[Skywalk]

I don't doubt that the specific forms of local governance and custom were greatly influenced by a variety of Northern European tribes, esp. Norse and Anglo-Saxon. However, the Greek democracy and the law as enshrined in the time of the Roman Republic/early Empire are the strongest threads we can locate. And the idea of the citizen definitely comes from those two sources, NOT N. European.

IN fact, much of our civic tradition's roots can be found in Greece and Rome. Something that tends to annoy the "Judeo-Christian" screamers on this forum, though I respect the debt the West owes to that intellectual tradition as well.

[Wonder Warthog]

"However, the Greek democracy and the law as enshrined in the time of the Roman Republic/early Empire are the strongest threads we can locate. And the idea of the citizen definitely comes from those two sources, NOT N. European."

Greek democracy and Roman law get a better press because they have a written history, but as far as ultimate INFLUENCE goes, the practical EFFECTS on form of government owe at least as much to the Vikings--specifically the cultural ideas of the "rights of free men". American common law of course has it roots in British common law--whose direct antecedents can be traced back to the Vikings--NOT Greece and Rome. America's roots of freedom owe as much or more to Magna Carta as Plato and Aristotle.