Political Power In The Roman Republic

The Roman Republic is highly praised for its innovation, influence and expansion. In a period of expansion, there was a setting of constitutional precedent for the future late Republic and Roman Empire. The Roman Republic can also be viewed from the perspective of internal balances of power. That being said, although the Republic was not a full democracy, as stated by Polybius, it did provide some political power to the people. Although the Roman people played a significant role in politics and had some power, said power was limited through checks of the Senate and Consul, and most positions of power were very concentrated in the hands of Patricians and aristocrats. The powers that all citizens inherently possessed did however play a significant

He says this is normal in a system of checks and balances, in which all three forms of government check and balance each other out, but in reality the people had less power than the other two. This is due to the fact that the Senate, to quote, “can do those who manage state-owned property a great deal of harm or a great deal of good, since it has the final say on all these matter” (Polybius 6.16). It can be drawn that it is in the best interest of the people not to act solely in their interests, but rather the interests of the Senate given the fact that they can ruin their lives. Polybius expands and says that by taking this into consideration, everyone is faced with the possibility they may one day need the Senate’s help and thus it is in their best interest not to frustrate or oppose it, and the same goes for opposing consuls, due to the fact that everyone falls under their authority when on campaign (Polybius 6.16). It is clear to one analyzing this that although the masses and assemblies did have great powers in theory, they were not able to act on their own interests as stated above. The common people may have had great power, but said power came with extreme limitations of acting in the interests of those above them, so it can be drawn that although the people did have a role in the political process, said role was to act in the

The Scipionic Elogia proves this through the various examples given discussing family glory. The Scipionic Elogia is a collection of nine surviving inscriptions that belong to members of the prestigious Scipios family. The first document discusses Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, who was the son of Gnaeaus, and the honors he held such as being consul in 298 BC, aedile, censor in 290 BC and overcoming all the Lucaninan land (Scipionic Elogia 1-2). From this one can draw conclusions that this was a man who accomplished a great deal in his lifetime and held political office. It also mentions the name of his father, and thus one can draw the conclusion that if his father is mentioned, he had to have been important. To expand, the Elogia next moves onto the son of Barbatus, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who also held consulship, and was seen as the “very best of all good men at Rome” (Scipionic Elogia 3-4). All of the subsequent documents in the Elogia discuss how almost all the members of the family held high office and served Rome well, demonstrating that power was typically earned through lineage. The glory that came from passed ancestors clearly moved onto their descendants for them to gain office, hold family glory, and thus create new glory to be set as precedent to other members of the family. Thus, in this case, it can be identified that those with family glory played a large role in