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The Roman Republic: Difference between revisions
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(see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPTIGLj2LCE here], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqRBdC3JTY here], and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg2MT_FhGYs here] for more info.)
After a time the Romans lost patience with living in [[The Kingdom]] and threw out Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud), and formed what they called a ''respublica'' (literally, "Thing of the People"), from which we gain the term "Republic." Rome was organized as an oligarchy with [[The Aristocracy]], called patricians, controlling the "Senate" (derived from ''senex'', meaning "old man"), though the public had some say on the issues through the tribunes<ref> This office was created about 250 years after the republic's founding. Details are at [[The Other Wiki]].</ref> (lit. Protector of the People, had veto power), as well as the less formal ability to beg favors from their patrons. This organization is reflected in the famous Roman slogan SPQR which stands for ''Senatus Populusque Romanus,'' or "The Senate and People of Rome." [[The Republic]] in social structure was quite family oriented with various clans becoming centers of webs of patronage, a patron/client relationship that has modern answers in political machines and [[The Mafia]]. While Rome's system was not democratic by modern standards it had [[Fair for Its Day|for its time]] a reputation for justice and stability and its elaborate checks and balances were often admired by Greeks whose cities were often troubled by [[We ARE Struggling Together!|chaos]].
The Republic had a succession of executive magistrates with one-year terms, including quaestors (low-level magistrates, 20 a year), praetors (mid-level judicial magistrates, the lowest office to grant its holder the benefit of lictors/bodyguards carrying around their telltale [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|''fasces'']]), and two consuls (top executives with executive powers checked only by each other and the Senate). In addition, the Republic came with a safety valve: in times of crisis, a six-month term for a special office, ''dictator'', could be granted to one person, granting him complete control of the state. There could be good dictators ([[Cincinnatus]], Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator), but usually the inherent danger of the office prevented widespread use, and both Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix and [[Gaius Julius Caesar]] would declare themselves ''dictator pro vita'', or dictator for life, granting them supreme power until death.
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[[The Republic]] expanded through Italy both through its [[Badass Army]] and its genius for [[You Will Be Assimilated|wooing conquered people]] from nearby cities who shared similar cultures. The extreme early myths such as the [[Abduction Is Love|Rape of the Sabine Women]] portray how much of Rome's early growth was due to both of these factors.
At this point Rome was a regional power in Italy. The three [[Punic Wars]] took Rome from merely being the dominant power in Italy to become the largest power in the Mediterranean Basin (to the point where the Romans simply called the Mediterranean ''Mare Nostrum,'' or "Our Sea"). The best known of these wars was the Second Punic War, involving the famous [[Four
[[The Roman Republic]] left a lot of imprints in Western culture in fields ranging from military tactics to engineering to philosophy (when they weren't plagiarizing the Greeks) to rhetoric ([[Cicero (Creator)|Marcus Tullius Cicero]] especially) to politics and the nice big one, Law. The legal systems of most of Europe are wholesale stealings of Roman Law with adjustments, and even English speaking nations will find a lot of old Roman Law in their own (The first rule of codified Roman Law is otherwise known as the ''subpoena''.)
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* [[Conscription]]: Rome had an elaborate system for enrolling citizens in its army.
* [[Cool Sword]]: The Gladius
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: While the idea of business corporations was still over a thousand years in the future, traces of the trope can be found in Marcus Licinius Crassus. Famously, the man owned his own private firefighting service; whenever a building caught fire, he would offer to buy the properties from the owner and its neighbors at a scandalous discount, putting a literal spin on the term "[
* [[Courtroom Antic]]: Romans almost regarded the courtroom as a spectator sport. Considering the sizes of the juries involved, it might as well have been. Rome's most famous orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, left behind a huge number of extremely long speeches, the most famous being his orations against Traitor Lucius Sergius Catalina. Antics Cicero got away with in court:
** Calling the prosecution's witness, who was an attempted murder victim, a shameless slut, whore, and murderess, and then saying he wasn't going to call her a shameless slut, whore, and murderess, and then [[Refuge in Audacity|calling her a shameless slut, whore, and murderess repeatedly throughout the rest of his speech.]]
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* [[Fair for Its Day]]: Whether it was actually more than average even for its day is debatable. But the Romans did have useful system of law and organization that was able to win admiration from many historians.
* [[Feuding Families]]: Temporarily subverted. Roman [[The Clan|Clans]] would competitively try to draw attention to how useful they were to [[The Republic]], rather than simply fighting against each other. This made for a state with a remarkable cohesion. However though reduced and controlled [[Feuding Families]] were not unknown and may have been an element in the civil strife toward the end of [[The Republic]].
* [[Fighting
* [[Gladiator Games]]: [[Trope Namer]] (literally, ''gladiator'' means "sword-user," from ''gladius'', "sword"). Romans were addicted to these.
* [[Good Republic, Evil Empire|Good Republic Evil Kingdom]]: After overthrowing their own monarchy, the Romans regarded the idea in much the same way we do [[Godwin's Law|Nazism]].
* [[The Government]]: One of the first examples of an abstract bureaucratized state that is not simply a monarchy's [[Family Business]].
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Most famously, [[You Shall Not Pass|Horatius]] at the bridge, though there were many others. Sacrificing one's own life for Rome and one's fellow soldiers was considered a virtue in Roman society.
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[[Category:Useful Notes/Italy]]
[[Category:The Roman Republic]]
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