The Functions and History of the Roman Senate Essay

The Functions and History of the Roman Senate In todays modern world representative government is the norm. Nearly all governments are ruled by their citizens via a republic or some other type of governing body. However, in the ancient world, this standard of democratic government had not yet taken hold; political control still belonged to the few elite, rich, and powerful persons and influential families. Thus, we have a contrast between governments of the ancient world and our modern day governments. In other words, the past generally denotes monarchy, empire, or absolute control. While modern government usually implies republic, voting, or democratic control. However, an analysis of Roman government reveals that it does†¦show more content†¦Their primary duties included leading the army, serving as judges, and having ceremonial religious duties. The next governmental institution, which represented the democratic element of the Roman Republic, are the Assemblies. These Assemblies were theoretically made up of all adult male Romans (the only exception is that they had to be present at the meetings). Their primary functions were the annual elections of consuls, approving or rejecting laws, and deciding issues of war and peace. One great flaw of this body was that the wealthier citizens voted first and thereby had a great influence on how the rest of the Assembly voted. Finally, we come to the focus of this report, that is, the Roman Senate. The Senate represented the aristocratic and elitist element of Roman government and was a collection of patrician citizens (the patrician/plebian conflict will be described in more depth later) who served as the legislative branch of the government as well as an advisory body. In the beginning of the Republic, the Senate contained 300 members, the members themselves were chosen from the patrician class, ex-consuls, and other officers who served for life. By the time that Julius Caesar gained power, the Senates membership had increased to nearly 800 people. Despite having a mostly advisory role, by the 3rd Century BC the Senate had been able to increase itsShow MoreRelatedEssay about Magna Carta1198 Words   |  5 Pagesphase in human history. It is human history. It permeated the ancient life of early peoples. It blazed anew in the middle ages. It was written in Magna Charta† (Roosevelt). As a president living in the modern era, it was surprisingly to hear such statement from him considering that the time span between 1215 and 1941 is 726 years. Whether it might seem strange or unconvincing, there is no denial in saying that the Magna Carta demonstrated some sort of democratic hopes in world history. In 1215, theRead MoreThe Political Structure Of The Late Republic849 Words   |  4 Pagesrepublic. 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