Around 500 BC, just as democracy was getting started in Athens, the Roman aristocrats decided they didn't want to be ruled by Etruscan kings anymore. The kings were doing okay for the poor people, but the rich people wanted more power for themselves. But the rich people couldn't get rid of the kings all by themselves. They needed the poor men to fight for them. So they promised the poor men that they could have a lot of power in the new government, if they would help get rid of the kings. The poor men agreed to help, and together the Romans threw out the Etruscan king, Tarquinius.
But once the kings were out, the Roman aristocrats didn't want to give the poor men any power. They said no way! So the leaders of the poor men moved outside the city and went on strike. They refused to work any more unless they got some power. The Roman aristocrats had to give in, and they let the poor men (but not the women or slaves) vote.
Still the poor men of Rome did not get as much power as the poor men of Athens. Instead of voting about what to do themselves, the Romans voted to choose leaders, who decided for them, the way the United States President and Congress do today. But the only people who could be elected to the Roman Senate were the rich people!
In the Republic there were different parts of the government. The three main parts of the government were the Senate, the Consuls and the Assemblies.
The Senate was composed of leaders from the patricians, the noble and wealthy families of ancient Rome. They were the law makers. They controlled spending. Members of the Senate were not elected. They were chosen by the Consuls. Once chosen, they served for life. There were 300 seats in the Senate. When a seat opened, a new Senator was selected by the current Consuls.
Under the Republic, two (2) elected consuls shared the head of government. Consuls were members of the Senate, who had been elected to serve for a one year term in the position of Consul, the highest position in government under the Republic. The consuls most important power was that they controlled the army.
The Assembly was composed of all the plebeian citizens of Rome, the common man. The Assembly did not have a building. It was the right of the common man to assemble in the Forum and vote.
In the beginning, the Assembly had very limited power. They could vote for or suggest laws, but the Senate could block their decisions. The Assembly could vote to declare war, but again, the Senate could override them.
However, the Assembly had one power that was very impressive - it was the Assembly who voted each year on which two members of the Senate would serve as Consuls. As a noble, if you wanted to rise to the level of Consul, the highest position in government under the Republic, you needed to gain the support of the plebeian class. Since it was the Consuls who filled empty seats in the Senate, if the Assembly chose their Consuls well, they could slowly gain power in government by putting people in charge who were sympathetic to their needs.
The poor people of Rome still felt they were not being treated right. They made the aristocrats agree that the poor men could also elect tribunes. Tribunes had to be chosen from the poor people, and they went to all the meetings of the Senate. They could veto anything the Senate did which would be bad for the poor people. Veto means "I forbid it" in Latin, and it meant that the tribunes could forbid any law that was bad for the poor.
The poor people also made the aristocrats write down the laws and put them in a public square where anyone could read them (though not very many people could read). These were called the Twelve Tables. Like the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, this stopped the aristocrats from pretending that there was a law about something when really there was not.
Meanwhile, the Roman army had been little by little conquering the cities around them. Now most people at this time, when they conquered a city, just took all the stuff they wanted, wrecked some buildings, and then went home and left the city alone. But the Romans, when they conquered a city, did something new: they made that city part of the Roman Empire. The people who lived in that city got the right to vote in Rome (at least sometimes), and they paid taxes to Rome, and they sent men to be in the Roman army. Because of this new idea, the more the Romans conquered, the richer they got, and the more men they had in their army, so that made it easier for them to conquer the next city. Soon the Romans had taken over most of the middle of Italy.
Hope this helps you!
