The Roman Republic Government: A More Just Government Essay

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.

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

The Roman government is very unique compared to other societies. The majority of societies were either controlled by monarchy or democracy, however the Romans found a way to have both. The Roman empire had both a senate and an emperor. The Senate was Democracy which was made up by electing officials who although made laws couldn’t finalize the law without approval from emperor. The Emperor made up the Monarchy part having the final say in all important objectives.

“The Consuls lead the military and… bring matters requiring debate before the Senate. The Senate proposes laws and has the control of the treasury. It also handles crimes requiring an investigation…. The Assemblies… have the final say in passing or repealing laws, and… they make the final decision on the question of peace or war.”. This means that the Consuls and Senate each have the control of one part of the government, while the Assemblies can stop them if needed. If Polybius’s description of the Ancient Roman constitution is correct, then the Roman Republic may have been just as democratic as we Americans are

First, The Roman Republic had three main units and other small branches, much like America’s government. For the first main unit, there is a dictator that was elected by the people and took total control of Rome during a crisis, such as food shortages, wars, and other things. The second main unit is the Senate that collected taxes and passed all of the laws. For the last unit there are the Consuls that had control over the military when not in a crisis. They were elected by majority like America’s government. They also chose the senate members. And that is how Ancient Rome’s government worked.

The Roman Empire is still known today as one of history’s most powerful period. Rome government had stick rules and policies. The Roman government at this point was known as the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was controlled by the roar Rome. Bureaucracy was ran throughout the region, but Rome did not want this nor could they afford it. However, they did allow small cities to run a lower level of government. The exercise of indirect rule thus became a basic principle of imperial government. The business of local administration and jurisdiction was delegated to the existing communities of city or tribe. This type of structure was deemed to be a weakness to some historians because of the consequences. Consequences that allow a third level government to enforce the emperor’s rules. Because of the expansion of the territory, this was the only reasonable way for it to function normally. The empire was a "commonwealth of cities" which acted as economic and cultural of the Roman world and were integrated into the administrative system as local foci of government. This imperial ruling was first implemented by Rome. It came about because of social trends and not the Roman strategic policies that was often changed by Romanized upper class citizens. These upper classman brought about firmness throughout the land with their strategic and educated planning.

From 509 BC to about 27 BC, Rome was considered a republic. During this time there was no single leader of Rome and the government was run by elected officials. The main leaders of the Roman Republic were the consuls. There were always two consuls in power at a time. Each year new consuls were elected to serve for a one-year term. This kept any one man from becoming too powerful in the government. At the time the Senate was the most powerful governing body in Rome. The Senate had control of the state’s finances and foreign policies. Senators were elected by the people to represent them in government. The Senate was made up of 300 of the most elite and wealthiest of the Roman Republic. One of the most important roles of the Senate to undergo the checks and balances of the Roman government. Checks and balances are the “principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power” (The Editors). The checks and balances of Rome helped to stabilize the government and allowed the power to be distributed somewhat equally between the consul, the Senate, and the people. However, the fall of the Roman Empire eliminated this type aspect of government in Rome (Kagan 101-103).

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.

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

For 350 years the Roman Republic had grown, retracted, and grown again, surviving and thrived. Through it all the Romans never turned away from their basic founding principle that no king shall rein in Rome. Every year men stood for election and every year free ballots were cast by free citizens. The winner won and the looser lost, and power was transferred between them. It was a remarkable run and the republic’s track record was and is the case of much justifiable envy. The Roman’s success would be the undoing of the Roman republic. Over the years the republic had survived for two major reason, the lower class had not been so impoverished that they

Ancient Rome consisted of two main forms of government, the Republic and the Empire, each of which lasted about five centuries. At first, Rome was a republic, governed by members of wealthy classes. As the Republican form of government continued, a series of civil wars led to the breakdown of the system, and a new form of government, the Empire, was established in its place. The Empire began with a prolonged period of peace, the Pax Romana. However, like the Republic, the Empire also turned foul and collapsed after the Pax Romana. Still, a citizen of the Empire was better off than a citizen of the Republic. Health problems were less severe in the Empire than in the Republic. Moreover, the Empire was more peaceful and better able to provide necessities for average citizens than the Republic was. The political situation was also better in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire generally provided a healthier and higher quality of civic life than the Roman Republic.

The Roman Republic was made up of a collection of more documents that collectively acted as a constitution. This particular constitution had novel features that were designed to inhibit autocratic rule. The two features of the constitution were very strict term limits and collegiality, whereby each position was being held by at least two people. Most Republic and Imperial ages Romans made this constitution very sacred, and eventually it allowed Rome to be the dominant world power. The Roman Republic never operated as a strict Republic but more as a combination of Republic and

The last king of Rome was Tarquin the Proud. A harsh tyrant, he was driven from power in 509 B.C. The Romans declared they would never again be ruled by a king. Instead, they established a republic the Latin phrase res publica, which means “public affairs.” A republic is a form of government in which power rests

The republican government of Rome was designed to replace the monarchial rule of the Etruscan conquerors and replaced it with a republican government. This government had different structures that determined the way people accessed government services. The primary change was based on every citizen playing an active role in governing the state (The Roman Republic, 2017). The citizens were required to elect the representatives who would rule on their behalf. Even though all citizens were required to play similar roles in governance, gender differences influenced the activities. For instance, women were

Within the senate existed two significant factions: the populists and the conservatives. The populists believed in the people’s rights and attempted to serve the public first and foremost, often creating/supporting policies that might gain them greater Roman support b