Abstract

GREEK AND ROMAN MODELS FOT THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION
Summary
The question of the use that the Founding Fathers made of the theoretical achievements and practical experience of ancient political thinkers and politicians has been occupying American scholars for a long time. There is no doubt that they knew the Classics and relied on them. However, this does not automatically mean that their own work benefited from the achievements of the past, as many researchers indicate. The article reviews various aspects and areas of potential indebtedness. The area where the creators of the Constitution sought guidance most intensively was the issue of relations between the federal government and individual states. Rome did not provide guidance in this area but turned out to be much more useful in the discussion of the structure of the legislature. The discussion shows that the Founding Fathers, even when they clearly fell back on the examples taken from Antiquity, did not feel constrained by them. They used whatever facts they needed, freely interpreted others, ignored still others, and did not feel obligated by precedents. In other words, they displayed a clearly utilitarian approach to historical sources and interpreted them so as to best suit their own political goals.