Historical sources on the government of the Roman Republic

"As for the Roman constitution, it had three elements, each of them possessing sovereign [ruling] powers: and their respective share of power in the whole state had been regulated with such a scrupulous [careful] regard to equality and equilibrium, that no one could say for certain, not even a native, whether the constitution as a whole were an aristocracy or democracy or despotism [rule by one all-powerful ruler]. And no wonder: for if we confine our observation to the power of the Consuls we should be inclined to regard it as despotic [as ruled by one all-powerful person]; if on that of the Senate, as aristocratic [ruled by a noble class]; and if finally one looks at the power possessed by the people it would seem a clear case of a democracy. What the exact powers of these several parts were, and still, with slight modifications, are, I will now state." 

"The Consuls, before leading out the legions [armies], remain in Rome and are supreme masters of the administration. All other magistrates [elected officials], except the Tribunes, are under them and take their orders. They introduce foreign ambassadors to the Senate; bring matters requiring deliberation before it; and see to the execution of its decrees. If, again, there are any matters of state which require the authorisation of the people, it is their business to see to them, to summon the popular meetings, to bring the proposals before them, and to carry out the decrees of majority. In the preparations for war also, and in a word in the entire administration of a campaign, they have all but absolute power." 

Contextual information:

Polybius was a Greek historian who lived from approximately 203 to 120 BCE. He was taken to Rome as a political hostage following the Roman conquest of Greece and spent many years there, acquiring first-hand knowledge of Roman institutions. He wrote his Histories to explain to a Greek audience how Rome came to dominate the Mediterranean world in such a short span of time. 

Bibliographical reference:

Polybius. The Histories (E. S. Shuckburgh, Trans., 1889; Vol. I, pp. 477, 478). Macmillan and Co. (Original work written ca. 150 BCE) 

Copyright: Public domain. 

"Lucius Tarquinius Superbus reigned twenty-five years. The whole duration of the regal government from the foundation of the City to its liberation was two hundred and forty-four years. [By conventional modern calculation, this liberation took place in 509 BCE.] Two consuls were then elected in the assembly of centuries by the prefect of the City, in accordance with the regulations of Servius Tullius. They were Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus." 

"THE affairs, civil and military, of the Roman people, henceforward free, their annual magistrates [elected officials who held power for one year at a time], and the sovereignty of the laws, more powerful than that of men, I shall now detail. The haughty [arrogant] insolence of the late king had caused this liberty to be the more welcome: for the former kings reigned in such a manner that they all in succession might be not undeservedly set down as founders of the parts, at least of the city, which they added as new residences for the population augmented by themselves." 

"Steps were then taken towards harmony, and a compromise was effected on these terms: the plebeians [the common people of Rome, who were less wealthy than the patricians] were to have magistrates of their own, who should be inviolable [untouchable: protected by law from harm or arrest], and in them should lie the right to aid the people against the consuls, nor should any senator be permitted to take this magistracy." 

"When he was now not dissatisfied with his strength, he next sets about forming some means of directing that strength. He creates one hundred senators, either because that number was sufficient, or because there were only one hundred who could name their fathers. They certainly were called Fathers, through respect, and their descendants, Patricians [the wealthy, noble class of Rome, descended from the original senators]." 

Contextual information:

Titus Livius, known as Livy, was a Roman historian who lived from approximately 59 BCE to 17 CE. He spent most of his adult life in Rome and wrote his monumental History of Rome, covering events from the legendary founding of the city through to his own time. He began writing during the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and his early books are a major source for what Romans believed about their own history. 

Bibliographical reference:

Livy. (1853). The History of Rome, Books I–VIII (D. Spillan, Trans.; pp. 75, 79–80, 131, 14). Henry G. Bohn. (Original work written ca. 27–9 BCE) 

Copyright: Public domain.

"Once when the plebeians were entering on a campaign they fell into a controversy of the sort, but they did not use the weapons in their hands, but withdrew to the hill, which from that time on was called the Sacred Mount. Even then no violence was done, but they created a magistrate for their protection and called him the Tribune of the Plebs, to serve especially as a check upon the consuls, who were chosen by the Senate, so that political power should not be exclusively in their hands. From this arose still greater bitterness, and the magistrates were arrayed in stronger animosity to each other from this time on, and the Senate and plebeians took sides with them, each believing that it would prevail over the other by augmenting the power of its own magistrates." 

Contextual information:

Appian was a Greek-speaking Roman historian who lived in the second century CE and held official positions in the Roman imperial administration. He wrote a Roman History organised by the regions and peoples Rome fought against, and the section known as The Civil Wars covers the breakdown of the Republic. His account draws on earlier sources and provides an outside perspective on the internal divisions of Republican Rome. 

Bibliographical reference:

Appian. The Civil Wars (H. White, Trans., 1899; Vol. I, p. 4). Macmillan and Co. (Original work written ca. 160 CE) 

Copyright: Public domain.

"In my sixth and seventh consulships [in 28 and 27 BCE], when I had extinguished the flames of civil war, after receiving by universal consent the absolute control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my own control to the will of the senate and the Roman people. For this service on my part I was given the title of Augustus by decree of the senate, and the doorposts of my house were covered with laurels by public act, and a civic crown was fixed above my door, and a golden shield was placed in the Curia Julia whose inscription testified that the senate and the Roman people gave me this in recognition of my valour, my clemency, my justice, and my piety. After that time I took precedence of all in rank, but of power I possessed no more than those who were my colleagues in any magistracy." 

Contextual information:

The Res Gestae Divi Augusti ("Achievements of the Deified Augustus") is an autobiographical account written by Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and inscribed on bronze tablets after his death in 14 CE. Augustus composed it as a record of his own actions and honours, to be displayed publicly across the Roman Empire. Chapter 34, quoted here, describes the moment in 28–27 BCE when Augustus formally returned control of the state to the Senate and the Roman people, an act that Romans interpreted as marking the end of the civil war period and the beginning of the Principate [the period of one-man rule, which historians today call the Empire]. 

Bibliographical reference:

Augustus. Res Gestae Divi Augusti (F. W. Shipley, Trans., 1924; p. 400). William Heinemann / G. P. Putnam's Sons. (Original work composed ca. 14 CE) 

Copyright: Public domain.