As a republic,
Rome was ruled by a Senate and various executives. It was governed by two consuls and, later in
the life of the republic, one praetor and then later still two. The Senate was known for being
incredibly divided and was often unable to reach agreement. Since Rome was in a near constant
state of war, the Senate was able to appoint a dictator who wielded near-absolute power for
short periods of time. In theory, this allowed the republic to respond to crises quickly and
then return to a governing system that that had checks against individual tyranny.
The Roman Republic was always an incredibly unequal system. Patricians, the elite, had
special rights and powers for much of the Republic's existence. Other people living in Rome were
divided between Plebs (free Roman citizens), non-citizens, who had further reduced rights, and
slaves, who had no rights.
Rome became a formal empire when the Senate
declared Julius Caesar a dictator without any limit on his term. The Senate...
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