Monarchy is defined as ‘a form of government with a monarch at the head’ and was the first arrangement of power in Rome after its founding by Romulus, who reigned from 753-715BC.1 However, by 510BC, the despotic actions of Tarquinius Superbus marked the end of a succession of increasingly tyrannical kings, and the ‘Roman Republic’ was established. This system was based on a sharing of power between, foremost, two consuls who were elected by the people and held office for only one year, then 300 senators, and two popular assemblies, the comitia curiata and the comitia centuriata. With such a spread of auctoritas, the Roman state would be at less risk from corrupt men with their aims set on an autocratic rule. The precepts of the Roman republic were honourable and upheld, in the most part, until the civil wars of 91BC onwards disturbed it, culminating in what many would consider the fall of the Republic, and thus the establishment of a monarchy, with Augustus at the battle of Actium on 2nd September 31BC.…
Though both empires had similar causes for declines, they had different political systems that caused the empires to rise to power. The Han dynasty was built on Legalism, while the Roman empire was built on a republic government. Legalism consisted of strict obedience of the equally applied law, which kept everyone, no matter political, economic or social status, in check. Because the system of the law ran the state, it created a stable political system even when the ruler was weak. Under legalism, success became based on skill and not contacts, so there were more qualified people in office. In the Roman Republic government, the Assembly (the common man) voted each year to elect two new members of the Senate ( the noble and wealthy man). This created a separation of powers that kept internal conflicts at bay. This allowed for Rome to focus more on expansions.…
From its founding in the eighth century BCE to its western collapse in 476 CE, Romes governmental structure changed considerably. After a brief period of monarchy, the Roman Republic was established. The republic rules for several centuries, ruling by the voice of the people. Senators represented the interested of Roman citizens. However, with the reign of Caesar, this changed. Rome became an empire ruled by a single emperor. His dictatorial rule was imposed upon the people without their consent, starkly different from the elected representatives of the republican era. Later, Diocletian decided to split the empire, causing two separate political entities to develop; the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. This destroyed Romes original unified imperial structure and gave it a more regional character. The strength of the bold empire was lost. Also, Roman political attitudes toward religion changed during its history. Traditionally, Rome was pagan, with most worshipping a polytheistic religion sponsored by the state. Later, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, and Rome became a Christian empire. This was much different from the pagan beliefs of long ago. In addition, women gained a few rights during the imperial era, granted by politicians in the government. They had more commercial rights and freedoms than their republican predecessors.…
The Roman Forum was the central gathering for the Romans. The Forum was considered to be their capital, and with a centralized place, comes centralized government and laws (8). The Romans also held the importance of Senators, and ruling office very close. The senators were the ones who were able to keep the native-born citizens living a hectic free lifestyle (5). Religious views and inputs were also held very high in Rome. The Romans placed material goods higher up in their life (6). Rome also classified their citizens into three different social categories. First were the Egyptians and natives who were very poor citizens, second was the mercenaries who were an undiscipled body, and the third was Alexandrians who unlike their mercenaries, followed the Hellenistic customs, and were of Greek origin (10).…
The roman and Han Empire were different in their political and governmental control through the use of the monarchy and the republic system. The monarchy of the Han Empire was a method of political control because it really strengthened the power of the government to really crackdown on the citizens to make sure that there were no protests or any riots. This control also showed the kinds of beliefs that they had in Han China. Also another type of political control that they used was the filial piety. Filial piety is the respect for your father and elders. This kept the people in check because they had to respect all their elders and the people that were above them. In the Roman Empire the republic method was more based on keeping the society happy then using political authority power. They would hold bread circuses and different events such as the gladiatorial games to keep them happy and prevent riots. The effectiveness of the system in Rome is demonstrated by the explosion of art, giving credit to people that…
The Romans began a republic which had a 2 consuls, a senate, assemblies, and officials. The consuls were similar to modern day presidents but stayed in office for only a year. The Senate led religious events and foreign policy. It also was in control of the revenue. Roman senate consisted of the wealthy men. The assemblies were created so the people other than the wealthy could have their say in the government. However the people in the assemblies had to be full citizen males, meaning no foreigners or slaves. Roman republic officials did have decent authority but there laws were made to ensure they did not get too much power, leaving more of it to the wealthy. Rome was also centralized, because of its location and saw many migrations and invasions, from Po River people and those in Sicily. At 44 B.C. Rome became an empire, led by an emperor, with senators, advisers, and of course the massive army. Over time, the Roman army became more and more powerful. When Romans would conquer and expand they would normally devastate that area. Eventually, Rome became a military monarchy. Rome then split its empire in two, having a emperor in the west, and another in the east.…
