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Roman Republic ACTIVITY CARD In 509 BC, a group of Roman nobles upset with the abuse of power by King Tarquin the Superb overthrew the Roman monarchy and founded the Roman Republic. Students are often taught that this government served as the model for the United States’ representative democracy today. However, the Roman Republic was a complicated political system that was very different from America’s modern government. Most of the Roman Republic’s political history is defined by a power struggle between the noble classes of patrician senators and knights, and the crowd of lower class plebeians that made up the “People of Rome.” This division is represented in the very motto of the Roman Republic: SPQR, which is the Latin abbreviation for “the Senate and the People of Rome.” Today, we are going to investigate how much power the “People of Rome” had in the Roman Republic. Directions: In your group, please READ each primary source document ONE AT A TIME. For each document, DISCUSS each question on the document AS A GROUP and ANSWER the questions in complete sentences on a separate piece of paper. Each person must write down answers to the questions. Once you have read all the documents and answered each question, EACH MEMBER of your group is to prepare a “GET OUT THE VOTE” POSTER for an election in the Roman Republic. Task: Your group is to work together to gain a common understanding of the political power of the average citizen in the Roman Republic. To demonstrate this, your group will create a “Get out the Vote” Poster for the Roman Republic. This is a type of political poster used in democracies to encourage voting. The poster should show what groups of people were encouraged or discouraged to vote, and how much power these people really had. POSTER EVALUATION CRITERIA Poster demonstrates clear understanding of the key features of the Roman Republic Poster includes information from all FIVE documents, and includes at least TWO QUOTATIONS from the documents. How much power did “the People” have in the Roman Republic? Roman Republic DOCUMENT 1 OF 5 The Roman Constitution SOURCE: The following excerpt is the description of the Roman constitution provided by the Greek historian Polybius in his book “The Histories” written between 167-119 BC. Polybius was captured in northern Greece during a war with the Romans, but went on to befriend his Roman captors. Polybius greatly admired the Romans and the purpose of his work was to describe how Rome came to dominate the world. His account is the most detailed description of the Roman constitution that we have. “The Roman constitution has three elements (branches). Each of them possesses independent powers, and their share of power has been so well-regulated that no one can say for sure whether the constitution is an aristocracy or democracy or monarchy. The Consuls lead the legions (military) and are the supreme masters of the government. They bring matters requiring debate before Senate. They also call together the assemblies of the People, and carry out whatever the majority of the People decide. Seeing these powers would justify our describing the constitution as a monarchy. The Senate proposes decrees (recommended laws) and has the control of the treasury (money). In addition, if it is necessary to send diplomats to a foreign country to make peace or to proclaim war, this too is the business of the Senate. As a result, many foreign kings imagine the constitution is a complete aristocracy because nearly all the business they had with Rome was settled by the Senate. After all this, someone would naturally ask what part is left for the People in the constitution. There is, however, a part left to the People, and it is a most important one. It is the People who grant office to those that deserve it through the elections. The People also has the final say in passing or repealing laws, and most important of all it is the People who make the final decision on the question of peace or war. These considerations would lead one to say that the chief (main) power in the state was the People's, and that the constitution was a democracy. ANSWER the following questions: 1. Based on the source information, how might Polybius’ background have influenced what he said about the Roman constitution? 2. What are the three elements of the Roman constitution? What powers does each one have? 3. Which one of the three parts does Polybius see as most important? Explain How much power did “the People” have in the Roman Republic? Roman Republic DOCUMENT 2 OF 5 The Century Assembly SOURCE: The Century Assembly was the major voting assembly of the Roman Republic. It elected the Consuls and other high ranking magistrates, and approved or rejected the decrees of the Senate on law and war. It organized the Roman people by social class into 193 different voting groups known as Centuries. Each Century received one vote, so a social class had as many votes as it had Centuries. A simple majority of Century votes was enough to elect officials or approve decrees. Below is a table of the different Roman social classes and their Centuries recorded by the Roman historian Livy between 27 and 25 BC. Wealth Patrician First Second s and Class Class Knights Hereditary 100,000 75,000 nobility assarii assarii Number of 18 82 Centuries Number of 18 82 Votes Total Number of Centuries: 193 Third Class Fourth Class Fifth Class Sixth Class 50,000 assarii 25,000 assarii 11,000 assarii 20 20 20 32 Below 11,000 assarii 1 20 20 20 32 1 Votes Needed for a Majority: 96 Assarii: copper coin that was the basis for the Roman currency Patricians/Knights and the First Class made up the Upper Classes and usually voted together. ANSWER the following questions: 1. What is the Century Assembly? How does it work? 2. How many combined votes did the two wealthiest classes get? How many combined votes did everyone else