Roman Republic: 509 BCE - 27 BCE - Research Paper

Introduction

The Roman Republic began in 509 BCE and ended in 27 BCE. It was a structure centered on political representation of the citizens of Rome. It was headed two diplomats. These representatives were mainly armed officers who led the Rome's army. The senate was comprised of Roman civilians who were given the role of guiding both judges and the Roman people. The Roman Republic had two primary meetings throughout this period; the tribal assembly, and the centuriate assembly. The tribal assembly was structured with civilians who elected judges who were not given the right to ballot on armed matters. The centuriate assembly selected judges who had ower to poll on martial matters. The essay will provide the comparison between the Roman Republic, and Roman Empire.

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In the Roman Republic, the Roman military often participated in war, and defeat. Rome's trade with, and the conquest of the other nations made it hard for the central, and lower socio-class to get by, instigating battle among the classes. The struggle initiated the phase for the climax of the Roman Republic and the start of the Roman Empire. One notable contrast, between the Roman Republic and Empire is, the Republic ended due to conflict and war, while the Empire flourished.

The Roman Empire revived after the the failure of the Roman Republic and was characterized by an adminstration that was led by monarchs. The Roman Empire governed across swaths of the Mediterranean, and also across Asia and Africa. Unlike, the Roman Republic, during the reign of an empire, Rome became the biggest and most powerful city in the world. Another contrast is Roman emperors adminstered with little impact unlike the structured legislature in the Roman Republic where in the two assemblies parliamentarians elected judges and civilians respectively. In overall nature, Rome under emperor Augustus supported the growth of business, represented a strong money system, and the infrastructure developed significantly during this period as opposed to the Roman Republic.

The most renowned feature of the Roman system from a contemporary outlook was the elaborate set of protections against the accumulations of executive power in a single individual. The overall goal was to avert the recurrence of Monarchy, but the risk of checks, and balances since they would derail governance. Both Roman Republic and Empire had a consititution that was marred with political derogatives. The Roman consitution was subdivided into three main facets; the senate, the magistrates, and the assemblies. The senate is politically significant as the locus for political polemics, and they also have advisory authorities in a formal sense. The magistartes have a significant executive, and adminstrative authorities, albeit serving as judges, and introducing legislation by summoning assemblies of individuals submittin bills to them for their approval.

One notable similarities between the Roman Republic and Empire is they existed in eras of instability that ultimately caused their demise. For example, splitting of the east/west empires, and lack of proper succession contributed to the decline of Roman Empire. Further, the divisions of religious groups, such as Eastern and Egyptian cults robbed away the culture and status of traditional Roman religion. Both adminstrations significantly lated for almost the same period of time, and it would be hard to establish the system that was successful.

The Roman Republic governed most of the Italian Peninsula and soon spread into the Mediterranean, where it resulted into battle with the Phoenicians, principally over colonization, and sovereignity of Sicily. Even though the Romans triumphed all three punic wars, the process had been expensive, and those who pariticipated in the wars had been forced to leave their homes, and farms that were in disorder. They sold their farms to a number of affluent citizens, and thus lost their right to vote. The final outcome was a fierce war, and later a slave rebellion led by Spartacus that concluded with a number of generals raising private armies, including the Gius Julius Caesar.

The Roman Empire endured abit longer than the Republic, nevertheless their terroritorial gains were remarkably more broad. The republic land restrained itself to the Italian Peninsula, and the Mediterranean, the Empire further extended to Britain in the West, and to the shores of the Rhine and Danube Rivers in the East. It involved huge figures of individuals, and thereby spread of Roman culture. Another reason that made both systems to decline was economic factors. The motive why the Roman economy did not grow towards modernism was due to slave practice, and also because there was no proper mechanism of making fecund labor well-intentioned to attract investors.

The production for commodities, through impressive in its entirety never attained its maximum potential value. Once wealth had been achieved for the few, who long only for the continuation of their freedoms, there was almost no middle class pushing toward liberal development, capabble of beginning a real viable revolution. The overall locus of power in the Roman republic was dictatorship, that was only meaningful when Rome was in great danger of their opponents. A dictator voted by the citizens had a sovereign authority over Rome, and the military in case of an emergency.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper has provided an overarching analysis of the comparison, and contrast between the Roman Republic and Empire. A common similarity between both Roman systems is that they both occurred in eras of instability that ultimately caused their decline. For example, the divisions of religious groups, such as Eastern and Egyptian cults robbed away the culture and status of traditional Roman religion. In the Roman Republic, the Roman army often participated in war, and defeat. Rome's trade with, and the conquest of the other nations made it difficult for the middle, and lower socio-class to get by, prompting battle amid the classes. The major contrast between the Republic and Empire is that Roman Empire flourished economically, and socially as opposed to Roman republic which was marred with social class war.

Biliography

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