The Hereditary System: The Roman System Of Government

Some policies and institutions of the Roman Republic were useful to help them succeed in conquering first Italy and then the Mediterranean world. Before of the institution of the republic, the romans were a monarchy since their beginning and they were basically a pastoral people. Rome suffer several changes and improvements under the control of the Etruscan kings. The Etruscan were civilization settled north of Rome in Etruria, and they once had control over almost all the Italic peninsula. The Etruscans influences in Rome were profound, they transformed Rome from a pastoral community to a city (91). The Etruscan built the street and roads that help the development of temples, markets, shops, streets, and houses. They basically brought urbanization to Rome. It is fairly to say that the Rome republic was a fusion between the elements of the Etruscan civilization and the Rome elements. The combination of the different political institutions and policies made the Romans succeed in their conquest territories.

Over a long course of time the Romans had many different forms of government. From oligarchies to dictatorships Rome had experience with most forms of government. With all of these happening so far in the past many questions are asked today. One of the most talked and quested forms of Roman government is the Roman Republic. The Republic of Rome is normally thought to be a democracy. But an extremely common question still arise. This questions is whether the Roman Republic was truly democratic. In a simple answer the Roman Republic was a democratic government.

While democracy has a simple definition, “power for the people”, the interpretations and means of executing that right by centers of power can vastly differ. In the ancient Roman republic, optimates and populares had vastly different political attitudes on who should play an active role in the government. In the name of democracy, leaders from both sides executed their power in different ways. However, optimates best represented the ideals of modern democracy through their attempts to prioritize efficiency and reduced conflict with qualified officials and have the people’s best interests at heart, with famous optimates such as Cato often standing up for the citizens against some populares’ attempts to abuse their power.

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

Subsequently, the system was corrupted because weak or vulnerable individuals were associating with men in power; in exchange of support, and loyalty, for the sake of protection, which broke the Democracy. Socrates said, “Democracy elevates men to positions of authority not because of their wisdom or their fitness to govern, but because of their ability to sway the masses with empty rhetoric. In Democracy, it is not truth that matters; it is public relations.” That is exactly what it was happening in the Roman Republic.

Many aspects of the United States of America can be traced back to roman history. One of these aspects is the main city. Rome was the main city of the Roman Empire and the population back then was once 1.2 million and growing. Just like in the United States there is N.Y. where it is very populated. It also shares the aspect of crime because in both cities it is dangerous to walk around in the streets because of the muggings and robberies that took place all over the cities.

As Rome became independent from the Etruscan ruling, its government walked away from having a monarch and transformed into a Republic as a way to avoid the tyranny that many times comes with an absolute autocrat. Rigorous precautions were taken from the start in order to keep the power balanced. Moreover, the structure of the government was meant to be resilient to bad judgment. The structure of the Roman Republic with its government and law provided for a more just system.

The Roman people, a whole, were able to create a system of government that would last for five hundred years. The Roman Republican government was strong but was not strong enough and would eventually crumble like the empire itself and be replaced with the “Imperial Government”. However there were many things that made the Roman Republican government great, so great that the future would model their governments of Rome’s. The United States would model their government off of the Roman Republic, to form the democracy that we know today.

Justin was akin to a father to Justinian, he gave him salvation where he struggled and practically reinvigorated his will to learn and do well in the world. While Justin enabled Justinian to learn and become an amazing man, he also attempted to find his way into the seat of the throne while the rule was weak. Justin had very obviously failed seeing as he was NOT fit to be a ruler, he was not an intelligent man after all. Justinian witnessed his uncle’s failure and was able to learn from the experience and, using his position as the King’s bodyguard (Citation), intelligence and military experience, weaseled his way into the throne, and into the position of King.

The Roman Republic was a time of ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. The

Free Roman men, women, children, and sons of freed slaves were all granted citizenship, unlike in Athens, where only free, native-born males were given this important status (Doc. A). Allowing more people to become citizens improved the lives of these inhabitants in innumerable ways. Citizens were less likely to be discriminated against because so many people from various places had the opportunity to become a citizen of the Roman Republic. People from foreign, conquered lands could be given full citizenship, allowing for a more welcoming and open-minded society (Doc. C). Individuals were also less likely to be pitted against outsiders, as they all had at least one common trait -- they were all citizens. Roman citizens were also offered more freedoms than Athenian citizens. In Athens, citizens had to participate in government and debate, or otherwise be ostracized and considered a hindrance on Athens (BGE, Doc. E). Roman citizens, however, could focus on other important aspects of daily life more relevant to them, such as family life or trade, and still were valued as a vital part of Roman society. (BGE) This allowed Romans more liberty when acting as a citizen who helped to make informed

As a descendent of the deified Emperor Augustus, Agrippina was born into a powerful and respected family. She exploited this power, obtaining a level of influence over her husband and son that was only available to ambitious, imperial men. Her use of manipulation and violence has led ancient writers, such as Tacitus, to describe her political career as inappropriate and excessive. But I will argue against these views. On the contrary, I will show that because of her political achievements, she played a positive role in advancing the Augustan principate in such a way that it was beneficial in keeping with the guise of the ideology of the Roman Republic.

This country of yours, America, is an interesting one in my opinion. How millions of Americans became vested with the power to choose their own leaders, and your modern electoral politics were hard to comprehend at first, I must admit. Yet, I am not stupefied by a world in which one man rule has given way to the principle of one man, one vote, and henceforth present myself to you as a vindicated prophet to you. As I see laid out in your Constitution of the United States in 1787, we share my preferred, republic form of government, and we both admire the ancient Roman republic that endured from roughly 500 B.C. to 27 B.C.. I must tell you, sir, that I do favor your political policy, but your political tactics are of extremely poor quality.

The ethos of the Roman nobility at the time of the second century BCE was driven by ambitious military and political careers. These where brought about by a rigorous set of ideals which were built upon Rome’s cultural foundations. “The four terms that ascribe such a rigorous set of ideals are gloria, nobilitas, virtus and auctoritas ”.

Competition has always been seen as an important element in human society. It has often been seen as the driving force of change and advancement in societies, during the ancient period as well as in our current modern political and economic system. When looking at competition in Roman society it is important to define ‘competition’ but also to place it in the context of the politics of the time. ‘Political competition is competition for political power. It is competition for the ability to shape and control the content and direction of public policy--rivalry for the capacity to influence or determine official governmental decision making and action on questions of public policy’.