ASSIGNMENT

“THE NATURE OF ROMAN

REPUBLIC”

SOCIAL FORMATION

NAME:-_NAYAN KUMAR
ROLL NO. :- 619
COURSE:- B.A.(hons.)HISTROY 1ST YEAR
GIVEN BY:- MR. NISHANT KUMAR SINGH
In this assignment we are going to discuss about the
nature of roman republic and will try elaborate all the
important aspects of roman republic up to the land
reforms.
1.THE PUNIC WARS
2.PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS{TWO CLASSES}
3.POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
 CONSUL
 SENATE
 ASSEMBLIES
4.POST OF THE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
5.CONFLICTS OF THE ORDERS {SECESSIO}:-
6.LAND REFORM
7.CONCLUSION

“THE NATURE OF
ROMAN REPUBLIC”
The foundation of the city of Rome was traditionally
supposed to have taken place in 753 B.C. According to
the traditional history of the city, settlements on seven
hills along the river Tiber  (these seven hills are:
Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal
and Viminal) were enclosed by a wall in 753 BC. This
marked the beginning of the city and Roman dates were
often reckoned from this event. Many Roman
chronologists used the era starting in 753. It is much
more likely that the seven hills of Rome were fortified 'at
a later period. The archaeological evidence suggests that
the city was first fortified c. 550 BC, Possibly it is around
this time that the population of the settlements on the
seven hills began to expand The area at the bottom of
these hills was covered with marshes and swamps which
had to be drained before the low lying foothills could be
occupied.Rome acquired a monarchical {arm of
government and for some time it was ruled by kings who
were of Etruscan origin. In 510 BC monarchy came to an
abrupt end in Rome Two events occurred simultaneously
Firstly, the Etruscan king Tarquin the Proud (Tarquinius
Superbus) was overthrown. This marked the end of
Etruscan rule over Rome. Secondly, monarchy was
abolished. Rome ceased to have a monarchical form of
government and became a republic. 510 BC is the
traditional date for the beginning of the Roman republic.
The Roman Republic began in 509 B.C. when the Romans
expelled the Etruscan kings and set up their own
government. Having witnessed the problems of the
monarchy on their own land, and aristocracy
and democracy among the Greeks, they opted for a
mixed form of government, with three branches. This
innovation became known as a republican system. The
strength of the republic is the system of checks and
balances, which aims to find a consensus between the
desires of the various branches of government. The
Roman Constitution outlined these checks and balances,
but in an informal way. Most of the constitution was
unwritten and laws were upheld by precedent.
The Punic Wars
The early Roman Republic often found itself in a state of
constant warfare with its surrounding neighbors. In one
instance, when the Romans were fighting the
Carthaginians, Rome was nearly conquered. The people
of Carthage (a city in what is today Tunisia in north
Africa) were a successful trading civilization whose
interests began to conflict with those of the Romans.The
two sides fought three bloody wars, known as the Punic
Wars :- First Punic War (264–241 BC),Second Punic War
(218–201 BC) & Third Punic War (149–146 BC).

PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS :- TWO CLASSES

Roman political institutions reflected Roman society,
which was divided into two classes: the patricians,
wealthy elites, and the plebeians, the common people.
Initially, only the patricians were able to hold political
office and make important decisions. For example,
plebeians could not join the Roman Senate—an advisory
body unable to create laws on its own but whose
recommendations were taken seriously by the consuls.
To become a senator, a Roman had to have held a
political office, and plebeians could not. 

POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
The Romans replaced the king with two consuls—rulers
who had many of the same powers as the king but were
elected to serve one-year terms. Each consul could veto,
or reject, the actions of the other consul. Although the
office of consul probably did not exist in its final form
until around 300 BCE, the idea behind this change—to
prevent any one man from becoming too powerful—was
present early on in Roman thought and shaped many of
Rome’s political institutions.
Consuls:  Their power, which was shared equally and
which lasted only one year, was reminiscent of the
monarchial power of the king. Each consul could veto the
other, they led the army, served as judges, and had
religious duties. At first, the consuls were patricians,
from famous families. Later laws encouraged plebeians
to campaign for the consulship; eventually one of the
consuls had to be a plebeian. After a term as consul, a
Roman man joined the Senate for life. After 10 years, he
could campaign for consulship again.
What we meant by Senate ?: 
While the consuls had executive authority, it was
expected that they would follow the advice of Rome’s
elders. The Senate (senatus = council of elders) predated
the Republic, having been founded in the Eighth Century
B.C. It was an advisory branch, initially composed of
about 300 patricians who served for life. The ranks of the
Senate were drawn from ex-consuls and other officers,
who also had to be landowners. Plebeians were
eventually admitted to the Senate as well. The primary
focus of the Senate was Rome’s foreign policy, but they
had great jurisdiction in civil affairs as well, as the Senate
controlled the treasury.
The Assemblies: The most democratic branch of the
Roman Republican form of government were the
assemblies. These large bodies — there were four of
them — made some voting power available to many
Roman citizens (but not all, as those who lived in the
outreaches of the provinces still lacked meaningful
representation). The Assembly of Centuries (comitia
centuriata), was composed of all members of the army,
and it elected consuls annually. The Assembly of Tribes
(comitia tributa), which contained all citizens, approved
or rejected laws and decided issues of war and peace.The
Comitia Curiata was composed of 30 local groups, and
was elected by the Centuriata, and served mostly a
symbolic purpose for Rome’s founding families. The
Concilium Plebis represented the plebeians. 

POST OF THE POLITICAL

INSTITUTIONS
1.CONSULS
There were two consuls who elected annually, they also
led the formation of judiciary, legislative and executive
and militants also. Minimum age which was approx42
years.
2.SENSOR:-
They were elected in period of 5 years but, the work
duration was 18 months. They were responsible for
recording the population or Census of the citizens on the
basis of the land/wealth they posses.
3. AEDILS AND QUAESTORS:-
Aedils were in the number four and they were
responsible for all social buildings and monuments as
well and to organize the events
Quaestors were responsible for helping out the higher
magistrates. They didn’t receive any income.
4. APPARITORES:-
They only work for apparitores was to do all day to day
task given by their magistrates. Theoritacially, there
position was ment to last for a year. But, practically it
was hard to execute and to do election annually.
SCRIBES AND LICTORS were under the apparitores, the
main job of lictors was to escort the superiors. They were
used to carry a bunch of wooden sticks which is called
fasces.
CONFLICTS OF THE ORDERS
{SECESSIO}:-
 the plebeians found no help from within the existing
political system. Their solution was to go on strike.
First Secession – 494 BC
The result of this first secession was the creation of the
office of Plebeian Tribune  and with it the first acquisition
of real power by the Plebeians.
Second Secession – 450 BC
It was decided to establish “council of ten” they made a
group of law code of 12 tables.
Third Secession – 445 BC
Plebeians got the designation of one of the counsul
which was theortical but not practical before
Some elite plebeians become the saniteors

Fourth Secession – 342 BC

Abolishment of NEXUM LAW.
The Conflict of the Orders was finally resolved in the final
secession of 287 BC when a plebeian dictator, Quintus
Hortensius, was appointed. He instituted a law (Lex
Hortensia)
LAND REFORM :-
The Gracchi, Tiberius Gracchus, and Gaius Gracchus,
were Roman brothers who tried to reform Rome's social
and political structure to help the lower classes in the
2nd century BCE. The brothers were politicians who
represented the plebs, or commoners, in the Roman
government. Tiberius Gracchus (163–133 BCE) was eager
to distribute land to the workers.  He sought to ease this
imbalance, proposing that no one would be allowed to
hold more than 500 iugera (about 125 acres) of land and
that any excess beyond that would be returned to the
government and redistributed to the poor. After Tiberius
Gracchus was killed  his brother Gaius (154–121 BCE)
stepped in. Gaius Gracchus took up the reform issues of
his brother when he became tribune Gaius enacted a law
that provided the state granaries, and a regular sale of
grain at subsidized rate to the citizens. But
unfortunately, Gaius was also killed as his brother was
killed.

