Roman Government Compared to United States Government

Brooke BulfBulf 1 Mr. Vansant L. A 19 march 2013 The government from ancient Rome had a big impact on our modern government. Our senate is modeled after the Ancient Roman government. Although there are some similarities there are many differences between the Roman government and the U. S government. At first early Rome was ruled by kings and in 510 B. C Romans agreed that a king would never rule them again. The last king was the most unpopular because he ruled in the worst way. His name was Tarquinus. He ruled without telling the council his ideas. He also put to death anyone he pleased.

The Romans drove Tarquinus out of Rome. One similarity from ancient Rome and our government is the Senate. For example a senator is a person from the government in Rome that is also in the modern government. Our Senators for the state of California are Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. A senator in the United States acts as a representative in Congress. There are two senators elected in each state therefore there are 100 senator within the U. S. A senator in ancient Rome was a little different. Their senate was chosen from patricians’. Patricians were considered the upper class of Rome.

Senators were usually relatives of past senators. They were also the people who made up the laws and controlled much of the spending. Although ancient Rome had senator the emperor was the ultimate ruler. Romans did not elect people to the senate. They were chosen from the Bulf 2 council and there were hundreds of senators. One of the differences in the government of the United States and ancient Rome is the United States has a two party system, Democrats and Republicans, but Romans had an emperor. Within our two party systems a president is elected into office and the Romans chose an emperor based on their social status.

Our president serves a four-year term and no more than two terms. Emperors had no term limits and served for life. One of the similarities of the United States and ancient Rome includes their government started out as a republic. By definition a republic means, “A state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them. ” The romans divided their citizens into citizens, noncitizens, and slaves. The citizens were then divided again into patricians and plebeians. These people had more right than the other noncitizens.

There were also equestrians were rich men who served in the army. It was very possible to change ranks in Roman society. Equestrians could become senators and many roman citizens had slave ancestors. Some slave or freemen (ex-slaves) ran the civil service. Women in Rome were expected to be good wives and mothers. They were in charge of the life in the house. Girls were educated to primary level if at all. Wealthy woman enjoyed their independence. Large numbers of women were slaves. If you were wealthy it consist of play and school. Some Roman fathers would educate their own children. A school day typically ran from dawn to noon.

Some parents who were very poor couldn’t feed their children and they left them out to die. Family was vey important to the Romans. The paterfamiliases were wealthy Bulf 3 families. The husband had the power from life to death of his children. The men were the masters of the house and the family. During the day, they worked outside of the home. If you were a rich man you would begin your day by putting on a toga and eating breakfast with bread, cheese, honey, and water. A rich man would start his work by writing letters to other Romans, seeing clients, and going to the forum to meet other businessmen.

Poor men were craftsmen, shopkeepers, or farmers. Also if you were a poor man you would start work at delight. Poor men only had bread for breakfast. Rome territory included an area that is now more than 30 countries. The size of The Roman Empire led to its fall. Since the area was so huge, barbarian tribes started to invade the borders and slowly the Roman Empire fell. In fact Rome’s area was so large it was split into western and eastern empires with separate government and emperor for each territory. Rome covered most of Europe, most of North Africa, and some of Asia. That massive rea created problems for the Roman Empire which led to the western and eastern split. This made it easier to protect their land. Western Rome controlled Europe and North Africa including the city of Rome. Eastern Rome controlled Turkey and parts of Asia and included the city of Byzantium. In conclusion ancient Rome was a very interesting place with a government and normal life. Our government has both similarities and differences of the ancient Roman government. It was interesting to learn how large Rome was and the vast area that was hard to control. Based on what I learned I would prefer to be in the wealthy social status of ancient Rome.