Jonah Patel
The Roman Republic's constitution, which emerged in the fourth and third centuries BC, was a set of uncodified norms and customs that guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic. It featured a system of checks and balances that included three main bodies: the magistrates, the senate, and the people. The magistrates, led by a pair of consuls, proposed bills, served as judges, and led military forces. The senate, composed of former magistrates, advised the current magistrates and had substantial influence over them. The people, in popular assemblies, voted directly on bills and appointments. This system of governance influenced the American founders, who created a system of separation of powers with similar checks and balances.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| The constitution of the Roman Republic | A set of uncodified norms and customs, along with written laws, that guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic |
| The Assemblies | Composed of the people, they were the supreme repository of political power with the authority to elect magistrates, accept or reject laws, administer justice, and declare war or peace |
| The Senate | Advised magistrates and had substantial influence due to the presence of the political elite, despite not having official law-making powers |
| The Magistrates | Led by a pair of consuls, they proposed bills, brought prosecutions, served as judges, led military forces, and performed other governmental functions |
| Checks and Balances | The Assemblies held power but were governed by magistrates; magistrates could veto each other, and plebeians elected tribunes who could also veto magistrate actions |
| Influence on the Constitution | The system of checks and balances influenced the American founders, but the characteristics and implementation differed |
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What You'll Learn
The influence of the Roman Senate
The constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of uncodified norms and customs, along with various written laws, that guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic. It featured three main branches: the assemblies, the magistrates, and the senate. The assemblies were a sovereign authority with the power to enact or reject any law, confer any magistracies, and make any decision. The magistrates, on the other hand, governed the assemblies and exercised dominating influence over them. They could also veto proceedings before the assemblies. The senate, composed of former magistrates, served as an advisory body to the magistrates.
The senate was the predominant political institution in the Roman Republic, with its authority derived primarily from custom and tradition. It was a place where free political discussion could take place, and as a body composed of the political elite, it had substantial influence on the magistrates. The senatorial opinion, enshrined in a senatus consultum, was largely deferred to, even though the senate did not have the official right to create laws. The senate resolved disputes between magistrates and oversaw the allocation of public resources and responsibilities, including provinces. Some of its responsibilities were enshrined in specific legislation, such as the lex Caecilia Didia, which gave the senate the power to declare a law invalid.
The Roman constitution, with its system of checks and balances, had a lasting influence on constitutional thinking, including the American founders. The separation of powers and the system of checks and balances in the American constitution can be traced back to the Roman Republic's constitutional structure. However, it is important to note that while the Roman Senate advised and influenced, it did not have the explicit power to create laws, which was a key difference. The people of Rome voted directly on bills and appointments in popular assemblies, and the magistrates, led by consuls, proposed bills and performed other governmental functions.
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The role of the Assemblies
The Roman Republic was a complex system of governance that mixed democratic, aristocratic, and monarchical elements. The democratic element was represented by the popular assemblies, which played a crucial role in the functioning of the Roman Republic.
The popular assemblies, or the Roman assemblies, were meetings of the Roman people duly convened by a magistrate. There were two main types of assemblies: the contio and the comitia. The contio was a gathering where people convened to hear speeches or statements from speakers, while the comitia was an assembly called to make decisions or enact legislation. Citizens in the comitia were divided into voting blocks, such as curiae, centuriae, and tribus, giving rise to the curiate, centuriate, and tribal assemblies. The centuriate assembly, or comitia centuriata, was a popular assembly that served a largely electoral purpose, electing consuls, praetors, and censors. The curiate assembly, or comitia curiata, was the oldest assembly and was the main legislative and electoral assembly in the early republican periods. The tribal assembly, or comitia tributa, was composed of 35 tribes of Roman citizens and was presided over by a consul.
The assemblies played a crucial role in the Roman Republic as they were the supreme repository of political power. They had the authority to elect magistrates, accept or reject laws, administer justice, and make decisions regarding war and peace. They were also a source of legitimacy for the Roman Republic. While the assemblies held theoretical power, they were called and governed by magistrates, who exercised dominating influence over them. The magistrates could also veto proceedings before the assemblies.
The Roman constitution evolved over time, and the power dynamics between the assemblies, the Senate, and the magistrates shifted. The Senate, composed of former magistrates, offered advice and influence that was often binding. Over time, the Senate's power expanded, especially in civil law-making, while the power of the legislative assemblies declined. By the end of the Republic, the emperor accrued direct legislative power, rendering the assemblies obsolete.
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The power of the magistrates
The constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of uncodified norms and customs that guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic. It featured three main branches: the assemblies, the senate, and the magistrates.
The magistrates formed one of the three main bodies of the Roman Republic's constitution, with the others being the senate and the people. There were many magistrates, of which the most important were the consuls and the plebeian tribunes. The consuls' main role was to lead the republic's armies in war, and they were endowed with the power to command and consult the gods. The tribunes emerged from the conflict of the orders with the power to veto any other magistrate's actions. They were also, for much of the republic, the main legislators, with the power to call an assembly of the people and propose laws.
The magistrates were responsible for proposing bills, bringing prosecutions, serving as judges, leading military forces, and performing other governmental functions. They were led by a pair of consuls, who were the most important magistrates. The power of the magistrates was checked by a system of vetoes, where each magistrate could veto one of their colleagues, and the tribunes could also intercede and veto the actions of a magistrate. The assemblies, which were composed of the people, also theoretically held all power and could enact or reject any law, confer any magistracies, and make any decision. However, they were called and governed by the magistrates, who controlled the discussion and exercised dominating influence over them.
