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WA4. Establishment and Elements of the Roman Republic

Statement

Rome’s road to democracy was full of struggles against kingship. Based on your readings and conducting research, answer the following questions:

  • What circumstances led to the establishment of the Roman Republic?
  • Which elements of the Republic made it democratic?
  • Which elements made you question the Republic’s democratic nature?

Answer

Introduction

The Roman Republic was established in 509 BCE after the overthrow of the last Roman king, Tarquinius Superbus. Rome suffered the cruelty of kings for a while, and people took a vow to never have a king again. The Roman Republic was a system of government where the power was distributed and public offices were held by elected officials for a limited time so that no one man could accumulate power (Schroeder, 2023). The text will discuss the circumstances that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic, then the elements of its democracy, and finally, how this democracy differs from modern democracy.

Circumstances Leading to the Establishment of the Roman Republic

The Roman kingdom lasted from 753 BCE to 509 BCE, and it was characterized by the absolute power of the king. During this period, 7 kings ruled the Kingdom with an average of 35 years each. The long periods that the king ruled allowed him to control everything and his decisions were final. Despite the first six kings being good or behaving in good well, the last king, Tarquinius Superbus, was a tyrant (Britannica, 2024).

Tarquinius Superbus was oppressive and cruel as he arranged the murder of his predecessor and refused to bury him; he also killed senators whom he suspected of being loyal to the old king; he also refused to work with the Senate reducing their role in power; he also took the role of judging criminal cases without counselling; despite that, he led a number of military campaigns that secured most of the Latin world to Rome (Lumen Learning, 2024).

The final straw was his Sextus who raped Lucretia, the wife of one of Rome’s governors and the daughter of one of Rome’s magistrates; then Lucretia killed herself in the eyewitnesses. This event struck the city, and the father publicly opened a debate on the form of government that Rome should have in place of the existing monarchy. The city voted for the republic system and Tarquinius fled Rome and lived the rest of his life in exile (Lumen Learning, 2024).

The Elements of the Roman Republic Democracy

Rome voted for a system to prevent tyranny and one-man rule; so the system was characterized by distributing the power among political institutions of elected officials who served for limited periods. Every one of these institutions can veto the other, thus, there will be no decision that is not approved by all institutions (Schroeder, 2023).

The society at the time was divided into two classes: the patricians (wealthy nobles) and the plebeians (common people). There were two annually elected Consuls, and then there was a Dictator who would hold full power during wars, but he could not rule for more than six months. The Senate was an advisory body for the two Consuls. There were also two Assemblies: the Centuriate Assembly which was concerned with military matters and the Tribal Assembly which included all citizens and elected the magistrates and passed laws (Britannica, 2024).

Questioning the Republic’s Democratic Nature

The Roman Republic was not a democracy in the modern sense; although it guaranteed that tyrants would not rule, it suffered from many flaws, especially when compared the modern democracy. One flaw is the concept of citizenship; women and slaves were not considered citizens and were not allowed to vote or hold public office (Shiffer, 2021).

Another flaw was dividing voting power based on wealth; wealthy people (patricians) had more voting power than the common people (plebeians) as both classes voted separately on an equally-sized Consuls; even though the plebeians were the majority.

Another flaw was allowing for political patronage; the Roman Republic was characterized by political patronage where the wealthy would support the poor in exchange for their votes; this led to corruption and rigged elections in favor of the wealthy.

Conclusion

The Roman Republic was established in 509 BCE after the overthrow of the last Roman king. After that, the Roman Republic survived for 500 years until it was replaced by the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic was a system that effectively distributed power among political bodies and prevented tyranny. However, it was not a democracy in the modern sense as it suffers from many flaws in comparison to modern democracy.

References

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