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Servian Constitution
The Servian constitution was one of the earliest forms of military and political organization used during The Roman Republic. Most of the reforms extended voting rights to certain groups, in particular to Rome's citizen-commoners (collectively, the ''plebeians'') who were minor landholders or otherwise landless citizens hitherto disqualified from voting by ancestry, status or ethnicity, as distinguished from the hereditary ''patricians''. The reforms thus redefined the fiscal and military obligations of all Roman citizens. The constitution introduced two elements into the Roman system of government: a census of every male citizen, in order to establish his wealth, tax liabilities, military obligation, and the weight of his vote; and the ''comitia centuriata'', an assembly with electoral, legislative and judicial powers. Both institutions were foundational for Roman republicanism. The Servian constitution is traditionally attributed to the sixth king of Rome, Servius Tullius (57 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period—from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. Roman society under the Republic was primarily a cultural mix of Latin and Etruscan societies, as well as of Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements, which is especially visible in the Roman Pantheon. Its political organization developed, at around the same time as direct democracy in Ancient Greece, with collective and annual magistracies, overseen by a senate. The top magistrates were the two consuls, who had an extensive range of executive, legislative, judicial, military, and religious powers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own lifetime. He was on familiar terms with members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a friend of Augustus, whose young grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, he exhorted to take up the writing of history. Life Livy was born in Patavium in northern Italy (Roman Empire), Italy, now modern Padua, probably in 59 BC. At the time of his birth, his home city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula, and the largest in the province of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy). Cisalpine Gaul was merged in Roman Italy, Italy proper during his lifetime and its inhabitants were given Roman citizenship by Julius Caesar. In his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sesterce
The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The name ''sestertius'' means "two and one half", referring to its nominal value of two and a half ''asses'' (a bronze Roman coin, singular ''as''), a value that was useful for commerce because it was one quarter of a denarius, a coin worth ten ''asses''. The name is derived from ''semis'', "half" and "tertius", "third", in which "third" refers to the third ''as'': the sestertius was worth two full ''asses'' and half of a third. English-language sources routinely use the original Latin form ''sestertius'', plural ''sestertii''; but older literature frequently uses ''sesterce'', plural ''sesterces'', ''terce'' being the English equivalent of ''tertius''. A modern shorthand for values in sestertii is IIS (Unicode 𐆘), in which the Roman numera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper House
An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor a lower house) is described as Unicameralism, unicameral. Definite specific characteristics An upper house is usually different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects (though they vary among jurisdictions): Powers: *In a parliamentary system, it often has much less power than the lower house. Therefore, in certain countries the upper house **votes on only limited legislative matters, such as constitutional amendments, **cannot initiate most kinds of legislation, especially those pertaining to supply/money, fiscal policy **cannot vote a motion of no confidence again ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campus Martius
The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers a smaller section of the original area, bears the same name. Antiquity According to Rome's foundation myth, prior to the founding of the city, Rhea Silvia had her twin sons, Romulus and Remus, taken by the King of Alba Longa. The boys were later discarded in the swelling Tiber River, which would later run along the Campus' western boundary. Washing ashore further downriver, the brothers would return decades later to found a new city. Romulus, who became Rome's sole king (after killing his brother Remus), ruled for many years until sometime in the seventh century B.C. As he came to the end of his life, a storm cloud descended upon the center of the open field outside the city's pomerium in order to lift the elderly king to heaven.Jacobs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Censor