Han and Imperial Rome both exercised political control through similar government structures and social hierarchies. There were many elites who supported Han China’s emperor, Wu di and the “mandate of Heaven.” In Han, their government hierarchies were based on confusium. The followers of this included many bureaucrats, common people, and peasants. Imperial rome had a had a very similar way of ranking these people. Rome had a main leader. Emperor Augustus Ceasar. The top class in Rome was then bureaucrats and politicians, much like Han China. Below them came merchants, common people, and peasants. Then even below them came Slaves used for labor, but this was only used in Imperial Rome. This ranking system was a major similarity between these two civilizations political structure, and structure both civilizations greatly.…
Rome: “republic” based on citizenship of free men; citizenship ensured loyalty to the state and brought taxes into the state treasury; emperor-dictators had to support the idea of the republic and pretend to follow what the Senate, council of elder wealthy men, decreed. Development of bureaucracy helped run empire.…
I think Rome was an Empire under the Republic. Differences were the forms of government. In the Republic the people had voting rights and would elect the officials, the Republic was a system based on the rule of law, and a cleverly balanced constitution that was not a written document, but consisted of an accord between the 3 elements, democracy, monarchy, and oligarchy. On the other hand the Empire or Principate, a system based on an emperor. One man had total, absolute power. In the republic there was a collective form of government; in the Principate it was a one man rule (Emperor). Both the Roman Republic and Roman Empire had periods of instability which ultimately caused their demise. Interestingly, each lasted for almost the same amount of time, so it would be difficult to ascertain one as more "successful" than the other. The Roman Republic controlled most of the Italian Peninsula and soon spread into the Mediterranean, they came in conflicts and things started getting hard. Although the dying republic was ruled for a short time by the famous triumvirate; it soon collapsed with the death of Crassus and Julius Caesar became the first Roman Emperor. The Empire itself lasted no longer than the Republic, but its territorial gains were considerably more extensive. The Empire extended to Britain in the West, and to the banks of the Rhine and Danube Rivers in the East. It encompassed vast numbers of people and thereby spread Roman culture throughout Western Europe. The empire was brought about largely by Caesar who was a man of the people and rose on a popularist platform of protecting the citizens rights against the greed of the senate and redistributing wealth.…
The Roman Senate had executive power, while Han emperors presided over a centralized, bureaucratic government headed by a prime minister. As time progressed, empires became mixtures of previous empires� aspects of civilization.…
Rome a. Definition of citizenship changed over time b. Pragmatic innovation and adaptation as empire's ideals c. Common language was Latin C. Patterns of imperial expansion 1. Both consolidated their power within their environmental limits using a common legal framework 2. They had different patterns of development, types of public servants, and government practices 3.…
In the later part of the Roman Empire’s existence, their political and government was fraught with political corruption and incompetent leaders. The…
This disparity in power was evident in the political structure. During the centuries of the Roman Empire, there were many changes in the governing. A monarchy became an oligarchy which became a military dictatorship which became emperor rule. However, throughout that whole history, the rich remained on top, and the poor remained lesser.…
The early Roman Republic will always be remembered for its revolutionary government. Citizen-elected leaders who represented both the rich and the poor worked together for the well-being of the country as a whole. After the decline of the Empire began, however, politics in Rome became less and less respectable. The emperor, who was at one time chosen fairly and based on merit and potential as a leader, was now being given away on other terms. The Praetorian…
Between 200 B.C.E. – 200 C.E. The Roman Empire ruled with an iron fist controlling mostly and if not all of the Mediterranean. This was due to two main factors, these are it military power and the political system it was able to develop. However most of the Romans accomplishment didn’t happen as an empire, but a republic. While as a republic, Romans created a political system that heavily influenced many to move to the Rome. In the article Ways of the World by Robert W. Strayer he states that the political system created “a written code of law offered plebeians (the poor class) some protection from abuse” from the upper or elite classes. Also this provided a better “system of public assemblies [that] provided an opportunity for lower classes to shape public policy and a new office of tribune” that would represent them in these assemblies. This was a huge part of Rome popularity and its growing number. This was the first time were the poorer classes had any kind of support from a political system. The Romans had get deal of pride with their newly developed system that benefited everyone. They also believed that the political system gave them a “greater freedom than did many of their more autocratic neighbors.”…