How democratic was the Roman Republic? Historians and professors have debated this topic for years. This republic developed in Ancient Rome while Greece was flourishing. They had been led by kings, but the leaders abused the power, so a group of patricians overthrew the king, Tarquin the Proud. However, the Roman Republic was not very democratic for many reasons. People known as Plebeians were excluded from many government jobs, voting was unfair, and everything outside of Rome was settled by the senate.
The Roman government excluded the Plebeians from most rights that the Patricians had.
Fifteen years after the Roman Republic formed, in 494 B.C., the Plebeians rebelled due to lack of political rights and tons of debt. The only government office
Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. I do not believe that in the 4th to 5th century BCE ancient Athen were democratic for many reasons.
In document A according to the Greek historian Polybius he talks about the democratic system of governance in Rome. Polybius kept records during the extensive Roman expansion between 167 and 119 BCE held a great admiration for the Romans and highlighted their rise to global dominance. His
Despite its name, the Roman Republic was actually quite a mix of both a republic and a democracy. This is said because they used a bottom-up system, allowing even the people with little roles to vote, such as The Assembly. They would vote for their leaders and laws, among other things, as well. One of the main factors in having a republic government is to not have the people involved in selecting leaders, but the Roman Republic did just that. A person cannot say that a republic is a republic if they allow the people to vote because having the people vote is a major part of democracy.
The citizens would elect Praetors, these were judges that ruled in the judicial branch and would be voted for each year(AR). Usually only the wealthy Praetors would be elected leaving out the middle and lower class citizens of Rome(AR).Today in The U.S., people can vote on issues that are addressed within America and are also able to vote on who is elected as the president no matter what financial state they are in. In Rome, the lower class citizens also known as the plebeians, were forced into the army and were furious at the fact that
At this time it didn't matter about the division in society, “Even the poorest of Roman citizens, the proletarii, were still represented.” They used to not look down on the poor, but they used them to become a stronger and more productive community. Although they were fairly democratic in the beginning, whenever they expanded, it slowly began to change. “Once Roman territory had expanded…it was mostly the well-to-do rural voter and their clients who could afford the time and expense to come to Rome.” (Document C)
As a Roman citizen, your citizenship varied. Some Roman citizens were full citizens, others had limited rights. Examples of citizen rights would be the right to vote, hold government careers, and indulge in business. However, this varied depending on the citizen. The Roman Republic is further demonstrated by the fact that becoming a citizen and enjoying the privileges that go along with it were more of a privilege than a fundamental human right.
Walking down the street everybody. If you 'd like The Republic was a group of patricians elected by the Plebeians, the common citizens. The republic did not have enough power for such a vast amount of land. It was corrupt by Rich business owners. They bribed the senate and the consuls to make taxes for their company so they would get even more money.
Although one of their best ideas was known as the type of government they established what is now known as the republic, and since then it has been copied by other places, the united states uses and has similarity to roman republic. The U.S government is based partly on the model of Rome’s. the parts and similarity’s that we still use today are things like citizenship, legal code, legislative branch /senate, and others. The republic all started when the romans finally overthrew the Etruscan conquerors they had around (509 B.C.E) once they were free the romans came up or established the republic, a government were the citizens picked a representative to rule on their behalf. The concept of Citizenship in Rome was that males of ages 15 or older, that came from original tribes or places of Rome became citizens.
Overall, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of the government having male citizens have authority, being an oligarchy government instead of a democratic government, and voting not accessible to women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves except for male citizens. So that is why I conclude that ancient Athens was indeed not truly
The Roman Republic was an ancient Roman civilization that was created after the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom in 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the creation of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was created in order for the rich men named aristocrats to gain even more power by removing kings from the Roman government. Soon after, the Roman upper class turned politics into a violent competition in their strive for power. Gaius Marius’ creation of “client armies” led soldiers to become more loyal towards their commander than the republic. This resulted in a commander named Lucius Cornelius Sulla overtaking Rome with his client army and establishing himself as a dictator.
“Why did the Roman Republic fall?” The Roman Republic did not fall simply from one cause, rather many external pressures that brought on political instability and destruction. There were multiple pressures that lead to the downfall of Rome including ambitious generals, changing politics, client armies, and a desolate Senate desperate to remain prominent. Many significant people of the time, who wrote letters and speeches on ancient Rome, help to build detailed recollections of the political warfare that took place between 78-31BC.
Peter Stearns. World Civilizations, the Global Experience. Greece and Rome featured an important variety of political forms. Both tended to emphasize aristocratic rule.
Patricians are the higher class and they are wealthy. Also, they are the only ones allowed to be in the government. Their percentage of the population is a small junk of Rome. To be a patrician, you had to have been given birth by a patrician. Now the plebeian on the other hand is every other person in Rome.
3. Compare and contrast the idea of democracy in Ancient Greece and Rome. Which system was more democratic and why? Democracy is the modern day standard for governmental systems. However up until 500 BCE, the concept of Democracy was a foreign concept, and the great civilizations of that era were run by monarchs, aristocrats, and religious leaders of sorts.
Nonetheless, history is full of similar stories about such important individuals who were not even given their simple rights. Seems that governments always underestimate the importance of their people as one unit, they only discover too late. They don't seem to understand that a divided society won't flourish. Plebeians were no different, they formed a large segment of the Roman society at the time, yet, they were not as lucky as the more privileged Patricians.