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Roman republic democracy
Roman empire political system
Athenian and roman government
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Roman republic democracy
Roman empire political system
Athenian and roman government
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Mia Hoffman The author, Bruce Bartlett, was born October 11, 1951. He has an education from both Rutgers University and Georgetown University. He studied under Lloyd Gardner for American diplomatic history at Rutgers and studied under Julius Davis at Georgetown. He researched much of the Pearl Harbor attack, doing a master's thesis for it at Georgetown, the thesis was later published as Coverup: The Politics of Pearl Harbor, 1941-1946.
How Democratic was the Roman Republic? Though, the Romans made undemocratic decisions, they still included the people in a lot of executive decisions. The Assemblies carried out the majority of what the people wanted and what they decided. Therefore, Rome allowed their citizens to help make important decisions about government, which made them democratic.
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.
Imperial Rome had a democratic government, where the people voted for everything. They had two classes, the patricians and the plebeians. The Plebeians had all the control over the Senate and the Consuls for a while. Eventually, the plebeians were given control over the Tribunes to give them a voice. The patricians were the wealthy, land owners, and the upper class citizens.
The Roman Republic government contributed to the development of the democratic principles because the romans developed and its government eventually dividing into three branches. The Roman Republic had three main groups, patricians, Magistrates/Consuls Censors/praetors. The three main groups were like the democratic principle separation of powers. The Roman Republic had its “Rule of Law”, but the Romans called it the Twelve Tables. The democratic principle Representative government was also in the Roman Republic government, but was differently portrayed.
This shift was not in the form of a sudden revolution, and rather grew as a gradual switch from a monarchy previously under the Etruscans. The republic stood for liberty and extended citizenship of the people. In the Roman republic, the people chose officials to represent their interests. Dominating the government was a senate that was primarily made up of the wealthy, landholding class, known as patricians. This outraged the lower class plebeians, who later gained power and elected their own officials.
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
The Roman Government also had something called a Senate. The senate had 300 members and was in charge of advising the rulers of Rome. They were usually made up of patricians. The rulers of Rome were called Consuls. There were two consuls in Rome and they both directed the government and led the army.
In hindsight what didn’t help this struggling Roman system was the split that occurred between the East and West in 285 AD. The ruler at that time, Emperor Diocletian realised that the Empire had grown so vast it was infeasible to govern all its provinces from one seat of power in Rome. Therefore, he split the empire in two, with the Eastern Empire governed out of Byzantium (later Constantinople) and the Western Empire governed from Rome. This split however, was not necessarily healthy for the West. It bore the fruit of disaster and some historians have argued this is the point from which the Empire really began to decline leading to the subtle fall in the West.
Assembly- An event where the qualified citizens met in the market square of the city to vote on issues proposed by the suffetes and senate, nd the election of officials. Citizenship- Only males from the city of Carthage qualified for citizenship. Women, slaves and foreigners did not qualify for citizenship and were not allowed to participate in government.
In Ancient Rome, the Romans had their own Roman Republic. The Roman republic reasonably met the common good. The way they did this was that they didn’t fully meet the common good in all areas, but in other areas they did. In public service I would give the Ancient Romans an A. One of the greatest achievements in ancient time was the waterway.
The magistrates and tribunes… were the only ones who could place legislation before the voters.” The small percent of citizens that actually did vote in Ancient Rome were spoon-fed their candidates by higher ups like the magistrates in
Ancient Rome had a well organized government that had many purposes that helped them create an amazing civilization. I studied 5 difference purposes of government to learn more about Ancient Rome. Those were the following: public services, protect rights, rule of law, prepare for a common defense, and support the economic system. The Roman Republic had amazing features.
The Roman government had many bodies, The Senate was a body which had 300 members, the senate was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. It was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. Various popular assemblies in which all citizens voted on laws and elected officials. Officials were called magistrates, who put the law into practice, governed in the name of the senate and people, and acted as priests. The point when the most recent ruler was taken out by two magistrates known as consuls.
The General Assembly and Senate established a sense of importance in Rome. The General Assembly was made up of Plebeians, and the Senate consists of Patricians. The terms General Assembly and Senate are two of many terms still used in the US Government today. The Romans were led by a king who was approved by the senate and a vote of the people, which is also displayed in the US Government. This is displayed in our presidential elections.