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Government under the Roman Republic
The Roman system of government might seem a little strange to us, but
for them it worked for almost 500 years. The republic was run by the
Senate. The senate passed all laws and collected all taxes. All members
of the Senate were of the Patrician or wealthy landowner class.
At the head of the senate were two consuls. The Consuls controlled the
legions of Rome. A senator was selected by the Consuls and remained a
senator for life. The Consuls also selected the new members of the
Senate if a senator died. To become a consul, you had to be elected by a
majority of the popular vote from all citizens of Rome.
There was a second part of Roman government, the assembly. The
assembly was elected by Romans from the plebeian class. The
Assembly had no real power per the governmental structure, but if you
didn't listen to the assembly they had the power of most of the citizens
behind them and could make life very interesting.
Consuls - At the top of the Roman Republic was the consul. The consul was a very powerful position. In
order to keep the consul from becoming a king or dictator, there were always two consuls elected and they
only served for one year. Also, the consuls could veto each other if they didn't agree on something. The
consuls had a wide range of powers; they decided when to go to war, how much taxes to collect, and what
the laws were.
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Consuls – They were right at the top of the ruling chain and were very important and powerful people.
To make sure that no king or dictator came into power, there were always two consuls elected and they
only served for one year. Clever cats they were. And on top of that, if the consuls disagreed with each
other, they could make sure something didn’t happen. They had heaps of power; they decided when to
go to war, how much tax to collect and they also decided on the laws. Powerful indeed.
he Assemblies
The most democratic branch of the Roman Republican form of government were the assemblies. These
large bodies — there were four of them — made some voting power available to many Roman citizens (but
not all, as those who lived in the outreaches of the provinces still lacked meaningful representation). The
Assembly of Centuries (comitia centuriata), was composed of all members of the army, and it elected
consuls annually. The Assembly of Tribes (comitia tributa), which contained all citizens, approved or
rejected laws and decided issues of war and peace.The Comitia Curiata was composed of 30 local groups,
and was elected by the Centuriata, and served mostly a symbolic purpose for Rome’s founding families.
The Concilium Plebis represented the plebeians.