How Did The Roman Republic Have Its Own Form Of Democracy
The Roman Republic ruled 2,045 years ago, but like the United States it had its own form of democracy. “Demo” means people and “cracy” means government so democracy means a government for the people. In Rome the government wasn’t perfect, but it still allowed the people some freedom and gave them certain rights to government affairs. The Roman Republic was, however, more democratic than not because one part of the government was made up of lower class citizens, people could vote, and the citizens were allowed to legislate.
Similar to the United States, there were three branches of the government one of which was made up of lower class citizens called Plebeians allowing normal citizens to vote. One branch was called the Consuls and they were the supreme masters of the government. The second one was the Senate and they proposed laws and had control over the treasury. Lastly there was the Assemblies which was completely made up of the people. Citizens were allowed to vote on who made up the Assemblies, so they essentially voted on who would vote for them. In the Roman Republic, there were two types of citizens that made …show more content…
Being able to pass legislation is giving the people of Rome one more right that the nobles do not have. It gives them some power and leadership in the government system. As stated by Fergus Millar in his book The Crowd in the Late Republic, “The exclusive right of the Assemblies to pass legislation is by far the strongest reason why, in purely formal terms, the Roman Republic has to be characterized as a democracy.” Out of all the rights the people had, being able to legislate was very significant because by making laws it in turn shows that the citizens got to dictate laws and ways of life in the city-state of Rome. Legislation is in fact the most important right that the Roman Republic allowed its citizens to have because it gives them lots of power over the
Similar to the United States, there were three branches of the government one of which was made up of lower class citizens called Plebeians allowing normal citizens to vote. One branch was called the Consuls and they were the supreme masters of the government. The second one was the Senate and they proposed laws and had control over the treasury. Lastly there was the Assemblies which was completely made up of the people. Citizens were allowed to vote on who made up the Assemblies, so they essentially voted on who would vote for them. In the Roman Republic, there were two types of citizens that made …show more content…
Being able to pass legislation is giving the people of Rome one more right that the nobles do not have. It gives them some power and leadership in the government system. As stated by Fergus Millar in his book The Crowd in the Late Republic, “The exclusive right of the Assemblies to pass legislation is by far the strongest reason why, in purely formal terms, the Roman Republic has to be characterized as a democracy.” Out of all the rights the people had, being able to legislate was very significant because by making laws it in turn shows that the citizens got to dictate laws and ways of life in the city-state of Rome. Legislation is in fact the most important right that the Roman Republic allowed its citizens to have because it gives them lots of power over the