The Roman Government

The Roman Government were ruled a great portion by emperors. Although there were were no emperors at the beginning of the empire, they were still very important. The Romans thought that they needed a man to to act as a leader of the empire. However, the emperor did not have 100% power over Rome because there were other very important men holding positions in the Roman government. For example, Julius Caesar was a ruler, yet ruled as a dictator, not an emperor. 

The Roman government was organized to have a balance of power between three different divisions including the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The Romans made an anti-corruption government and when the Tribal assembly took grip, there would be checks and balances to make power upon citizens the same. The Executive Branch had two leaders, which were named the consuls and were elected for one year by the upper class citizens. They backed the Senate up and led the Roman army at times of war. Other citizens that participated in the Executive Branch included tax collectors, mayors, police, and other citizens of city electives. 

The Legislative Branch was run by the Senate, the most powerful part. The Senate were a group of 300 citizens who had land and owned property. They were allowed to tell consuls what to spend money on, and how much. The Senate was voted on by the consuls. The last division or branch is the Judicial Branch which had six different male judges who were selected other year. They basically decided punishments to criminals. Their jobs were almost the same as modern-day judges.

As putting up elections to select leaders, no one could have complete power over politics unless the Senate voted them to take care of a problem that required only one man. Compared to today, the Roman Government is quite similar to our own system and laws.

 Courtesy of Frederic Sheu