Roman+Republic+Governmental+Structure

__**Introduction**__ In second century B.C.E. Rome was an aristocracy, consisting of the heads of patrician party. Patricains were the political party whose ancestors dated back to the founding fathers of Rome. In a Roman family the father was called the pater therefore the family members in that family were called the patricians. When the patrician families sharing a common ancestor combine they form clans or gens. Gens, (the distinction between gens was formed based on the founding fathers of Rome and wealth) would be joined to form curiae. The curiae made tribes, and the tribes formed the council. After the aristocracy was transformed into a republic, the curiae could vote, and the council was then only used for military concerns. The council then formed a senate, but as more people moved into Rome, the plebians, people in Rome who are not part of the founding fathers, were formed. There were debates between the patrician party and the plebian party on the way the government should have been run. The two parties fought with each other, helping to shape the form of Roman government known as the Roman Republic, in 510 B.C.E.

__**The Executive Branch**__ The head of the republic was a dictator. This was someone who had to be a plebian or a patrician, a born free male, and had to have gone through the political offices being appointed by the 2 consul men. The dictator could serve for up to six months and would only be placed as a dictator in time of a crisis or when the constitution was suspended. The more common figure at the top was the two consuls, they would serve as generals in military campaigns, they could over rule the senate and assemblies, they represented Rome in foreign affairs and could appoint or be appointed as a dictator in times of crisis. Both the consul and the dictator normally would go and govern a province as proconsul, after their term in office was up. Next in line was the eight praetors, who severed as judges for the law and could call the Senate and the assemblies. In time of crisis when the consul was absent from Rome the praetors would step into their position. After the term of a praetor, they would get to rule a province as a propraetor. Censors are next in line and were elected every five years ruling for only one and a half years. Censors could revise lists of senators and equestrians (military class), conduct census of citizens and property for taxation and state contracts. Further down in the ranking are the aediles, there are four of them and two come from the plebians, the other two (who hold a higher role) can come from either of the two classes, and these people were later called curule aediles. The aediles will supervise public games, public places, and the grain supply in Rome. Ten tribunes are next in line of ranking, and they had to be plebian. The tribunes had to be plebian in order for the plebian class to not lose their say in the magistrate. The job of a tribune was to veto laws made by the magistrates, and stop official act of administration. This would be their version of checks and balances between the plebian and patrician class. They were called sacrosanct, which means that they convened the Senate and assemblies and could initiate legislation. If someone puts a physical attack on the tribunes they would be immediately killed. The lowest rank of government was the quaestors. There were twenty quaestors who administered finances through out the state treasury and served in provinces. Once elected as a quaestor they were immediately eligible to become a part of the Senate, only if the censors fully appointed them. //

__**The Constitution/ Principles of the Structure**__ The rules for re-election were that a term was one year and to be eligible for re-election of a higher rank there must be a two to three year wait. For re-election of the same position it must be a ten-year wait. There was always a sense of collegiality in the Roman government, containing at least two people in every rank of government and having an even number. This was so there would be a variety of people, and the idea behind that was so that everyone in the Roman populus would be represented. The Roman Senate is the most important part of the Roman government. The Roman Senate is the only place where debate can take place and it controls all foreign affairs and finances holding the highest prestige. The constitution was never officially written down on a piece of paper but still formed their entire government. The constitution was basically rules on how the government should be run, the number of years in office, re-elections, and who could hold an official rank in government.

__**The Senate and Assemblies**__ The Roman Senate consists of mostly patrician males, composing of 600 magistrates and ex-magistrates. The minimum requirement was that they would have to be at the least a quaetor and they served for life unless over thrown by a censor. The Senate worked on laws before they were sent for final ratification of the assemblies. They meet in the curia, and were known as the chief government. The Senate was called SPQR, Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and the Roman people. The assembly was separated into three groups, the Assembly of the Curiae, the Assembly of the Centuries, and the Assembly of the Tribes. The assembly of the Curiae was composed of patricians, and had the role of governing ceremonial and religious events. The ceremonial and religious events were based off the founding fathers of Rome, so the ones who are participating in these events are the people running them. The assembly of the Centuries was made up of elected consuls, praetors, and censors. Their role in governing was to declare war and to help decide if citizens should be sentenced to death or not. There was 193 centuries and the amount of power they have in the vote is determined by their amount of wealth. The assembly of the Tribe's role was to elect other magistrates and vote on laws. The tribes were originally based on the geographical location, as more plebians moved into Rome, they needed representation in the Republic. Therefore, the sub group Concilium Plebis was formed, they would obtain all the rights of the assembly of Tribes but, would be made up of only plebians. //

__**Who Broke the Rules**__ Catatline broke these rules by killing alot of Rome's Senators, in order to take control over the republic. There was also a theory that Crassus and Ceasar were planing on taking over the republic by Crassus having absolute power, clearly braking the constitution. Both of these attempts to corrupt the Roman Republic did fail though. Sulla also broke the rules by bribing his way into the Senate and taking dictatorship for well over a year, killing many people who were considered "enemies". Only the assembly of Centuries was able to declare death for a citizen or individual and to be dictator it was to be only for six months. The Gracchi Brotherswere also ones who tried to brake the rules. Tiberius Gracchustried running for tribune another year in a row, which was against the rules therefore he was killed by his opposing party. The other brother, Gaius Gracchus, was not re-elected for the third year and rebelled against the senate for this reason. Caesar broke almost all of these rules. By the time of his death he was dictator, a senator, a praetor, a tribune carrying high authority through his military conquest and was the high priest for Rome. This was very much against the rules and most likely helped to lead to the decision of the conspirators that he would have to be killed. There would be no other way to convict him, he was to powerful and could easily put anyone who would try to convict him, put them to death. For another graphic on the structure of the Roman Republic go to this link below: [|faculty.nmu.edu/kkendall/HS%20101/04a%20Roman%20Rep%20govt.jpg]