The Rise of the Roman Senate essays

The Rise of the Roman Senate essays The history of the Roman Senate can be broken up into three parts. The first part is the Senate in the early times of Rome. The second part is the Senate during the later Republic. Finally, the third part is the Senate in the first century. These three parts show how the Roman Senate went from a respectful power to a corrupt power. Rome's early government was a monarchy. A monarchy is a government in which the supreme power is actually lodged in a monarch, or king. This monarchy led the way for the coming oligarchy. An oligarchy is a form of government where the power is given to a few people or a dominant class. This oligarchy was removed by a democracy. A democracy is a form of government where the supreme power is given to the people. Whoever studies the history of Rome will come to realize that the reason for the rise of the Roman civilization was due to the senatorial authority. There was a dual government between prince and Senate, which developed into the Empire. During the Empire, when all the power was in the hands of the Emperor, the Senate kept a tradition of respect for the people. Although there is much information on the history of the Roman Senate, we are only going to cover the Senate in the early times of the Roman Empire. This paper will attempt to show how the Senate dominated the Roman government and became a great force during the Early Republic. The origin of the Senate can be attributed to the beginning period when each clan in Latium was under the rule of its own Elder. As the clans merged, the position of each Elder was lower to that of the king of the community. As soon as Romulus, the founder of Rome, was elected king, he took a council of advisors called the senatus, or elders, into his trust. The term of office for the first senators was for life. When a senator died, the king chose a man from the same group to take his place. The senators were considered as so many kings from the whole co...