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- Senior officials of the Roman Republic derived their insignia from the
Etruscans: curule chair, purple-bordered toga (toga praetexta), and bundle of rods
(fasces).
- Early Rome was a city-state and had kings (Romulus, Servius Tullius, Numa Pompilius, etc.) The Romans found out very early that they did not favor kings and
their abuses of power, even if the king was a good ruler. In 509 B.C. Tarquin the
Proud was overthrown and the Republic was founded.
- By the third century the consuls (two consuls were elected to serve for one
year) had similar authority as the early kings except for the fact that they
could only serve in office for one year. This would put a limit on the
possibility of a dictatorship. In fact if one consul thought the other was getting too
powerful he could veto the other consul's actions. We get our word "veto" from
the Latin word which means "I forbid."
- The consuls were in charge of government and also of the army. The 300
citizen Senate advised them at all times. They also maintained the treasury as well as
foreign policy and they served for life. In the history of the Roman Republic the
Senate was always the most powerful group. In order to be elected to the Senate,
a person had to be of the Patrician class.
- Only the Assembly could approve or disapprove of one of their laws and only the assembly
elected Candidates for the office of consul.
- There was always a basic concept of checks and balances.
- The modern US constitution is based on these basic concepts of checks and
balances within the ancient government of the Roman Republic. Whether it be the
President, the Congress, or the courts, none can dominate the government. Each
branch has a way to check the actions of the other and the actions of each
branch balance the others.
- Though many of the Greek city-states, such as Sparta, were ruled by a king,
there were some forms of democracy emerging. The most well known of these early
democracies was Athens. The Golden Age of Athenian democracy began about 500
BC and lasted for a just over one hundred years.
- These democracies were not very much like the governments we call
democracies today because only the citizens could vote and hold office.
- In most classical governments, women had few rights or none at all.
- It wasn't long before the Plebeians argued for more rights. They won the right to elect tribunes, who could veto
any senatorial law. They only won the right to have the protection of the
tribunes because they protested by refusing to go to war. Power constantly shifted
between the Plebians and the Patricians.
LATER HISTORY
- During the time of the Civil Wars and the Imperators, the real power was
held by the generals in command of the largest armies.
- Octavian, later given the title "Augustus" by the Senate, was also given the
titles "Princeps" and "Pontifex Maximus", and was given tremendous power to
reform the Republic. He is considered to be the first Emperor but he never
proclaimed himself as absolute ruler.
- The Romans maintained the delusion of having a Republic until quite late in
the Empire.
- The Emperor was considered as simply First Citizen or "Princeps" until the time of Diocletian (A. D. 284-305.) At this time, the
Emperor became a remote, absolute despot surrounded with pomp and ceremony,
like a Mesopotamian ruler. Assassination was considered anacceptable tool of
politics throughout these times. Many emperors were deposed and executed by the
Praetorian Prefect (head of the palace guard) and his troops.
- The throne was even sold at public auction in 193 A.D.
- By the end of the Classical Age, the Roman West disintegrated into petty
kingdoms ruled in a very similar way to the early tribes. Although technology and
learning had advanced, political organization and government had regressed
several thousand years.
The History of Rome - Part One 743 - 136 B.C. © Bible History Online (http://www.bible-history.com) |