The Roman Republic
How the government was supposed to work.
And how it really did.
Rome Before Emperors
• Some Latin 1-2 courses spend little or no
time talking about the government of
Rome before Julius Caesar, so if this is
all new, don’t feel bad.
• Some basic information about the
structure of Republican government is
necessary to make any sense of this
reading.
Key Terms
• Consul=elected head of state. There
were always two at once. The term was
only one year.
• Senator=anyone who had previously
attained elected office at the rank of
quaestor or higher (i.e., you were never
directly elected to the Senate)
More Key Terms
• SPQR: Acronym for senatus populusque
Romanus. It is worth remembering that
the Senate was not actually the only
governing body of the Roman Republic.
There was also an assembly of the
people. The speech we are reading is
addressed to the Senate, but Cicero also
addressed the people on this matter.
Still more--in Latin!
•
Cursus honorum: literally, “the course of elected positions”. A
progression of government jobs of increasing responsibility, leading up to
the highest rank of consul.
•
Consularis: a member of the Senate who had previously been consul. A
consularis got to speak before other members did. A consularis could
run for consul again, but only after ten years had passed since his term.
(As the Republic broke down this rule was frequently ignored.)
•
Novus homo: close to American English “self-made man”, this meant a
person who became consul when none of his ancestors had done so.
This was rare (to a large extent by design).
Late Republican Political
“Parties”
•
Romans did not have a formal party system like most functioning
modern republics do, but it did have two major factions that served a
similar purpose.
•
Optimates were the “conservative” party. However, that doesn’t
mean that they necessarily shared values with modern
conservatives. “Conservative” just means that you put political value
on preserving elements of past government and/or culture: and for
Romans, that meant the dominance of wealthy landowning families
who had been in government for generations.
•
Populares, on the other hand, tended to advocate for causes that
would appeal to a larger proportion of the Roman population
(remember, the Assembly of the People was also a force to be
reckoned with).
Optimates
•
From our perspective, it can be very hard to comprehend the optimate
political position. How could you justify giving most power to people who
already had wealth and a long history of having power and wealth? It
goes against our grain.
•
However, a Roman optimate might well wonder why you didn’t see
his point. Surely those who have the most in society will take better
care of it? They have the most to lose if it falls apart.
•
(It’s also a useful historical corrective to remember that most of the
original American states, who were consciously using the Roman
Republic as a model for government, had property qualifications for
the vote. Many people forget that. These attitudes aren’t as far
removed from us as we might think.)
Populares
• We have few surviving sources written from a
populist position, so it is hard to say how many
populares were ideologically committed to
helping the poor, and how many saw that they
were a big voting bloc.
• Issues likely to appeal to the poor could include
distribution of land to the urban poor, food aid,
debt relief, etc.
So how did you get
elected?
•
All Roman voting was done in person. There were no secret ballots.
The city population was split into groups, who all voted together with a
“yea/nay”.
•
All citizens got only one vote. However, the system was intentionally
biased so that wealthy people who lived in Rome itself counted more:
•
The wealthiest groups voted first, and the election was called once
the math became clear, not necessarily when everyone was done.
Many poorer people probably thought it was a better idea to stay
home and work than waste a day waiting in line for a turn that might
never come.
•
Though citizens not resident in Rome had the vote, there were no
absentee ballots, which cut down on participation by allies.
Um, not-so-good reasons
to vote
•
We know a great deal about Roman campaigning from sources ranging
from graffiti to a manual on how to run for office which may actually have
been written by Cicero’s brother Quintus. We also have court cases
prosecuting candidates for their behavior during elections. And it was
clearly a thoroughly dirty system in Cicero’s day.
•
Bribery was illegal, but also basically compulsory. Take a look at the
picture of the food/booze bowls with slogans at the start of the unit.
Wealthier voters could get cash bribes--and would then expect all
their clients to vote the way they did.
•
Rumors, whispering campaigns and poorly fact-checked smear
stories were par for the course. Violence and intimidation were
becoming an increasing problem in Cicero’s day.
So Now You’re In the
Senate!
•
The Senate conducted its business, somewhat like a modern house of
representative government, with a presiding official (the consul) and
senators who attempted to sway votes with speeches.
•
To really imagine a day in the Roman Senate, however, you should get
C-SPAN straight out of your head. US Congress operates by very strict
rules of order that prevent most kinds of rudeness and restrict unfounded
statements. It keeps our government civil but is also the reason hardly
anyone watches C-SPAN.
•
A contentious day in the Roman Senate would have been full of insults,
yelling, interruptions, half-baked insinuations, personal dirt that we would
usually consider irrelevant, etc. . . .