The number of praetors, another type of magistrate, increased over the course of the republic. They were initially elected as military commanders and governors of provinces, but their main responsibility later became the administration of justice. They also had the right to introduce legislation, call the senate, and supervise certain religious festivals.
The senate, composed of former magistrates, advised the current magistrates and had substantial influence over them. While the senate did not have the official right to create laws, its opinions were largely deferred to and were often binding. The senate also resolved disputes between magistrates and oversaw the allocation of public resources and responsibilities to magistrates.
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The evolution of the constitution
The constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of uncodified norms and customs that, along with various written laws, guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic. The constitution emerged from that of the Roman Kingdom and evolved significantly over the almost five hundred years of the republic. The republican constitution can be divided into three main branches: the Assemblies, the Senate, and the Magistrates.
The Assemblies were composed of the people and served as the supreme repository of political power. They had the authority to enact or reject any law, confer any magistracies, and make any decision. This view of popular sovereignty emerged from the Roman conception that the people and the state (or government) were one and the same. The Assemblies were called and governed by the magistrates, who controlled discussion and exercised dominating influence over them.
The Senate was the predominant political institution in the Roman Republic. Its authority derived primarily from custom and tradition, and it was one of the few places where free political discussion could take place. The Senate was composed of former magistrates and advised the current magistrates. While it did not have the official right to create laws, senatorial opinion, enshrined in a senatus consultum, was largely deferred to. The Senate resolved disputes between magistrates and oversaw the allocation of public resources and responsibilities, including provinces, to magistrates.
The Magistrates were the third branch of the Roman Republic constitution. There were many magistrates, of which the most important were the consuls and the plebeian tribunes. The consuls' main role was to lead the republic's armies in war, and they were endowed with the power to command and consult the gods. The number of consuls increased over the course of the republic as the Roman Empire grew and two annual consuls became insufficient to command its many armies. Praetors were also magistrates, and their main responsibility was to administer justice. They also had the right to introduce legislation, call the senate, and supervise certain religious festivals.
The constitution of the Roman Republic featured a system of checks and balances, with each branch having the ability to influence or veto the actions of the other branches. This system of checks and balances would eventually influence the American founders in creating their own system of separation of powers. However, the Roman constitution had very different characteristics from the American system, and it may have been unsuitable for a large, diverse empire.
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The impact of the Conflict of the Orders
The Conflict of the Orders, or the Struggle of the Orders, was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the early Roman Republic. Lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC, the conflict played a significant role in shaping the Constitution of the Roman Republic.
During the early years of the Roman Republic, the plebeians were excluded from holding public office or participating in government, despite being full citizens of Rome. The patricians, on the other hand, held most of the political, economic, and religious power in the city. This power dynamic led to significant frustration among the plebeians, who felt they were being treated unfairly.
The Conflict of the Orders began when the plebeians, who made up the majority of the soldiers, realised their military service was leaving their farms abandoned and their livelihoods at risk. Turning to the patricians for aid, they often found themselves in a position of abuse or even enslavement. In 494 BC, during a time of war with three Italic tribes, the plebeian soldiers, advised by Lucius Sicinius Vellutus, refused to march and instead seceded to the Sacred Mount outside Rome. This act of striking and withholding their military labour forced the patricians to negotiate and make concessions.
The first concession was the creation of the Plebeian Council (Concilium Plebis), an assembly where plebeians could meet and elect their own officials to protect their rights. The second concession was the creation of two political roles dedicated to addressing plebeian concerns: the Plebeian Aedile and the Tribune of the Plebs. The Tribune, in particular, held significant power as it could only be held by plebeians and had the authority to block patrician legislation.
Over time, the conflict led to a series of laws being passed that gradually provided more freedoms and political equality for the plebeians. In 471 BC, the Lex Publilia was passed, transferring the election of tribunes from the influence of patrician clients to the Tribal Assembly (comitia populi tributa). This marked an important shift in power dynamics, freeing plebeian elections from patrician influence. By 449 BC, another modification was made to the Valerian law, giving full force of law to plebiscites, which previously only applied to plebeians.
The Conflict of the Orders ended with the lex Hortensia, which brought the plebeians to full political equality with the patricians. While the patricians sought to maintain their power through adoption practices, the ultimate outcome was a new patricio-plebeian aristocracy (nobilitas) that replaced the old patrician nobility.
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Frequently asked questions
The constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of unwritten norms and customs that guided the procedural governance of the Roman Republic. It featured three main branches: the assemblies, composed of the people; the Senate, composed of former magistrates; and the magistrates themselves.
The US Constitution includes a system of checks and balances influenced by the Roman Republic's constitution. The Roman Senate advised and influenced magistrates without legislating, while the people voted directly on bills and appointments in popular assemblies.
The magistrates proposed bills, brought prosecutions, served as judges, led military forces, and performed other governmental functions. They were led by a pair of consuls, who were the most important magistrates and had the power to command and consult the gods.
The assemblies were a sovereign authority with the power to enact or reject any law, confer any magistracies, and make any decision. They were composed of the citizens, who heard speakers put forth by the presiding officer and then voted.
The Senate was a predominant political institution in the Roman Republic, composed of former magistrates. While it did not have the official right to create law, its opinions were often deferred to and it regularly directed magistrates on what to do and how to do it.
