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Roman Political Thought
Upul Abeyrathne,
Dept. of Economics
University of Ruhuna
Matara
Characteristic of Roman World
• It was destitute of any great political philosophers
• Polybius himself a Greek.
• Cicero makes but a poor comparison with Plato
and Aristotle.
• Roman mind was legal. i.e. Consolidative and
not speculative.
• The whole of the legal system in Italy, Switzerland
and substantial part of Germany, France and
Holland are based on Roman Law.
Roman Institutions
• It was at first a city state formed by a union of
tribes living on the neighbouring hills.
• Her Government consisted of a Monarch, A
Senate, and an Assembly, Comitia Curiata,
• Patricians, Aristocratic Class alone held the
political power
• But later, the Plebians, i.e. Common People
succeeded in establishing comitia Centuriata.
Roman Institutions
• Around 500 B.C. a republic was established.
• Patricians and Plebians fought and then
coalesced and formed the citizen body.
• Two Consuls replaced the king.
• They were assisted by praetors and censors
and later by tribune, people’s representatives.
• First they have consolidated at home and then
thought of imperial conquest.
Characteristic of Roman World
• Italy and neighbouring states were absorbed
and governed by prefects.
• It had extended its authority over barbarians
of North and West from Euphrates to the
British isles and from Sahara to Rhine-Danube
frontiers.
• This knit entire western world into one
political system which necessitated a
centralized administrative system.
Characteristic of Roman World
• Military dictatorship had destroyed the
democratic institutions.
• The popular assembly lost power.
• By 2 centaury A.D. the Roman citizenship was
extended to provinces and it became an
empire.
• A common official language and legal system
unified the Roman Empire.
Characteristic of Roman World
• Greek Ideals of democracy, liberty and
autonomy were replaced by ideals of unity,
order and universal law and cosmopolitanism.
• Loss of political independence has resulted in
the loss of interest in political speculation.
Bases of Roman Political philosophy
• Stoicism was the predominant political
philosophy while borrowing from other
sources.
• They were practical men. Hence, have
concerned much on building political
institutions.
• In fact they have systematized the Greek
political theory and formulated new principles
Bases of Roman Political philosophy
• The new principles had concerned with
1. Creation of positive law
2. Separation of politics and ethics
3. Distinction between state and society
4. Political Sovereignty and legal personality of
state as the maker of laws.
Roman conception of state
• The Platonian and Aristotalian conception of
state completely absorb the individual.
• Epicureans thought state to be an
unnecessary encumbrance.
• Roman thought of it as necessary and natural.
• They have distinguished state from the
individuals.
• The State as well as individuals had got
definite rights and duties.
Roman Conception of State
• According to Roman emphasis, the state
existed to protect individual against other
individuals and the state itself which was
recognized to be a legal person as much as the
individual.
• It was the basis of Roman private law.
Popular Sovereignity
• State is the legal sovereignty
• People are the popular sovereignity.
• In theory, even the emperor was a
representative of the people because people
has delegated him the whole authority.
• The delegation of power is not a social contact
but a governmental contact because the
power once delegated cannot be revoked. It is
irrevocable.
Popular Sovereignity
• However, later the power of the emperor was
thought of as a divine gift.
• The rise of Christianity, later modified this
conception.
• Divinity was given to the office and not the
person who holds the office.
• The emperor rule by virtue of divine will and
delegated his political authority to the state
officials.
Popular Sovereignity
• The laws are proposed by the magistrates and
ratified by the popular assemblies and laws
did not constitute the command of sovereign
but represented a sort of contract between
people and the government.
• Even the private law of the Roman is based on
the concept of contractual obligations
between individuals.
Popular Sovereignity
• The concept of popular sovereignty
established during the republic continued
even during the imperial period.
• The right of final judgment on criminal cases
had continued to belong to the people.
“ The will of the state is the will of the aggregate
of its citizens. Law is a contact by which these
citizens mutually obligate themselves to
observe a certain mode of conduct”
Roman Imperium
• Romans believed that each community held
an inalienable and innate right to issue
commands to its members and enforce
obedience to them.
• Romans believed that any individual had a
particular and absolute right to rule over
them.
• Any of the Roman can become the king, it is
for life. The king is one of equal burgesses.
Roman Legal System and It Influence
• Early legal system was based on customs,
religious precepts and equity.
• With the passage of time, a distinction
between divine injunctions and rational
customs of men began.
• Still state did not enacted laws.
• About 450 B.C. those legal customs have been
codified.
Roman Legal System and It Influence
• They were codified into twelve tables.
• This codification resulted in symmetrical
classification and clearances of codification.
• It decreased the power of nobles who were the
sole expounders and administrators of laws and
generally interpreted laws to suit there own
interests.
• The blebian now knew their laws and how they
stood.
• It led to the solidarity of Roman Constitution.
Roman Legal System and It Influence
• Growth of Jus Gentium: It is the law common
to all nation.
• Jus Gentium embodied the principle of natural
equity and customs and laws common to all
nations subject to Rome.