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Polybius: Rise Of The Roman Republic

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Alyssa Minami Professor Penrose HIST 105-01 15 November 2017 Expository Essay Polybius, a Greek historian, most known work is The Histories which is his writing that describes the rise of the Roman Republic.1 In his work, he was able to describe and document the Roman government as well as events during the Hellenistic period. Through observing and analyzing the world around him, Polybius was able to deduct that mixed government was the best form of government. While popularizing the concept of mixed government, he was also able to figure out the problem that occurred with western governments. The concept of a cycle of governments was previously implied in Aristotle’s work however, Polybius was able to describe the phenomenon. Polybius had …show more content…

When dividing the types of government into how many rule, there are three categories: rule by one, rule by few, and rule by many. Rule by one can constitute a monarchy or kingship. Monarchy being the evil form, is where the sole leader takes control over his people by force. Monarchies usually involve nepotism leading to the thrones successors being entitled and lazy. Kingship is also where it is one person ruling however, Polybius describes it as a king that is “voluntarily accepted by their subjects, and which are governed by an appeal to reason rather than by fear or by force” (304). When speaking of rule by few, Polybius is referring to an oligarchy or aristocracy. An aristocracy meaning that the ruling few are the most qualified people and deemed some of the wisest. Oligarchies are viewed as more of the evil out of the two …show more content…

The Roman constitution consisted of three different components. The first being the consuls which had the appearance of a monarchy. Their role in government was to “exercise supreme authority over all public affairs” (312). Some of the consul’s power includes having almost absolute power when it comes to making preparations for war. However, with the other two parts of government, the Senate and the power given to the people, it would not fall into the same vicious cycle as before. The Senate is in charge of discussing and implementing the consul’s decisions as well as managing the revenues and expenditures, such as repair and construction of public buildings. The power of the people is able to influence the consul and Senate’s decisions. Having all of these different aspects to a government where each element is able to control different portions of the government, helps defeat the cycle Polybius described. There are some rules put in place so one portion of the government cannot over throw the others or completely overstep their boundaries. However, the ties each section has to one another can provide extra support when making

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