The Establishment of the Republic

Expelling the Kings• Two of the last 3 kings were Etruscan –

Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus

• According to Roman legends, Tarquinius Superbus was a cruel tyrant and that is why the Romans rebelled against him

• It is also likely they saw a chance for independence when Etruria became weaker

• They expelled Tarquin in around 509BC• He tried a few times to re-conquer

Rome, but failed

The Republic in the 500s

• Republic comes from res publica – which means “the property of the people”

• However, it really did not belong to the people at first – only the nobles/patricians, who reserved most important offices for themselves

Patricians v Plebians

• Patricians (patricii in Latin) = land-owning noble class

• Plebeians (plebs in Latin) = small-scale farmers/ those without land

• At first, Republican society was heavily divided – but the plebs gradually gained more and more rights

Three Branches of Government

• The Republic was set up with 3 branches of government:

• The executive (day to day business) – consuls, Senate, officers

• The legislative (passed laws) – Senate, Comitia Centuriata (assembly of the army), Comitia Tributa(assembly of the tribes)

• The judiciary (administered the laws) – magistrates, priests

The Three elements to the Government

• Rome’s government under the Republic can be seen as a mixture of three types of government

• Monarchy – the consuls, although elected, took over many of the functions of a king (they were never called Kings (rex) though – the Romans hated Kings)

• Oligarchy – rule by the few – the Senate was made up of men chosen from ex-magistrates that ruled for life. They were the most powerful part of the government

• Democracy – officials, from the consuls to the aediles, were elected – either by the assembly of the army or the assembly of the tribes. The assembly of the tribes also had to vote on proposals before they become law

The Government in its First Stages

• At the head: the consuls– 2 elected each year by the Comitia Centuriata – assembly

of the army– Had the power of imperium – the right to command

armies and also immunity from prosecution– Presided over the Senate and over the Comitia Centuriata– Could veto (override/prevent) each other’s decrees– Could also veto all other officials’ decisions– The veto and 1 year term were designed to stop any one

man becoming too powerful

• The Senate– Chosen by consuls from ex-magistrates– Once appointed, they were Senators for life– Initially only patricians could become officials, so only patricians

could be Senators– Families where a member had held senatorial office became

known as ‘nobiles’ and commanded great respect in Rome – Could not pass laws but could issue decrees (orders) that were

almost always followed – these were labelled “SPQR” – “In the Name of the Senate and People of Rome”

– Could decide how much money the Consuls and other officials had to spend (which made them very powerful)

– Discussed possible laws, decided on them, then put them before the assembly of the tribes to vote on

– Main source of power in Rome for 500 years till Octavian became Emperor Augustus

• The other offices in order of rank (all officials could veto the decisions of the ranks bbelow them, plus their colleagues – those of the same rank)– Censors – 2 elected every 5 years – conducted a census

of the population and ‘regulated public morality’– Praetors – 2 each year – administered law and

commanded provincial armies/ governed provinces. Held imperium. Only patricians could be praetors till 337BC

– Aediles – 4 each year – managed games and festivals, fined people, assisted tribunes. 2 were plebeians and 2 could be either plebeians or patricians

• Tribunes– This was a special office created as a result of a plebeian

revolt– There were two each year, elected by an assembly of

the plebeians. They had to be plebeians themselves. – They were sacrosanct – any assault on their persons was

specially prohibited– They could veto decisions of ANY other magistrates in

Rome (even the consuls!)– They could put laws before the assembly of the tribes

(effectively bypassing the Senate) – although they did not generally use this power

– Most tribunes wanted to be Senators and worked well with the Senate

Order of advancement

• Comitia Centuriata (Assembly of the Centuries)– All Roman men belonged to a century, which was

a unit for military service– The Assembly of the Centuries voted to elect

consuls, censors and praetors– It could declare war and was the highest court of

appeal

• Comitia Tributa (Assembly of the Tribes)– Assembly of all Roman men organised by tribes – There were 35 tribes in Rome– Each tribe had 1 vote– They elected the tribunes, aediles and quaestors

Conflict of the Orders

• Initially most positions in government were restricted to the patricians

• The plebeians started campaigning for rights – this is known as the ‘conflict of the orders’

• They mainly did this by going on strike/refusing to fight when Rome was under threat – they made up the bulk of the army

• They secured many concessions and by the late Republic the division between patrician and plebeian did not mean much, except for the office of tribune

Conflict of the Orders continued

• In 494BC Rome was at war with 2 neighbouring tribes, but the plebeians refused to march against them. They assembled on a hill in Rome in what became known as the Plebeian Council and demanded the right to elect their own officials. The patricians quickly gave in.

• The new officials were the tribunes, and they were each given 2 assistants (the aediles)

• In 367BC the plebeians again refused to fight and a law was passed allowing plebeians to become, consuls. However, a new office was created (the praetor) for patricians only, in an attempt by them to keep their domination of politics.

• In 287BC the plebeians went on strike again, over issues of poverty and debt. A new law was passed that gave the Assembly of the Tribes (mainly plebeians) the right to make laws without the consent of the Senate. This removed the last major control of the patricians over the plebeians.

• At about the same time they demanded the Roman laws to be published in a public place so that the plebeians would know their legal rights patrician magistrates could not misinterpret them in court

How Democratic was the Republic?• Did regular plebeians have much more power under the new

changes?– Not really – it was incredibly expensive to campaign and run for

office. Even though plebeians could now be elected as consuls, etc, it was only the VERY wealthy among them, or occasional individuals who were so talented they attracted rich sponsors (e.g. Cicero)

– Even though poorer plebeians could vote, they were choosing from wealthy men with interests very different from their own

– Most tribunes were wealth men who wanted to become Senators so they worked closely with the Senate

– In the late Republic some politicians, called populares, actively campaigned for the interests of Rome’s poor as a way to get political advancement. The main power of the poor was still their military service, and politicians would use the threat of violence from their followers to get what they wanted

Roman attitudes to the Republic• The Romans were very proud of the government they

set up: "Now we trace the history in peace and war, of a free nation, governed by annually elected officers of state, and subject not to the caprice of individual men, but to the overriding authority of law" Livy, History of Rome

• It must have had many strengths as it stayed in place for nearly 5 centuries

• They were very protective of it – Caesar was killed because he seemed to be making himself a king a threat to the Republic

• NB Livy was writing under Augustus – this quote gives an idea of how skilful Augustus was at appearing to retain a system of free government by elected officials