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Rise And Fall Of Rome Essay

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The fundamental difference lay in the way in which power was distributed and exercised.

In the earlier Republic, power lay with the magistrates (and to a lesser degree with assemblies of the people), advised by the senate. The senate in turn consisted mainly of ex-magistrates, and therefore of the senior politicians. Hence its name, which comes from the same root as the English 'senile', and basically means 'the old men'. The senate had no actual power in normal times, but it did have authority (Latin auctoritas), by merit of the collective memory and wisdom it contained or was felt to contain.

As Roman-controlled territory and Roman ambition grew, it became impossible to have an army consisting purely of property-owning Roman citizens …show more content…
and so on.

The magistracies remained, but were purely decorative, to give the appearance of continuity with the old Republic, and to give as rewards to the Emperor's favourites. The senate remained, and its advice was given (provided that it was likely to meet with the Emperor's approval - any other advice was generally too dangerous), but not required or heeded.

Excellent topic! I am eager to answer, as I studied the Roman Republic. So here is my view of it.

The Roman Republic was what made Rome great. The Roman Empire was what brought about its decline and fall.

When Rome became a Republic in 509BC, Rome's territory consisted of little more than the city itself. Rome was barely more than a collection of villages. By the time the Republic was effectively abolished by Octavian at the end of the 1st century BC, Rome had become a huge empire, as this map shows.

Click the image to open in full size.

The Republic was a system that, in its heyday from c.500BC to c.100BC, was based on the rule of law, and a cleverly balanced constitution that was not a written document, but consisted of an accord between the 3 elements, democracy, monarchy, and oligarchy. As the historian Polybius wrote, it is this balance which gave ancient Rome its greatest

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