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Roman Republic Review
Roman Republic Review
Was ancient Rome truly democratic
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How Democratic Was the Roman Republic?
The Roman Republic was quite democratic. When a nation is ruled by the people, it is considered a democracy, and the Roman Empire displayed characteristics of a democratic civilization. The Roman Republic granted the citizens of their kingdom a plethora powers and privileges. You could say, for a matter of fact, that the Roman Republic itself was run by the people themselves.
First, they had the Assemblies, which was made up entirely of the people themselves, and this element of the Roman Empire handled some highly important decisions. The people in the Assemblies granted office through election, had final say in passing or repealing laws, and made the final decision whether to enter a state
of peace or to enter the war. Some would argue that Roman Republic was not a democracy since only 2% of citizens voted, but that argument is invalid. Why? All citizens had the ability to vote, but only 2% wanted to travel to Rome and cast their votes. And since all citizens were completely capable of voting, which is a part of democracy, this argument doesn’t prove that Rome wasn’t democratic. Speaking of voting, every adult male citizen, free or not, could participate. Their voting system, however, wasn’t anything like what we have today. A citizen would vote, and then they would take the majority of votes and put it into one subgroup vote, then the majority of subgroups’ vote would become one group vote, so on and so forth. As I have proven, the Roman Republic was quite blatantly a democracy. The only argument against that fact is that 2% of people vote, but even then, everyone was able to vote. The people of Rome could vote, make or repeal laws, and decide whether to enter war or peace. The Roman Republic was a democracy.
The roman republic constitution was a set of guidelines and principles passed down through precedent, the roman republic instead of creating a democracy such as that the Athenians created, a monarchy which was previously being used by previous roman rulers and an aristocracy which Sparta used, the Constitution combined elements of all three of these governments to create a combined government known as “Senatus populusque que romanus” (S.P.Q.R) this meant “the senate and the roman people”. The Roman magistrates were elected officials during the period of the Roman kingdom, the ‘king’ (although the Romans preferred not to be called a king and instead a rex) of Rome was the principal executive magistrate, his power was absolute similar to that of a tsar
Rome was kind of a democy it had it’s flaws but by its voting system it makes it a democy. In document C only 2% of Roman’s voted and these votes by the people even though it was few that makes it a democracy. In document C you had to be in Rome to vote which is far because they wouldn’t want an outsider to vote on things that were going on in Rome. In document B poor rich and the freed slaves could vote and for it’s time that is amazing that the poor and the freed slaves could vote. Rome definitely had it’s flaws but for it’s time it was a good democracy but in our fews we don’t think the Rome Republic was a good democy at all.
The senate was a collective of the state’s best people, by tradition chosen from the aristocracy. Their role was to advise the elected magistrates. In practice, they came to be the collective of former magistrates. Their authority lay in their advice became like orders to serving magistrates. Their authority lay in their prestige and their experience. The roman senate was basically the governing body of men in Rome. It consisted of few hundred members, all who had to have property or money.
The Roman Republic, was a government, governed by an intricate constitution, which was based on the idea of separation of powers. The Roman Republic, began in 509 B.C, after the end of the Roman Monarchy and lasted for over 450 years. The constitution of the Roman Republic was highly influenced by the struggle of power between the rich families, the patricians, and other Romans who were not from famous or rich families, the plebeians. Their government was divided into three main sections, very much like the Legislative Branch, Executive, Branch, and Judicial Branch. Nowadays, the Senate and assembly resemble the Legislative Branch. In the Roman Republic, the Senate was the most powerful group. The Senate passed all laws and collected taxes. The second part of this branch, was the assembly, and the assembly was elected by the Romans from the plebeian class. The assembly elected consuls, tribunes (representatives from the plebeian class), and made laws. All members of the Senate were part of the patrician class and at the head of the Senate were two consuls. The Consuls controlled the Roman army and in order to become a consul, you had to be elected by a majority of all the citizens in Rome. The consuls, are like our president and the Executive Branch. Although the method of separation of powers came from the Roman Republic, that is not all that came from the Roman Republic that became part of the United States...
During the reigns of the first Emperors, legislative, judicial, and electoral powers were all transferred from the Roman assemblies to the Senate. However, since the Senate was filled with individuals whom Augustus approved of, it acted only as a vehicle through which the Emperor exercised his autocratic powers. In the Empire, the Emperor had complete jurisdiction over all policies and decisions. In the beginnings of the empire, he was expected to be accessible to Plebeians and Patricians alike, and to handle all official business and petitions personally.... ... middle of paper ...
