Rome

The king was advised by a council of elders called the Senate. The king would choose from the patricians or upper-class citizens who belonged to the oldest and noblest Roman families to be Senate. When the king died his successor would be chosen by the Senate. Around 500 B.C. Rome overthrew its Etruscan rulers, and the monarchy was abolished. Like Greek city-states, the Roman Republic which is the system of city-state government decision-making power was shared between the Senate and the assemblies of male citizens underwent a long and turbulent development under the influence of social struggles between aristocrats and commoners. The result of this was a mixture of Greek-style democracy and oligarchy. One side in the conflict of the Republic was the patricians and the other side were the plebeians. Plebeians where the Roman common people, including workers, small farmers, and wealthy people who were not patricians. The early time of the Republic was run by the Senate which was a government assembly appointed by the and under the Republic by the consuls; originally all members were patricians, but in time wealthy plebeians were appointed as well. Two of the senators functions as consuls (‘colleagues”) which are two senators who led the government and the military for one-year terms and appointed their own successors. In times of emergency the consuls, on advice of the Senate, could appoint a dictator. A dictator is a single leader with a full decision-making powers, appointed for a maximum six-month term. About 450 B.C. Rome made a code that have been engraved on 12 slabs of wood or bronze and mounted in the chief public square. They served as the foundation for the elaborate system of Roman law that grew up in later centuries. Farmers from the outside city had a larger say, began electing their own magistrates, called tribunes.