Download Chosen from the patrician social level

The Republic

 Roman citizens were divided into two class:
Patrician and Plebeian
Patricians

 Nobles who owned large estates and were
descended from the founders of the city
Plebeians

 Ordinary peasants and craftsmen.
The Citizens of Rome

 Both the patricians and the Plebeians met in the
assembly.
 Here they elected or appointed 3 different groups of
officials.
The Assembly

 All Roman citizens belong to the assembly
 Voted on Senate decisions to go to war
 Rich people got more votes than poor people.
Consuls

 The consuls governed the city
 They were elected for one year only and could not be elected
again until 10 years had passed.
 They were both administrators and military leaders
 They had the power to veto any law.
 2 members
 They both had to agree before a decision could be made.
One of their most important responsibilities was to control the army.
Magistrates

 Elected officials, appointed to be judges
 Looked after city finances.
Tribunes

 Spoke for the poor
 Were appointed to protect the ordinary people
against unfair treatment.
 They could not veto military decisions.
Senate

 When Magistrates retired they became members of the
senate.
 Made up of 300 men
 They advised the consuls
 They discussed ways to deal with other countries.
 Proposed laws
 The Senate became very important and ended up
controlling Rome.
Chosen from the patrician social level
Judges
Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect (governor) of Judea, a sub-province of Syria,
who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus.

 Also called prefects
 The prefect was an official who was
appointed by a magistrate, for a fixed
period and a special task
 In the beginning, this was a military task
 The emperor was the only one who was allowed to
appoint prefects.
 Their tasks could include distributing food to the
Roman people, guarding the treasury, oversee the
support for orphans
Change for Rome

 When the Roman Empire started to grow and Rome
became a more powerful city, a top government
position became more and more attractive.
 Therefore, more and more ambitious men got
involved in government. These men believed that
Rome would be better served by one man governing
the city and empire, as opposed to a group of elected
officials.
 These sole rulers were called emperors.