NAME: ______DATE: ______PER: ____ COMPARING REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENTS

Rome United States of America Executive Two consuls, elected by the assembly for one A president, elected by the people for four year – chief executives of the government and years - chief executive of the government and commanders-in-chief of the army commander-in-chief of the army

Legislative Senate of 300 members, chosen from Senate of 100 members, elected by the people aristocracy for life – controls foreign and for six-year terms – makes laws, advises the financial policies, advises consuls. president on foreign policy.

Centuriate Assembly, all citizen-soldiers are House of Representatives of 435 members, members for life – selects consuls, makes laws. elected by the people for two years – makes laws, originates revenue bills. Tribal Assembly, citizens grouped according to where they live are members for life – elects tribunes and makes laws.

Judicial Praetors, eight judges chosen for one year by Supreme Court, nine justices appointed for life Centuriate Assembly – two oversee civil and by the president – highest court, hears civil and criminal courts (the others govern provinces). criminal appeals cases.

Legal Code Twelve Tables – a list of rules that were the U.S. Constitution – basic law of the United basis of Roman legal system. States

Citizenship All adult male landowners All native or naturalized persons

1. What similarities do you see in the governments of the Roman Republic and the United States?

2. Which government seems more democratic? Why?

3. Pick one or two categories in the chart and list the differences between Rome and the United States.

4. In Rome, senators and members of both assemblies are in office for life. Would electing U.S. representatives and senators for life change the U.S. government for worse? Why or why not?

How did we end up with a Representative Democratic Republic? http://www.mikeanderson.biz/2012/01/roman-republic-model-for-united-states.html Roman Republic – Model for the United States (excerpts) Most of us have a sense of the relationship between the Roman Republic and the government of the United States. For example, our Senate is named for the senior legislative body of the ancient republic. But there is more to the relationship than names as you will see below as we describe how the founders viewed ancient political systems in their efforts to fashion a government for America. The founders were educated men. Most could read Latin and Greek -- most had studied the history of governments and were well versed in ancient history. The Romans stood out as their chosen model for a political system, not the Greeks. The Athenian and Spartan systems were seen as inappropriate for the new country – the former because it gave too much power to the people and the latter because it operated in a non-economic model (a closed society with no trade). The founders were guided by four basic principles which were applied to the design of the new government: 1) the need to protect life, liberty, and property, 2) a commitment to republicanism, 3) the lessons of history, as seen in the ancient world and modern Europe, and 4) contemporary political theory including the philosophy of Locke and the checks and balances system of Montesquieu. They believed that only a republican model would be acceptable to the American people because only it operated without the hereditary monarchy and aristocracy so abhorrent to them. Beyond that unifying principle, the framers had varying beliefs about the definition of “republic”. Prior to 1776, most would have defined a republic as something like their current colonial governments which typically contained two legislative bodies and a chief magistrate. At the time of the Constitution’s ratification, our government was as close to the Roman Republic as it would ever be. And then things began to change as we moved in the direction of a democracy. The property qualification was steadily reduced until about 1850 when it was removed completely; the electors came to be chosen by the people instead of the state legislatures, giving the people a direct say in electing the president; and finally, in 1910, the law for electing senators was changed to allow the people to elect them directly. The differences between the two Republics were dictated by the differences in culture and time, but our attraction to the ancient system, because it had no monarch, led us to the creation of a new version designed to withstand the modern age. Posted by Mike Anderson