Social science

Rome: from republic to empire




Ancient Rome had two major periods of history. The first was the Roman Republic which lasted from 509 BC to 27 BC. During this time there was no single leader of Rome. The government was run by elected officials (remember, children: a republic is the political system where votes are necessary to elect the most powerful/representative people in the country).
The Republic had Triumvirates or alliances among the main three consules . These three men essentially ruled Rome and one of the most important ones was Julius Caesar, who governed Hisipania  for some time and later he went back to Rome. You can see his story, children in your Social book, pg 76.


The second period was the Roman Empire which lasted from 27 BC to 476 AD (Western Roman Empire). During this time the government was led by an emperor but people didn´t elect the emperors.

Who made the laws?

The Romans had a complex system of government and laws. Many of the basic systems and ideas that we have about laws and government today comes from Ancient Rome.


Laws were made a number of different ways. The primary way of making official new laws was through the Roman Assemblies. Laws were voted on by citizens who were members of the assemblies. There were other ways, however, that laws were implemented including the Plebeian Council, decrees by the senate, decisions by elected officials (magistrates), and edicts by the emperor.

Many aspects of Roman law and the Roman Constitution are still used today. These include concepts like checks and balances, vetoes, separation of powers, term limits, and regular elections. Many of these concepts serve as the foundations of today's modern democratic governments.