CONCLUSION:-
In Nutshell, On the above scenario we have discussed
about the nature of roman republic and tried to
elaborate all the important aspects of roman republic up
to the land reforms. In the starting we came about to to
know that how and when roman republic came into
existance and also about the punic wars. After wards, we
discuss abot the divison of classes in rome one patricians
and another one pebelians in which patricians were
upper/rich people who have wealth as well as power.
Afterwards we came to know about different political
instituitons which contain consul,senate and assemblies.
And we also discuss about the different post.we discuss
how 4 important secessio were take place and important
role. After that, we finally came to know about the land
reforms done by two brothers who tried to bring a liveful
life for the pebelians.

DISCUSS THE POLTICAL

DEVELOPMENTS IN ATHENS
DURING 600B.C.E – 450B.C.E.?
Continuing the above question, we will now discuss upon
the political developments in athens during 600b.c.e -450
b.c.e.

During the archaic and classical period the Greece

consisted many of polis which means the city states . Each
polis was its own small country. Many of these were no
more than small towns or even

villages which controlled sometimes very small territories.

At the opposite end of

this spectrum were the two largest, most powerful and

ultimately most influential
Greek city states, Athens and Sparta. Politically, they were
polar opposites of

each other. Athens’ democratic government and open

culture stood in stark contrast to the government and
society of its chief rival Sparta. Sparta was a warrior society

of fierce, often unbeatable soldiers, and only warriors

participated in political life.

Spartan women had a reputation for being as fierce as their

men, quite unlike

their reclusive, segregated sisters in other Greek poleis.

Sparta was an imperial

state which subjugated many of its neighbors in the

Peloponnesus and turned

their populations into a class of virtual slaves called helots.

This serf class

outnumbered the Spartans many times over, so to keep the

helots under control

and suppress rebellions, the Spartans organized their entire

society along

military lines. The sole purpose of a Spartan man was to be

a soldier and the

only duty of a Spartan woman was to give birth to many

more soldiers. And according to your lectures sir this same

Procudure will be applied to roman empire as well.

The athens and sparta both are superior but after their war
of Peloponnese the political system will be in the hands of
sparta and at last Macedonia will lead…

At this moment we should also understand other aspects as

well which simultaneously helped the

Uprising in political system means monarchy to democracy

and then complete decline.

1.The solon's reform

2.DIFFERENT GOVERNMENTS IN
ANCIENT GREECE:-
1.Monarchy
2. Oligarchy
3.Tyranny
3.Tyranny at Athens
4.Salveryin Athens
5.The classical period/ removal of
hippias
6.Athens and Persian Invasion
7.conclusion

The solon's reform

The momey8 when oligarchy was in power and the
all the landlords had established their power over
many sacrace arable. Land just to gain more outputs
and that’s why those people began a revolt which
then actually turned the athens oligarchs so they
appointed an Arbitrator named (SOLON) who got
some special powers for a temporary period.

Attempting to balance political power between rich

and poor, , Solon ranked male citizens into four
classes according to their income: “five-hundred-
measure men” (pentakosiomedimnoi , those with an
annual income equivalent to that much agricultural
produce), “horsemen” (hippeis , income of three
hundred measures), “yoked men” (zeugitai , two
hundred measures), and “laborers” (thetes, less than
two hundred measures). The higher a man's class,
the higher the governmental office for which he was
eligible, with the laborer class barred from all posts.
Solon did reaffirm the right of this class to
participate in the assembly (ekklesia ), however.
Solon probably created a council (boule) of four
hundred men to prepare an agenda for the
discussions in the assembly, although some scholars
place this innovation later than Solon's time.
Aristocrats could not dominate the council's
deliberations because its members were chosen by
lot, probably only from the top three income classes.
Solon may also have initiated a schedule of regular
meetings for the assembly. These reforms gave
added impetus to the assembly's legislative role and
thus indirectly laid a foundation for the political
influence that the “laborer” (thete ) class would
gradually acquire over the next century and a half.
Despite the restriction on office holding by the
lowest income class, Solon's classification scheme
supported further development of conditions leading
to democracy because it allowed for upward social
mobility: if a man managed to increase his income,
he could move up the scale of eligibility for office.
The absence of direct taxes on income made it
easier for entrepreneurial citizens to better their lot.
From Solon's reforms, Athenian male citizens gained
a political and social system far more open to
individual initiative and change than that of Sparta.

