Rome’s Government

They elected 2 patricians and gave them the power to do almost whatever they wanted. The council had some say in the army, had religious duties and served as judges. The council had power but could be check by his colleague and the citizen had a right to appeal the decisions. The Romans tried to get around difficulties by send one consul member or simply the command of the consul. In sever conditions the consul would appoint a dictator to command but could only serve 6 months. These implements worked well enough but when soon there were weaknesses found in the system by the clever opponents of Rome. So, Rome decided to make some changes and make some terms of consul fighting on the fields longer. At first, the consul classified the citizens according to age and property. The classifiers soon gained some power and were able to expel someone from the consul based on financial and moral reasons. This made a place in the senate an even more prestigious position.  The senate’s power grew when monarchs came to an end they had control of finances and of foreign policy. So, the opinion of the senate was not to be taken lightly. In the early republic the senate was made up of fighting men called the centuriate assembly. They made decisions from the higher ranks down. The patricians had almost all of the power and privilege. Plebeians on the other hand did not have a lot of power and were not allowed to inter-marry. The Plebeians fought for power and were finally achieved political, legal and social equality. Plebeians gained power by moving out of the city and leaving Rome without an army to defend for it. However, this did not lead to democracy because those who served had wealth and were called nobiles. These noblies were given complete control because the voting was not secret and they were subjected to bribery and intimidation. In the end the nobiles were consisted of many of the same family members and that is why Rome had not turned into a democracy.

Monarchy in Rome was abandoned and replaced with the republic. So instead, they gave two elected patricians called the consuls the imperium. After the end of the monarchy, the Senate became more powerful, and influenced the Assembly who kept them in check.

This system worked for a little while, but when the wars became longer and the battles became father away, significant changes needed to be made. The term of a consul serving in the field was extended from this point, but this reform created some trouble for the constitution. By extending the term, the imperium was extended as well, which upsets the delicate balance of power within the system.

The patricians also dominated the Senate and the assemblies, and all of this caused the struggle of the orders.

The Twelve Tables were finally organized as Roman code, consisting of harshness and simplicity. Finally, after another set of laws called the Licinian-Sextian Laws were established, plebeians could finally be elected consuls.

However, this plebeian victory did not result in democracy—it just turned an obviously aristocratic society into a society more subtly dominated by aristocrats. These aristocratic families still dominated the Senate, and their power only grew. But Romans were mostly satisfied with the outcome of the struggle of the orders because all the citizens benefited from Rome’s conquest of Italy.