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How Democratic Was The Roman Republic Dbq

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The Roman Republic was often known for its lasting influence for the development of Western political governance and ideals and is often hailed as a beacon of democracy in ancient history. But an in depth look reveals it to be more complex. While the Roman Republic held democratic elements that allowed citizen participation and representation, its political structure was ultimately characterized by a significant concentration of power among the elite and few for the average person. This essay will explore the extent of democracy within the Roman Republic, analyzing key aspects such as the electoral system, legislative bodies, and social hierarchy and the democratic nature and the implications it had on the overall governance of the state.
In document A according to the Greek historian Polybius he talks about the democratic system of governance in Rome. Polybius kept records during the extensive Roman expansion between 167 and 119 BCE held a great admiration for the Romans and highlighted their rise to global dominance. His …show more content…

The Roman Republic's system allowed every adult male citizen including free slaves to have a vote without any formal exclusion of the poor. Voting took place within subgroups known as Tribal or Century Assemblies where the majority vote won. The power of the citizen as a voter was divided into three categories: acting as criminal courts and participating in elections conducted by the Century or Tribal Assemblies and legislating. Only a limited group of elected annual magistrates could propose laws before the people in the assemblies. The Tribal Assembly served as the primary assembly for the passage of laws. The exclusive right of the assemblies to pass legislation along with the inclusion of various citizens in the voting process, supports the characterization of the Roman Republic as a democracy in formal

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327 Words | 2 Pages

Rome’s constitution had three different elements which held independent powers and shared their ideas to prove the constitution was democratic. The consuls and magistrates were the supreme masters of government and called together the People’s Assemblies to carry out whatever the majority of what the Assemblies decided (Doc A). Polybius also greatly admired how the Romans structured their

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900 Words | 4 Pages

What needs to be taken into consideration is, that Rome’s Senate size was smaller, allowing for more efficient decision-making processes compared to Athens’ direct democracy. This categorization system was an essential part of Roman society, helping maintain order and allocate resources fairly. Without it, chaos would have ensued, and the city would not have been able to function properly. As such, we should recognize the crucial role that the censors played in the development of ancient Rome and its lasting impact on history. A brilliant move by the Roman leaders was their creative approach to granting citizenship to foreigners, by using unique methods.

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515 Words | 3 Pages

As stated by Polybius in Document A, The Assembly held most power when it came to voting. They had the final say during the passing or denying of laws, which was said by Millar (Document B). However, Millar also states that the Assemblies did not get to choose who or what they voted on. This could be used to support the idea that the Roman Republic truly was a republic. Regardless of that, the fact that the Assembly held so much power was still a reason to believe it was a democracy.

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470 Words | 2 Pages

Around and during the time of the 1790’s america was going through a rough patch in political issues throughout america. Two main political parties were federalists, which were led by the Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton. He and the rest of his party believed that our country should have a strong central government. They believed that more power should be given to the federal government and not the people. The group of federalists of course was mostly made up of the upper class the richer population.

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2227 Words | 9 Pages

The Roman Congress Good Bad Indifferent Rome, founded in 753 BC will become one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever seen. This paper will highlighting key aspects of the Roman Senate. The Formation of the Senate, positions within the Senate, elections, how legislation was passed, and Instances of bribery or extortion in the Senate. The progression of Rome as a civilization and as a Mediterranean super power is one of the most thoroughly studied cultures in the world today.

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736 Words | 3 Pages

By this time, it took more effort to vote since people were coming from all over to vote. Rome started to add limits, “How easily a small number of urban residents registered in a rural tribe could determine the vote of that tribe is clear from the small percentage of citizens who actually voted.” (Document C) This shows how little the number of people voted that were actually Roman citizens. The Roman Republic started to become an aristocracy whenever a lot more of the wealthy people came into power.

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1090 Words | 5 Pages

Also, Rome follows in Greece's footsteps. For example, Livy once said, “And no wonder: for if we confine our observation to the power of the Consuls we should be inclined to regard it as despotic; if on that of the Senate, as aristocratic; and if finally one looks at the power possessed by the people it would seem a clear case of democracy” (Doc. B). This shows that Rome follows in Greece’s footsteps because even though Rome was considered a democracy, in actuality, the senate acted as an aristocracy, because in both a small group of elites ruled. The councils acted as a despotism, because both have one or more elected officials, with great power.

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815 Words | 4 Pages

Notwithstanding these democratic components, the Roman Republic's aristocracy-dominated governance made it ultimately undemocratic. The Senate, which was predominately made up of nobles, held the majority of the republic's power. This indicated that very few people actually influenced the decisions that the government made. (National Geographic Society,

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101 Words | 1 Pages

Was Rome truly democratic? They were kind of democratic, or at the least, they tried. After time, it turned into despotism by tyrants, which destroyed the meaning of demokratia. Rome didn’t do a great job expressing democracy, for an example, they allowed the majority of men to vote, but most of them we’re too busy or too poor to vote, which left only 2% of the men to vote. Women were not allowed to vote, although, if they created a petition to change that, it wouldn’t be a problem, but due to tyrants and rulers, they would just veto the

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431 Words | 2 Pages

Democracy is what we call a formation of government where citizens and group of people can vote on laws. The Roman Republic did not have a well developed formation of their government but it did have the qualifications of democracy. There were pros and cons of voting in the Roman times such as anybody can vote. According to Professor Millar, he says, “Every adult male citizen, unless specifically disqualified, had a vote, and there was no formal exclusion of the poor. Free slaves could also vote.”

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812 Words | 4 Pages

Republic is defined as "A government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law." (Republic., n.d.). Rome would elect its leaders from all of the groups of people, Patrician and Plebeian alike. The head of state was the consuls,

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739 Words | 3 Pages

In a representative democracy, citizens choose representatives to vote on laws and make political choices.   In ancient Rome, many political leaders and historians claimed that the government was a democracy. However, Rome was never truly a democracy, due to their unfair government organization, and lack of democratic citizenship. In terms of government career holders, and as regular citizens, some groups of people were more powerful and privileged than others.       To start off, the government of ancient Rome was far from democratic.

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1489 Words | 6 Pages

The Romans had a system of indirect democracy where the people had the power to vote for representatives who would advocate for them on the state level. The Greeks had a government in which the people directly were involved in the governmental and legislative process. In addition, both systems were flawed in their representation of their people in their respective governments through neglecting a large portion of their population. Both societies did well to create term lengths to decrease the likelihood of corruption and abuse of power through creating accountability. However, the Greek democracy was a caliber above its counterpart.

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562 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine a world where the government was ruled by many people... What do you think the world would be like then? Well the world in the Roman republic was like this, as people called it a representative democracy. People elected representatives, to make main decisions. But the plebeians still had a say in what the government was like.

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1512 Words | 7 Pages

The composition and the governing structure of the Roman republic was not uniform throughout its existence, but some of the fundamental elements of its government came into being in the immediate aftermath of the monarchy’s collapse. Therefore, it is unsurprising that many of these institutions were created in reaction to the monarchy and its failures, and thus were shaped by this relationship. For example, the fundamental opposition to monarchy and the rule of kings that came with the experience of the Kingdom of Rome, remained quite strong in the Roman mindset throughout the existence of the Republic and into the beginnings of the Roman Empire, and its influence can be seen throughout Roman political discourse especially in the discussion

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