Some other things he managed to do was to increase

the production of silver coins and to support the
economy he put a ban on export of grain.

But again the upper class used this for their own
benefits and later on it worth nothing

Solon another stuff was that he made a new council

Boule ..the previous council named aeropagus lost
it’s most of the power.

DIFFERENT
GOVERNMENTS IN
ANCIENT GREECE:-
1.Monarchy
In a monarchy government, the power to make
decisions is in the hands
of one person, usually called a king or a queen. The
word monarchy

comes from the Greek root words monos .

From about 2000 B.C.E. to 800 B.C.E., most Greek

city-states were

ruled by monarchs—usually kings (the Greeks did not

allow women to

have power). At first, the Greek kings were chosen

by the people of the

city-state. When a king died, another leader was

selected to take his

place. Over time, however, kings demanded that,

after their death, their

power be passed on to their children—usually to the

oldest son. This is how monarchy

governments continued to operate, and it is how

most monarchies remaining today operate.

The kings of ancient Greece ruled by having total

power to do the

following:

• Make laws and set taxes

• Act as judges
• Oversee religious ceremonies

• Lead the army during wars

• Decide punishments for people who disobeyed the

laws or

didn’t pay taxes

It was soon ended because of tribal movements and

this was the beginning of oligarchy in athens.

2. Oligarchy
Between about 800 B.C.E. and 650 B.C.E., most

Greek city-states were ruled by a small group of

men. These men were called oligarchs, and

they often ruled like kings who shared power

together.

3.Tyranny
When a person completely forget about other’s
interest and install himself As the leader by following
the nihilism.. and this is not it in the sense of
athens , peisistratus was the first one who started
the tyranny and after him it was the time of hippias
but soon he also overthrown and this was yhe the
beginning if classical era.

Tyranny at athens
Strife among aristocrats, combined with the
continuing discontent of the poorest Athenians, lay
behind the period of strife in the mid-sixth century
following Solon's reforms that led to Athens' first
tyranny. At this time an Athenian aristocrat
named peisistratus began a violent effort to make
himself sole ruler with the help of his upper-class
friends and the poor, whose interests he
championed. He finally established himself securely
as tyrant at Athens in 546 B.C. Pisistratus made
funds available to help peasants acquire needed
farm equipment and provided employment for poorer
men while benefiting Athens by building roads and
initiating major public works, such as a great temple
to Zeus and fountains to increase the supply of
drinking water. The tax that he imposed on
agricultural production , one of the rare instances of
direct taxation in Athenian history, financed the
loans to farmers and the building projects. He also
arranged for judicial officials to go on circuits
through the outlying villages of Attica to hear cases,
thus saving farmers the trouble of having to leave
their fields to seek justice in Athens, the urban
center of the polis. Like the earlier tyrants of
Corinth, he promoted the economic, cultural, and
architectural development of Athens. Athenian
pottery, for example, now began to crowd out
Corinthian in the export trade.

Athens and Persian Invasion

The growth of democracy was a glorious chapter for Athens.
In a similar way its war with Persia was romantic. Emperor
Darius had attacked Greece time and again. In 492 B.C. the
grand navy of Darius came under the grip of a big cyclone
and he returned to Persia. Again in 490 B.C. he invaded
Athens.

In the battle field of ‘Marathon’ the Athenian soldiers waited

for the arrival of the army of Darius. They sent a swift runner
named Phillippides to Sparta to get her help. Phillippides
convered 150 miles full of rivers, mountains and rough roads
within two days and reached Sparta. People of Sparta gave
concerts to help the Athenian only after the fool moon is
seen.
Again Phillippides brought that news to the army of Athens
waiting at Marathon. In the battle of Marathan Persia was
defeated. Six days after the victory, the Spartan army
reached Marathon. Of course by that time the battle was
over. The victory of the Athenian army was really
memorable.Again Phillippides brought this news to Athens
and people became happy. After giving this news,
Phillippides breathed his last. To preserve the memory of
Phillippides ‘Marathon Race’ has been included in Olympic
Games.

