Research Paper on:
Political and Government Systems of Ancient Rome

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
was a different form of politics and government than what is now defined as a republic. The Republic of Rome came into existence with the overthrow of the monarchy, sometime  near the end of the sixth century B.C. According to Wiseman (1998), modern historians know this from the ancient texts of Livy, Dionysius, Plutarch, and others (pp. 19). What the  student will want to make note of is the fact that, according to Wiseman, all of those ancient writers, used a: "... historical tradition that can be traced back as  far as the second half of the third century B.C., when the Roman literary genres of historical drama, historical epic, and prose historiography began" (pp. 19). What this should  tell the student is that, centuries after the fact, writers were telling the history of the republic in dramatic or literary form which has, understandably, colored modern understanding of the  early days of the republic. Virtually any encyclopedic reference will show the student that, during the conquest of Italy (510 to 264 B.C.), the Romans were led by two chief  executives rather than a king. Those "chiefs" were chosen by the Roman citizenry and ultimately came to be known as Romes "consuls" (Encarta). The logic of having two leaders or  "co-consuls" was based on the idea that having two men in charge would keep either one of them from becoming too autocratic. Each held office for one year. The Roman  Senate was initially made up of the nobility, whether gained by birth or rank. Then, the consuls nominated new members to the senate. Plebeians, the "common" people gained entry in  the course of the fourth century BC. When that happened, the Senate became a group of experienced politicians rather just the privileged nobility. Laurence (1994) explains that a great deal