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Roman Republic
 The history of the Roman Republic is
mainly a history of a political system.
 A large part concerns the development
of its constitution; it was never a
written document, but rather a set of
carefully observed procedures and
customs. (like the English constitution)
 Consuls - two officers called consuls who
were the supreme civil and military
magistrates.
 Senate - an advisory body of elder statesmen
and heads of clans called the Senate.
 Popular assemblies - assemblies of all
citizens.
 The consuls represented monarchy; Senate
the aristocracy; the assemblies, democracy.
 Elected annually by the Assembly of
the Centuriate which comprised the
entire army
 The nerve center of the whole state. It took
control of foreign and domestic policy.
 Though it did not write laws, it appointed
commanders, provided and assigned funds,
and generally set the direction of the state.
 Became the most powerful organ of the
Republican government and the only body of
state that could develop consistent long-term
policy.
 There were three that would represent
the legislative branch of government.
 Each included the entire electorate but
each had a different internal structure.
 In each assembly a simple majority vote
was all that was needed to pass any
measures.
 The Curiate – the oldest; mostly the elder
statesmen, senior magistrates.
 The Centuriate Assembly – the most
important, and membership was based on
wealth and age. Originally military units with
membership based on the capability to
furnish armed men in groups of 100.
 The Tribal Assembly – the assembly was
controlled by a landed aristocracy and
eventually became the chief law-making body

The political structure of the
Roman Republic, as with Greek
democracy, laid the foundations of the
democratic systems of the western
world.