Leading the republic were two consuls who were elected by legislative assemblies. Comitia Tributa - The tribal assemblies, open to all citizens (who only could be free, adult males), elected minor officials, approved legislative decisions often on local matters, and could wield judicial powers but could only levy fines rather than administer punishment.Concilium Plebis - This body elected its own officials and formulated decrees for observance by the plebeian class in 287 B.C.E., it gained the power to make all decrees binding for the entire Roman community.Comitia Centuriata - This body decided about war, passed laws, elected magistrates ( consuls, praetors, and censors), considered appeals of capital convictions, and conducted foreign relations.

Called assemblies, these legislative bodies shared power in the following ways: As a result, new legislative, or law-making, bodies of the Roman Republic were formed. This gave the plebeians a voice in the government. until 494 B.C.E., when a strike orchestrated by the plebeians resulted in the establishment of the Concilium Plebis, or the Councilof the Plebs. The Senate lasted as a sole governing body for the republic for only a brief time, lasting from the republic’s founding in 509 B.C.E. Although the Senate did not formally make laws, the prestige of its members gave the Senate great influence over Rome’s law-making bodies. In the republic, members of the patrician class served as advisers to the other governing bodies of the republic. The Senate advised on matters pertaining to rules governing the city and population. At the heart of the Roman Republic was the Senate. Over a period of nearly 200 years, however, the plebeians fought for and gained power within the government. Everyone else was considered plebeian, and no member of this group could hold office. Initially, Rome’s wealthiest families, the patricians, held power and only they could hold political or religious offices.

Rome’s next government served as a representative democracy in the form of a republic. after the last Etruscan king that ruled Rome was overthrown. The Roman Republic was founded in 509 B.C.E.

Instal the new Roman Empire Free