Republic: The Roman Republic

After reading each of these documents by the multiple historians, I have to agree with Alan Ward in the fact that Romans were not very democratic in every way. Democracy is defined as a system of government in which the whole population that practice the principles of social equality. In many ways Rome was Democratic, for instance, people had a say in government, but were not democratic when limiting who could vote. As said in Document C, “... All voting had to be conducted in Rome.

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.

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).

After the fall of Tarquinius Superbus’ reign of Rome, the Brutus and Collatinus led patrician revolution leads to the beginning of a new era in Roman history: the republic. The early republic is mostly a patrician favoring institute and created it in order “to restore power and privileges that popular royal tyrants had usurped from them” and to make it “difficult for any one aristocrat to acquire too much power at the expense of the rest” (Ward 59). Greek historian, Polybius, in his book, Histories, talks about the greatness of this Roman republic and its constitution by claiming: “Now the elements by which the Roman constitution was controlled were three in number, … and all aspects of the administration were, taken separately, so fairly

As stated in The Histories by Polybius, “There is, however, a part left to the people (the Assemblies), and it is a most important one. It is the people in the Assemblies who grant office to those who deserve it through elections. The Assemblies also have the final say in passing or repealing laws, and most important of all is that they make the final decision on the question of peace or war.” This suggests that the Roman Republic was very democratic because the people, do, in our modern day society, what a president would. In summary, people had the final say in the government, making the Roman Republic exceedingly

The roman republic came into existence at the termination of the Roman kingship in 507 B.C.E. The last king of Rome, Tarquin the Proud, was expelled by Collatinus and Brutus, as a result of his arrogance involving the matter of one of his relations raping the wholesome Roman matron Lucretia and her subsequent suicide. The rape of Lucretia was really a representation of the frustration that the roman citizens felt regarding the kingship. The later kings had little regard for roman values and the roman populus, which they used as something of a slave labor force. Brutus and Collatinus became the first Roman Consuls, elected by popular vote.

The Roman Republic’s constitution consisted of three different components: the Consuls/Magistrates, the Senate, and the Assemblies. Consuls were a group of male patricians that directed the military/government, and they were also known as magistrates. The Senate was a group of patricians or wealthy plebeians (also known as “New Men”) that passed new laws, controlled finance, and advised their former peers, the magistrates. Finally, the Assemblies, who will be focused on later, were a group of all adult male Roman citizens (not including slaves) who would elect magistrates, vote on laws, and veto magistrate actions. These groups of people were selected by the majority of people (not including women or

The principle of the Roman government was to function for the people, hence classifying them as a republic (Res Publica or the Thing or Matter of the People). Before the commencement of the Republic, Rome was ruled by a line of Etruscan kings called Tarquins. The

Throughout the rise and fall of the Roman empire, the government was a combination of a democracy and republic. Starting with Romulus, Rome was first ruled by a series of seven kings until 509 BCE when Rome constructed itself a Republic til

There is a fundamental difference between a democracy and a republic as it concerned the political entitlement of the citizenry. The citizens of a republic do not participate directly with governmental affairs. The citizens of a republic can however have a say in who does participate. The Roman republic has two prefect systems to prevent dictatorship which didn’t work.

Unlike Athenian Democracy, Rome was ruled as a republic. “ Republic” was a government controlled by the people. It was not a democratic system, in the sense of Athenian democracy. Because political power in Rome was in the hands of wealthy aristocrats, the Roman Republic was best described as an elected oligarchy. The government of the Roman Republic comprised in three

Romans were a civilization that originated after the Greek culture. They, like Greeks, saw an extreme significance in the idea of a love for one’s country and loyalty. The Romans, however, were more concerned with public affairs such as education, sanitation, and health. They held a strong connection with their ancestors and wished to imitate what the ancient Romans did. Although Romans rejected the idea of a Rex, or king, they favored the common hero. They wanted a leader who a “regular Joe”, someone who was average and could still led an average life after doing extraordinary things. The Romans also had a very defined government that was broken into consuls, senate, and assembly. There were two consuls who served in place of the king as the leaders of the Roman Empire. Next in succession was the senate, comprised only of patricians who debated and passed legislation. Finally, there was the assembly made for the plebeians to approve laws.

Democracy:is a system of government by the whole population or all of the eligible members of a state,typically through elected representatives. In the Roman Republic they were kind of a democratic because anyone who was in the democratic was allowed to vote. People who were picking the councilmen were able to know who be selected at the end and didn’t tell anyone until everyone was not voting anymore.If people did not live in the democracy they were automatically not able to vote nor would they still be in the democratic society. Democracy of historical of racism was a big deal back in the day because when people heard that there was a big problem

The Roman Republic was a “democratic” republic, which allowed first citizens to vote, and to choose their governors in the senate (Hence, their consuls). However, it was a nation ruled by its aristocracy, and, consequently, the entire Republic`s power was concentrated in a few individuals. Furthermore, the Senate was controlled by Patricians, which directed the government by using wealth to buy control and power over the decisions of the senate and the consuls. This situation aroused the inconformity of the people; as result, a civil war took place in the Republic (destroying it), and then the Roman Empire was born.

Professor Alan Ward wrote an article titled “How Democratic was the Roman Republic?” stating how Rome was not as democratic as everyone thought it was. He argued that only 2 percent of Roman citizens usually voted. Reasons for that may be due to that fact that voting only took place in Rome so only those who could afford the time and expense to go to Rome to vote which were mostly rural voters and their clients. The voters though had no role in selecting candidates for office or in proposing legislation in any assembly. These are reason that go against the fact the Rome was