The censor (at any time, there were two) was a magistrate in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances. The power of the censor was absolute: no magistrate could oppose his decisions, and only another censor who succeeded him could cancel those decisions. The censor's regulation of public morality is the origin of the modern meaning of the words ''censor'' and ''censorship''. Early history of the magistracy The ''census'' was first instituted by Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome, BC. After the abolition of the monarchy and the founding of the Republic in 509 BC, the consuls had responsibility for the census until 443 BC. In 442 BC, no consuls were elected, but tribunes with consular power were appointed instead. This was a move by the plebeians to try to attain higher magistracies: only patricians could be elected consuls, while some military tribunes were plebeians. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses include censuses of agriculture, traditional culture, business, supplies, and traffic censuses. The United Nations (UN) defines the essential features of population and housing censuses as "individual enumeration, universality within a defined territory, simultaneity and defined periodicity", and recommends that population censuses be taken at least every ten years. UN recommendations also cover census topics to be collected, official definitions, classifications and other useful information to co-ordinate international practices. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in turn, defines the census of agriculture as "a statistical operation for collecting, processing and disseminating data on the structure of agriculture, covering th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SPQR
SPQR, an abbreviation for (; en, "The Roman Senate and People"; or more freely "The Senate and People of Rome"), is an emblematic abbreviated phrase referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic. It appears on Roman currency, at the end of documents made public by an inscription in stone or metal, and in dedications of monuments and public and civil works. The full phrase appears in Roman political, legal, and historical literature, such as the speeches of Cicero and ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri'' ("Books from the Founding of the City") of Livy. Translation In Latin, '' Senātus'' is a nominative singular noun meaning "Senate". ''Populus que'' is compounded from the nominative noun ''Populus'', "the People", and '' -que'', an enclitic particle meaning "and" which connects the two nominative nouns. The last word, '' Rōmānus'' ("Roman") is an adjective modifying the whole of '' Senātus Populusque'': the "Roman Senate and People", taken as a whole. Thus, the phrase ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senate Of The Roman Kingdom
The Senate of the Roman Kingdom was a political institution in the ancient Roman Kingdom. The word ''senate'' derives from the Latin word ''senex'', which means "old man". Therefore, ''senate'' literally means "board of old men" and translates as "Council of Elders". The prehistoric Indo-Europeans who settled Rome in the centuries before the legendary founding of Rome in 753 BCAbbott, 3 were structured into tribal communities.Abbott, 1 These tribal communities often included an aristocratic board of tribal elders, who were vested with supreme authority over their tribe.Abbott, 12 The early tribes that had settled along the banks of the Tiber eventually aggregated into a loose confederation, and later formed an alliance for protection against invaders. The early Romans were deeply patriarchal. The early Roman family was called a ''gens'' or "clan".Abbott, 1 Each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a '' pater'' (the Latin word for "father ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gens'' was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Roman Italy, Italia during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of individuals' social standing depended on the gens to which they belonged. Certain gentes were classified as Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician, others as plebs, plebeian; some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of membership in a gens declined considerably in Roman Empire, imperial times, although the ''gentilicium'' continued to be used and defined the origins and Roman dynasty, dynasties of Roman emperors. Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities'', Second Edition, Harry Thurston Peck, E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curia
Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came to meet for only a few purposes by the end of the Republic: to confirm the election of magistrates with imperium, to witness the installation of priests, the making of wills, and to carry out certain adoptions. The term is more broadly used to designate an assembly, council, or court, in which public, official, or religious issues are discussed and decided. Lesser curiae existed for other purposes. The word ''curia'' also came to denote the places of assembly, especially of the senate. Similar institutions existed in other towns and cities of Italy. In medieval times, a king's council was often referred to as a ''curia''. Today, the most famous curia is the Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comitia Curiata
The Curiate Assembly (''comitia curiata'') was the principal assembly that evolved in shape and form over the course of the Roman Kingdom until the Comitia Centuriata organized by Servius Tullius. During these first decades, the people of Rome were organized into thirty units called "Curiae".Taylor, 3, 4 The Curiae were ethnic in nature, and thus were organized on the basis of the early Roman family, or, more specifically, on the basis of the thirty original patrician (aristocratic) clans.Abbott, 250 The Curiae formed an assembly for legislative, electoral, and judicial purposes. The Curiate Assembly passed laws, elected Consuls (the only elected magistrates at the time),Abbott, 253 and tried judicial cases. Consuls always presided over the assembly. While plebeians (commoners) could participate in this assembly, only the patricians (the Roman aristocrats) could vote. Since the Romans used a form of direct democracy, citizens, and not elected representatives, voted before each ass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
