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    SPQR - The Constitution of The Roman Republic

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    Eve Marie-Cecilia Wise
    The Roman Republic had a highly complex and innovative constitution that contributed to its great success. It established a mixed government with three branches - the Senate, elected executive magistrates, and the democratic assemblies. A system of checks and balances minimized corruption and promoted good governance. The Senate directed administration, foreign policy, and criminal investigations. Consuls had high executive authority but required consensus. Other elected magistrates included praetors, quaestors, aediles and censors. Tribunes represented plebeians and could veto other magistrates' actions. Ultimate sovereignty resided with the Roman people through legislative and judicial assemblies. This balanced yet flexible system allowed Rome to become a great superpower, though some argue separation of powers could have

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    SPQR - The Constitution of The Roman Republic

    Uploaded by

    Eve Marie-Cecilia Wise
    138 views2 pages
    The Roman Republic had a highly complex and innovative constitution that contributed to its great success. It established a mixed government with three branches - the Senate, elected executive magistrates, and the democratic assemblies. A system of checks and balances minimized corruption and promoted good governance. The Senate directed administration, foreign policy, and criminal investigations. Consuls had high executive authority but required consensus. Other elected magistrates included praetors, quaestors, aediles and censors. Tribunes represented plebeians and could veto other magistrates' actions. Ultimate sovereignty resided with the Roman people through legislative and judicial assemblies. This balanced yet flexible system allowed Rome to become a great superpower, though some argue separation of powers could have

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    SPQR - The Constitution of the Roman Republic

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    The Roman Republic had a highly complex and innovative constitution that contributed to its great success. It established a mixed government with three branches - the Senate, elected executive magistrates, and the democratic assemblies. A system of checks and balances minimized corruption and promoted good governance. The Senate directed administration, foreign policy, and criminal investigations. Consuls had high executive authority but required consensus. Other elected magistrates included praetors, quaestors, aediles and censors. Tribunes represented plebeians and could veto other magistrates' actions. Ultimate sovereignty resided with the Roman people through legislative and judicial assemblies. This balanced yet flexible system allowed Rome to become a great superpower, though some argue separation of powers could have

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    138 views2 pages

    SPQR - The Constitution of The Roman Republic

    Uploaded by

    Eve Marie-Cecilia Wise
    The Roman Republic had a highly complex and innovative constitution that contributed to its great success. It established a mixed government with three branches - the Senate, elected executive magistrates, and the democratic assemblies. A system of checks and balances minimized corruption and promoted good governance. The Senate directed administration, foreign policy, and criminal investigations. Consuls had high executive authority but required consensus. Other elected magistrates included praetors, quaestors, aediles and censors. Tribunes represented plebeians and could veto other magistrates' actions. Ultimate sovereignty resided with the Roman people through legislative and judicial assemblies. This balanced yet flexible system allowed Rome to become a great superpower, though some argue separation of powers could have

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    SPQR: The Constitution of the Republic of Rome

    A huge element in the success of a republic is its constitution, and few republics were ever quite as successful as the Republic of Rome. Its constitution made it a veritable superpower of its time, allowing for innovation and progress. It was set up in such a way that it was not a monarchy (like the later times of Roman Empire), an aristocracy (similar to ancient Sparta), or a primary democracy (such as Athens), but drew upon all three of these to form a kind of mixed government with three branches: the Senate, the elected executive magistrates, and the demos (people), the legislative assembly. An incredibly complex series of checks and balances were employed to minimize the likelihood of corruption among the three branches, and to promote the chances of good government. The Senate played a central role in the more day-to-day functionality of the constitution. It controlled the treasury, the administration, and all of the details of foreign policy, and nearly all crimes which required public investigation were in the hands of the Senate. The Senate also appointed the military tribunes. According to Polybius, the Senate was the predominant branch of government. The members of the Senate were not elected officials, but were appointed by the consuls. Normally, after a magistrate had finished serving their time in office, they would be automatically appointed to serve in the Senate. The consuls had nearly the highest authority of the executive magistrates. All of the other magistrates, excluding the tribunes, were to follow and answer to the consuls. The consuls would oversee the Senate when it was in session, and served basically as the heads of the government for the republic. Two consuls were elected each year, and they

    could only rule together by mutual consensus. Underneath the consuls were the praetors, who took over some of the duties of the consuls, including commanding the army. Also elected were the quaestors, who supervised financial affairs and the treasury, the aediles, who were responsible for the maintenance and regulation of public buildings and festivals as well as enforcing public order, and the censors, who maintained the census and supervised public morality. The last of the executive magistrates were the tribunes, who had the power to convene the Plebian Council and preside over it and to veto the actions of the other magistrates, specifically on behalf of the plebeians. The ultimate source of sovereignty however, as with any republic, lay with the people. The Roman people would convene in a council to enact laws, elect the magistrates, and try judicial cases. All matters of life and death in the Roman Republic were left to the hands of the people of Rome. The demos had absolute power when it came to passing or repealing a law, and the final decision of war or peace was left to a vote by the people. Though far from perfect, the mixed government of the Roman Republic was undoubtedly the best of its time, and many of its elements are still being used today in the United States constitution. Perhaps, had there been more of a separation between the three branches and less use of constitutional devices which were out of harmony with the genius that was the constitution of the Roman Republic, the great superpower which was the Republic of Rome might have lasted longer and grown even more successful.

    SPQR Senatus Populusque Romanus

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