The Roman Republic was an extraordinary civilization with an exceptionally complex political system that still impact governments today. The Roman Republic comprised of three sections. The most astounding being the Consul that was made up of two male individuals who are chosen every year. Furthermore, there was the Senate made up of elder statesmen that exhorted the Consul and lastly there was the Assemblies where people voted by groups on issues. A couple of their strengths of the political system was its citizen association, in spite of the fact that plebeians really didn't have much power. Another strength of the political system was that it was administered and in view of well spelt out laws to maintain a strategic distance from cases of dictatorship.
The Romans have had almost every type of government there is. They've had a kingdom, a republic, a dictatorship, and an empire. Their democracy would be the basis for most modern democracies. The people have always been involved with and loved their government, no matter what kind it was. They loved being involved in the government, and making decisions concerning everyone. In general, the Romans were very power-hungry. This might be explained by the myth that they are descended from Romulus, who's father was Mars, the god of war. Their government loving tendencies have caused many, many civil wars. After type of government, the change has been made with a civil war. There have also been many civil wars between rulers. But it all boils
When one takes a closer look into the lives of the Romans, government and all, it would be safe to assume that the life of the Romans were much like the life that is seen in the United States today. The United States has several attributes in comparison to Rome but unlike many other areas around the world. The people of Rome were not oppressed, had a say in certain aspects of the government, had a mighty military and the economy seemed to flourish. All in all it would seem that the life of the Roman Republic was a rather appealing and pleasant one.
The Roman Republic had an upstanding infrastructure, a stable social system, and a balanced constitution that solidified Rome’s greatness. Regardless of its achievements, however, the Roman Republic owes much of its success to classical Greek cultures. These cultures, in conjunction with the fundamental values of Roman society, certified Rome as one of the most significant powers the world has ever seen.
After Rome established itself, they were determined to never again be ruled by a monarch. The Roman setup a new government called a republic. Romans thought a republic would keep any individuals from gaining too much power. Later Romans looked back with enormous pride on the achievements of the early republic. Between 509 B.C. and 133 B.C., Rome adapted the government to fit the need of the people it served. It also developed the military power to not only conqueror not only Italy, but also the entire Mediterranean world. In the early republic power was controlled by the patricians, the land holding upper class. Senators, who served for life, interpreted laws and issued decrees. In the event of a war the senate might elect a dictator who ruled for only six months in time of emergency.
Over the span of five-hundred years, the Roman Republic grew to be the most dominant force in the early Western world. As the Republic continued to grow around the year 47 B.C it began to go through some changes with the rise of Julius Caesar and the degeneration of the first triumvirate. Caesar sought to bring Rome to an even greater glory but many in the Senate believed that he had abused his power, viewing his rule more as a dictatorship. The Senate desired that Rome continued to run as a republic. Though Rome continued to be glorified, the rule of Caesar Octavian Augustus finally converted Rome to an Empire after many years of civil war. Examining a few selections from a few ancient authors, insight is provided as to how the republic fell and what the result was because of this.
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.
Eventually, however, the Greek government became democratic. Rome, on the other hand, was a republic that elected its officials, and common citizens were not allowed as many opportunities as Athenians to participate in matters of the state. While Greece had branches of government to represent citizens, Rome implemented branches of government to represent different components of society. For example, Rome had authorities to supervise public works projects, administer justice, supervise recreational activities and conduct a census (text). Rome, who, like Greece, was a polytheistic society, also appointed a priest for life who was in charge of the entire state's religion.
Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans believed in the well being and wealth of Rome, and if that meant the total destruction of a potential adversary, then as history will show that is unfortunately to the detriment of the adversary what happened.
This new Republican government, which was administered by the consuls, was not the easiest to transform. Because of the expansion in Italy, the government began to initiate political institutions. These institutions enforced laws and provided authority which were very similar to imperium. “The Romans had a clear concept of executive authority, embodied in their word imperium, or “the right to command” (Spielvogel 117). Since the Romans were very sensible in their actions, they made and implemented them only as needed. The most essential positions held were the few elected magistrates and the two consuls who were “chosen annually, administered the government and led the Roman army into battle” (Spielvogel 117). If the consul was otherwise occupied, either a dictator or praetor would assume responsibility for the time being.