Political Structure and Rule of the Roman Republic - Essay Example

Number Political Structure and Rule of the Roman Republic Political Structure and Rule of the Roman Republic Through drawing a number of documents that eventually became the Roman constitution, the Romans are credited with coming up with a political organization model that is now referred to as a republic in the contemporary settings. The Roman Republic that was in existence between 509-31 BC was more of a union of several states under the control of a central authority that was representative.

In terms of structure, the Roman Republic was a three-tier form of government comprising of the executive branch headed by a magistrate/consul, executive branch made up of several hundreds of senators, and lastly the Assembly of Tribes that was made up of the rest of citizens. Each of these three branches of the Roman Republic had specific duties in the administration of their rule (McKay et al, 2009). The executive branch that was made up of two consuls was the supreme authority in the Republic and ruled over the civilian population and the commanded the military.

However, each had veto power and as such could turn down the opinions or ideas of the other and their stay in power was limited to one term in office from where they joined the Senate for the rest of their lives. Like former kings, the consuls had the power to act as judges and preside over religious ceremonies (McKay et al, 2009). The second tier of the Republic—the Senate, doubled as the legislative and advisory arm of the government (Kreis, 2009). The Senate comprised of ex-consuls and other former officers of the administration and they were mandated to serve for life.

The whole of the military under the umbrella name Assembly of Centuries conducted yearly elections for the consuls. The last tier of the government, the Assembly of Tribes, comprising of all the citizen population, was charged with endorsing or turning down the laws that were proposed by the Senate and in deciding on issues related to war and peace (Kreis, 2009). Some of the causes of the collapse Roman Republic between 133 and 31 BCE Between 133 and 31 BCE, a number of factors precipitated the collapse of the Roman Republic.

One, the Roman Republic model of administration greatly oppressed the peasantry particularly in view of the fact that state-owned land was under the control of the wealthy and powerful senators, making the peasants to flock into the cities out of idleness. Two, by 133BC, the Senate had disintegrated into two factions—the ‘Optimates’ and the ‘Populares’. The former, though few in number, were politically influential and their desire was to maintain the status quo while the latter defined themselves as the champions of the poor—advocating for land re-distribution and reforms in the government (McKay, 2009).

Third, there was an uprising of personal and ambitious power seekers and development of numerous private armies that continued to run parallel to the central government. This was characterized by figures like Tiberius and his brother Gracchus Gaius who pushed the agenda of the landless peasants that eventually led to violent riots. Although their concerns were genuine, their approach acted in bringing down of the Roman Republic than it helped the situation. Gaius Marius, vehemently opposed to the senate nobility, also played a similar role with his army.

The weakening of ancient virtues and the numerous limitations of the city-state as a model of governance were other factors that contributed to the collapse of the Roman Republic between 133 and 31 BCE (Crawford, 1993). Solutions to the Problem of the Roma Empire The solution to the problems of the Roman Republic came when Octavian, Caesar’s nephew, took control of the whole Roman Republic after a series of military actions (McKay et al, 2009). Despite the fact that Octavian was not a military man, he was the one who emerged as the victor, ending the numerous civil wars that characterized the Roman Republic between 133 and 31 BCE.

In particular, Octavian was able to figure out the fact that the solutions to the problems of the Republic did not lie in having some armies march around the cities. In this regard, Octavian employed several approaches that finally resulted to lasting peace and stability to this Republic (Crawford, 1993). Apart from ending the civil war, Octavian also played a great role in ending corruption and politics-related murders. Further, Octavian defied Caesar’s move towards the Senate of challenging it, instead seeking reconciliation, and building partnership with it in the administration of his rule.

As a result, he was able to take full control of the military, curtailing civil uprisings (IUS, 2008). This move also took him a long way in mitigating political fight backs that had seen the erosion of his predecessors among them his uncle, Caesar. The ingenuity of Octavian is also seen in his 27BCE move of offering to give up power (Crawford, 1993). Causes of the Problems One can safely say that the cause of the problems of the Roman Republic was those people who worked hard to maintain the status quo in the Senate.

Although the military men who tried to address the problem failed, they had nevertheless identified the problem. This is informed by the notion that while the Senate resembled aristocracy, the Roman constitution had however conferred some power on the citizens. After being re-named Augustus however, Octavian was able to strike a balance between aristocracy and monarchy and thus established the Roman Empire—Pax Romana (IUS, 2008). Bibliography Crawford, M. (1993). The Roman Republic, 2nd Edition,.

Harvard University Press: New York. IUS. (2008). Romam Civilization . Retrieved February 22, 2012, from http://www.ius.edu.ba/mmulalic/HIST191/8.%20Hist%20of%20Civ%20Romans.pdf Kreis, S. (2009, August 3). Ancient and Medieval European history. Retrieved February 22, 2012, from http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture11b.html McKay, J. e. (2009). A History of World Societies 8th edition vol. 1. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.