In On Revolution, Arendt points to the positive political forces reborn through revolutionary movements, but also criticizes what she sees as the negative aspects of these revolutions. She compares the modern elements in these revolutions, which she admired, with Athens and Rome, and celebrates participation in revolutionary councils as a renewal of the ancient Greek polis. Arendt praises the public freedom exalted by these revolutions (especially in the American Revolution) as a reflection of the freedom of the ancients, and compares the American founding with the founding of Rome. Some critics have accused Arendt of focusing too much on the ancients, and thus overemphasizing the negative aspects of modern revolutions. In fact, she does use the ancients as a standard by which to measure the modern, but this does not undermine her larger project. Using the ancients as a standard allows her to highlight the positive aspects of revolution in the modern world.
Arendt; Revolutions; Modernity; Greeks and Romans