A General Comparison between the Senate of Ancient Rome and the Senate of the United States

Cicero, a very successful Roman politician, also plays a very significant role in the story of “Bartleby, the Scrivener”. The narrator has a bust of Cicero in his office connecting the two cultures; the Western and Eastern cultures however are strikingly different. At around 100 B.C. Cicero led the Roman Empire in a very structured and civilized way. The Roman Empire’s governmental structure is very similar to the United Stated government because they both include three branches. The Judiciary, the Executive, and the Legislative branches are included in both civilizations; however the Roman’s devised this system more than 2,000 years before the United States. They also both have elected officials who are either elected or are appointed by the Consuls. The Roman Government was very orderly and organized, the exact opposite of how it was in Bartleby’s office. This small detail in the story creates more contrast and helps us better understand the changes that can happen in such a short amount of time. The law office was a very orderly place, it just takes one person to throw any well oiled system off balance.

One similarity from ancient Rome and our government is the Senate. For example a senator is a

The Athenian assembly happened 40 times a year (doc E). The Athenian council of 500 people also attended (doc E). The Roman senate was originally a lower class then the consuls who once ruled over the lands of ancient Rome. The Roman senate had men rule their whole life. The Roman senate would decide on foreign relations, selecting ambassadors, making treaties, and creating alliances (doc F).

The Roman Republic and the Roman Empire highly differ in their political structures. The republic: created in 509 BCE. was a form of representative democracy. It consisted of 2 consuls of which were appointed by the senate and then voted on. These consuls were the head officers and the were appointed for one year. The senate was one of two legislative bodies comprised of 300 senators and 10 tribunes who were all patricians. The other body was knows as the tribal assembly and was made up of plebeians who met in a forum to vote on things such as consuls.

Squire and Hamm discussed how the modern day legislatures in the United States come from common ancestors and the evolution from the unicameral system to the bicameral. The authors also show how the idea of institutional diffusion occurred with one state beginning to form a constitution and structure, then others following suit soon after in most cases.

Rome or Athens, who do you think had a better system of citizenship? In a comparison between Athens in 400 BCE and Rome in 1 CE, I believe Rome had a better system of citizenship. While both occupied the area that is modern day Italy and had thriving cultures, Rome had a better system of citizenship for three reasons: first, people with knowledge of how to run a government were members of the senate; second, Roman cities were willing to grant partial citizenship; and third, Roman citizens had rights. Because people with knowledge of how to run a government were members of the senate, the administration ran smoothly.

As a result of the surge of progressivism in the early 1900’s, America changed the method of electing Senators. The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution ushered in a new age; Senators became popularly elected. The article, How Tuesday’s Primaries Will Affect Who Controls the Senate Next Year, shows the importance of this Amendment even today. According to the article, “Democratic voters will weigh in on three Senate primary races”(). This shows the relevance of the amendment since before its adoption, a state legislature would appoint their Senator. Nowadays, the people can elect their leaders through primaries. While the many today consider the amendment beneficial by making Senators responsible for the people, it is not universally

As mentioned earlier, the Roman Empire was initially being ruled by Etruscan kings and as many people were not in an accord in being ruled by a king, the last king called Tarquinius Superbus was thrown out through a revolt led by a man named Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 B.C and a new type of government had started. Like many countries today, The Roman government became a republic. In a republic, citizens in the empire vote to elect representatives to rule on their favor; this way, things were fairer in some ways. In the Republic, both men and women were considered citizens, however, only men could vote. Along the structure of the Republic were magistrates who were two consuls who worked together. These ran the government and led the army in wartime (Grolier Online). Consuls were selected every year in assemblies in which adult male citizens voted. There was also the Senate, which was made up of wealthy aristocrats, the heads of noble families, and hereditary priests (Ward). The Senate offered advise to the

In order to understand the importance of Senate reform, this paper will begin by clarifying what is meant by reform. While the Senate is frequently the topic of political debates, there are varying suggestions as to how the government ought to

The Roman government was democratic when it came to the citizens. The citizens could elect their own officials, and the officials were supposed to represent every level of Roman society. There were many types of officials. The two consuls were the chief officials of Rome. Once elected, they served for two years (Trueman, Chris). One of their most important powers was controlling the army (Government under Roman Republic). When they were unsure of a course of action, they were advised by the Senate, a council of around six hundred male citizens (Trueman, Chris). Those six hundred men were usually from wealthy patrician families and were the ones in charge of making the laws and controlling the spending. Contrary to the election of the other officials, the Senate was appointed by the current Consuls. Once they were appointed, they served for life. When one member died, another was chosen in their place (Government).

The consuls were the supreme power of authority with one year terms and could not be elected more than two times in a row and three times total. However, in situations of crisis, the Romans were led by a dictator who had complete power in a six month term. The Republic also had a senate, picked by the two consuls. The senators held their position for life and were responsible for taxes, funding laws, and foreign affairs. Next in line were the assembly, an elected body drawn from the citizens of Rome with two year terms and no term limits. The assembly occasionally made laws that had to be approved by the senate. The common people of Rome were called the Plebeians. The Plebeians served in the army, payed taxes, and had other citizen duties, but were not allowed to hold any important positions in office, unlike the Patricians who had all the rights. The Tribunes represented the voice of the Plebeians and were elected by the Plebeians. There were two Tribunes at a time with one year terms and had the power to veto any law. The Tribunes were “sacred” and left their doors open to the public to speak to them about any problems they might have

The Ancient Roman Senate By: Caroline Mickas Thesis By looking at the ancient Roman senate, one can see that they didn?t make very good decisions, which is important because the senate?s bad decisions led to good rulers being killed who could have helped Rome to last longer. The Origin of Rome and the Senate Rome began in 753 BC around the Tiber River in what is now Italy. The Roman Senate was the group of people that created the laws in the Roman Republic.

When monarchy ended in Rome, the Senate was the only ruling body in Rome. This greatly increased the influence and power of the Senate. The leaders of the Senate were often the wealthy and higher-class people in society. Nobody including popular assemblies could ignore the advice of the Senate. The most necessary assembly was the Centuriate Assembly.

In the early republic social divisions was in fact what determined the shape of politics. The most important division in roman society was between the patricians and the plebeians. The political power was in the hands of the patricians a “hereditary aristocracy”, whose privileged legal status was determined by their birth as members of certain families” (p.130). It was the patrician men who will dominate the affairs of state, provided by military leadership in the time of war, and they would monopolize knowledge of law and legal procedure.

In the early history of Rome, only men from the patrician class could become senators. Later, men from the common class, or plebeians, could also become a senator. Senators were men who had previously been an elected official (called a magistrate). During the rule of Emperor Augustus, senators were required to have over 1 million sesterces in wealth. If they came into misfortune and lost their wealth, they were expected to resign.