Pros And Cons Of The Roman Senate

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. From the rise to the fall of Rome, Scholars have been interpreting the historical documents of Rome for centuries. “753 the first Roman king, Romulus, founded an advisory council of 100 men. This body would become the Senate” (Muscato , 2016). The establishment

When issue arose or the outcry of the people demanded it, the Senate would come together and propose the new legislation. After hearing both the Yay or Nay arguments a vote would occur on the newly proposed legislation. Any of the elected officials be it Magistrates, Senators or Consuls at that time could promulgate the new legislation before the Senate. This however was not a fast process as there was ways to slow down the legislation process, Romans would call this a The Fabian Tactic, and even more so noted by Mr. Romeo as “interesting to learn, for instance, that the filibuster was already an established stalling technique in the Roman Senate” (Romeo,

That is the same case in which led to the exile and eventually the execution of Gaius Verres (Verres). Verres was a statesmen, he was elected into multiple government roles, and he started his political career as a quaestor and move all the way up to the position of praetor. This was not without incidents however, Verres had a passion for art, so he stole, plundered or extorted temples and holy places to get the artwork he wanted. Verres second major passion was that of woman, there was one incident that Mr. Linder states “Verres’s passion for collecting women (despite his having a wife, daughter and son) equaled his interest in collecting art. The lust and cruelty of the legate were on full display in Lampsacus where Verres, in the course of a journey, Verres asked his assistants to determine whether there were any virgins "worthy" of extending his stay” (Linder , 2008). In 73 BC Verres was voted into the governorship of Sicily, for the next three years Verres would rob and steal and take whatever he wanted from the wealth countryside of Sicily, through any means necessary however, this caught the attention of Marcus Tullius Cicero (Cicero). Cicero would be the one that formerly charges Varres in open forum. Cicero spent the better part of two months on a fact finding mission spanning all of Sicily. In the end Cicero was able to bring multiple