After the death of Darius his son Xerxes invaded Greece in

480 B.C. King Leonidas of Sparta met Xerxes in the battle
field of Thermopylae. In this battle Athens sided with Sparta.
For five days Leonidas obstructed the way of Xerxes. One
Athenian traitor disclosed a secret way to Xerexes.Leonidas
with his three hundred followers fought against Xerxes and
were killed by him. After that the Persian army entered into
Athens. The people of Athens left their country. Athens was
ruined by the Persians under the leadership of the Persian
hero Themistocles.

However the Greeks defeated the Persians in the battle of

Salamis in 479 B.C. and destroyed their 200 warships. The
fame of Athens spread inside Greece. The Delian
Confederacy was formed and Athens took its leadership.
This league took steps to save Greece from foreign invasion.
In due course of time Athens became an empire. Its glory
was enhanced when Pericles became its emperor.

Slavery in Athens
As suggested by perry Anderson in the book ( from
antiquity to feudalism) the slave mode of production
was the prominent source of athenic economical
structure and this economic aspect was indirectly
commectted to the political changes.. He suggested
many of the merchant class tried to take authority in
the oligarchial structure but he wasn’t sure about it..

After a group was defeated in war, the tendency was

to slaughter the adult males and make the women
and children captives. Only when a society had
access to armed force on a sufficiently large scale
did it begin to enslave men. Scholars have pointed
out that the enslavement of a substantial group of
men from a different community was relatively
difficult for two reasons. Firstly, many of these men
had some kind of fighting skills so that any attempt
to keep them captive on a permanent basis would
have to be backed by adequate force. Remember
that patriarchal society had already come into
existence and in the unequal division of labour that
took place, all the fighting was done by males.
Secondly, women slaves could be compelled to
develop new ties within the community that had
captured them. For instance, they were forced to
bear children (rape was the most Widely used
instrument of coercion). While the women, especially
if they had children, might be made to have some
artificial bond with the enslaving group, this was
unlikely in the case of men.

Gerda lerner in the book (the creation of patriarchy)

try to find genesis lf slavery in the patriarchy ( the
oppression)

The classical period/ removal

of hippias
When he came in power he made some modifications
in the phylai which was based on the inheritance ,
instead of four phylai he established the ten
residential phyali which was now based on their
places not on their birth

Traditional classifications and kin groups such as

the four Ionian tribes were replaced in significance
by a new classification where each member of the
citizen body (demos) was to belong to one of 139
local units or demoi (demes). Demes, distributed all
over Attica, then belonged to one of 30 trittyes,
which, in turn, belonged to one of 10 tribes or phylai.
Further, the three trittyes  which made up a single
tribe each had to come from one of three different
areas of territorial classification (Coast, Inland, and
City) so that it now became much less likely that
tribes would act based on geographical and family
loyalties.

All political and military groupings would now be

based on these new divisions. Any male who
registered with their deme  automatically became a
citizen and so could participate in the new council of
500, the boule, where everyone had an equal right to
speak. Cleisthenes’ main motivation in these reforms
was probably to reduce the influence of traditional
groups and allow himself and the Alcmaeonids more
freedom of political maneuver in a more stable
political system. He had realized that stability would
only come if the political base was broadened to
include more citizens

For the ordinary citizens (that is males only) the

reforms would allow them to, at least in theory,
access institutions and power previously reserved
for the traditional aristocratic families. In this sense,
and although perhaps not fully realized yet in
practice, Cleisthenes established democracy in
Athens and prepared the way for further reforms over
the next decades which would create a fully and
direct democratic system of government in which all
citizens could participate. 

Solon had made all citizens equal before the law and

reduced the influence of the landed Athenian
aristocracy in the previous century, but in Classical
Athens it was Cleisthenes who was credited with
being the true founding father Athenian democracy

Conclusion:-
On the above we discussed upon the political
developments of Athens during600 b.c.e to 450 b.c.e.
and also discussed that the two prominent people
solon in archaic period and cleisthines in classical
period were those who contributed there will to bring
democracy in this concern is so strong that all the
historian is lacking some important aspects of the
Athenian democracy and it yet to be discussed.