get? 3. How much power do you think the average person had in the Century Assembly? Do you think this assembly was truly democratic? How much power did “the People” have in the Roman Republic? Roman Republic DOCUMENT 3 OF 5 The Tribal Assembly SOURCE: The Tribal Assembly was another voting assembly in the Roman Republic. It organized the Roman people into thirty-five “Tribes” based on where people lived. It was a direct democracy where social class did not matter and all votes counted equally. The assembly originally only had local power to elect minor magistrates, but later saw its power increase. The excerpt below is from the book “Roman Antiquities” written by the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus around 14 BC. In the Century Assembly the balance of power in voting was with the wealthiest and most important men. The People all thought that they had an equal share in the government because every man was asked his opinion in his own Century. However, they were deceived because the Centuries of the wealthy men had far more votes than all the others. But the rebellion of the People was starting up again. The People had received no rewards from the patricians and did not benefit from the government. The People desired the power to choose two new magistrates in the Tribal Assembly that could assist them. They also wanted laws to be voted on in the Tribal Assembly. This meant the overthrow of the Senate and the dominance of the People. What the difference was between the two assemblies I will now point out. In order for the voting in the Century Assembly to happen, the Senate needed to pass a decree first and then the People could vote on it by Century. In the case of the voting in the Tribal Assembly, a decree from the Senate was not necessary and a law could be completed and carried through by the members of the Tribes without leaving any power to the Senate over those laws. The Consuls, the Senate, and all the patricians tried to prevent the changes from happening. However, if they attempted to use force they would run the risk of bloodshed and slaughter. Though there were many objections, the Senate ratified (agreed to) the changes. This was the end of the tumult (violent chaos) which disturbed the Republic at that time. ANSWER the following questions: 1. What is the Tribal Assembly? How does it work? 2. Do you think the Tribal Assembly was more or less democratic than the Century Assembly? Explain. 3. What new powers does the Tribal Assembly gain? How does this impact the power of the People versus the power of the wealthy elite? How much power did “the People” have in the Roman Republic? Roman Republic DOCUMENT 4 OF 5 Historians Debate SOURCE: Because of how complicated the Roman government was, historians continue to debate to this day how democratic the Roman Republic truly was. The following excerpts below are from books written by Professors Fergus Millar and Saskia Hin. Millar is Professor of Ancient History at Oxford University, and Hin is Professor of Classics at Princeton University. The Roman People were at the center of the Roman system of government. If we look at elections, they were competitive, and the results were unpredictable. The Republic a striking example of a political system in which rival candidates debated rival conceptions (ideas) of state (government) and society before the People in the Forum. The exclusive right of the assemblies to pass legislation (laws) is by far the strongest reason why the Roman Republic has to be characterized as a democracy.—Historian Fergus “How many of the Roman People might we expect to have been present at meetings of the Tribal Assembly? Located far away from many voters, involvement in politics took a lot of time and effort, and many citizens must have judged it to not be worth it. The space available to voters was limited. The forum where the assemblies were held allowed for the presence of a maximum of 3,600 people for voting. These numbers imply a dramatically low participation rate among voters.— Historian Saskia Hin Millar ANSWER the following questions: 1. What is Fergus Millar’s view of the power of the people in the voting assemblies? What are two reasons he gives for this view? 2. What is Saskia Hin’s view of the power of the people in the voting assemblies? What are two reasons she gives for this view. 3. What historian do you find more convincing? Explain. How much power did “the People” have in the Roman Republic? Roman Republic DOCUMENT 5 OF 5 Roman Women SOURCE: In the Roman Republic, women held no direct political power. They could not vote or run for office. However, women from wealthy or powerful families could and did have strong political influence behind the scenes through their husbands and sons. Below is an excerpt from historian Robert Syme on the political power of women in the Roman Republic, as well as a coin issued by the noblewoman Fulvia, who gained immense political power through three different marriages to leading Roman politicians during her lifetime. “Barred (blocked) from political life but enjoying the social prestige (high standing) of family or husband, the daughters and wives of the nobility (wealthy class) could not be cheated of the real and secret power of influence. They counted for more than the average senator. By the quiet exercise of their authority, they might affect nothing less than the authority of the consul in the presence of his peers.”—Historian Robert Syme ANSWER the following questions: 1. According to the source information, what political power did women have in the republic? What power they not have? 2. Who is Fulvia? Why do you think the Romans issued coins with her image on it? What does this say about how they viewed her? 3. How does historian Robert Syme describe the power of noblewomen? Do you consider this to be real political power? Explain How much power did “the People” have in the Roman Republic?