Begin by summarizing your counter argument, and then close with your thesis and a summary of why the evidence supports your thesis more than the counter argument. Do not present any new evidence in this paragraph.
Works Cited:
We will use the MLA format for showing our sources of information.

Polybius. The Histories. Stanford History Education Group. 2014. Web.
Millar, Fergus. The Crowd in the Late Republic. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. 1998. Print.
Rise of the Republic Timeline, Stanford History Education Group, 2014. Web
Roman Government Handout. Stanford History Education Group. 2014. Web
Ward, Alan. “How Democratic Was the Roman Republic?” New England
Classical Journal 31.2 (2004). pg 101-119. Print.