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Roman Government Essay

784 Words4 Pages

Located north of Rome, the Etruscans ruled the Romans for centuries. Many Romans were unhappy with the oppressive and corrupt rule of King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus so, in 509 BCE, the Romans avenged their defeat at the hands of the Etruscans by overthrowing the king and setting up a new political system (Boundless World History, 2022). Initially, power was held exclusively by wealthy citizens (the patricians), and the commoners (the plebians) had no voice in government (Khan Academy, n.d.).
New political offices were established between 494 and 287 BCE and Plebeians were granted access to higher political office, including the consulship. The plebeians finally felt that they had a voice in Roman politics due to the proliferation of voting …show more content…

The monarch was deposed in Rome, and two governors, the consuls, were elected to serve one-year terms with many of the king's powers. The Roman Senate was also an ancient Roman Republic governmental organization. The consuls and, subsequently, the censors appointed its members rather than having them run for office. While the consulship as we know it today did not likely come into existence until sometime around 300 BCE, the notion underlying it, that no one man should have too much power, was evident in early Roman philosophy and influenced the development of many of Rome's political systems (Khan Academy, …show more content…

To remain in office, a consul had to once again be chosen by the people in an election. The Roman people could vote for representatives to make laws on their behalf, each representative having the right to veto any proposed legislation or government action they disagreed with. To achieve this goal, the Roman people elected the Plebian Council, which could overturn any law passed in their name (Khan Academy, n.d.).
As we know ‘democracy’ today, some of its characteristics are the establishment of liberty, the rule of the majority, individual rights, free and open elections, public participation, and open agreement (Tomyn,

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1340 Words | 6 Pages

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913 Words | 4 Pages

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