Republic
Learn about the republic as a form of government — pioneered by Rome, where elected officials and a senate governed in place of kings.
A republic — from the Latin res publica, 'the public thing' — is a form of government in which power is held by the people and their elected representatives, rather than by a monarch. The Roman Republic, established in 509 BCE after the expulsion of the last king, was the ancient world's most influential experiment in republican government.
The Roman system was deliberately complex, designed to prevent the concentration of power. Two consuls served as co-executives, each able to veto the other, serving one-year terms. The Senate, composed of former magistrates, controlled foreign policy and finances. Various assemblies represented different segments of the citizen body. Tribunes of the plebs could veto any government action they deemed harmful to the common people. It was a system of checks and balances that the American Founders explicitly studied.
The Roman Republic's eventual collapse demonstrated both the strengths and vulnerabilities of republican government. For nearly five centuries, the system proved remarkably adaptable, absorbing new territories and new citizens while maintaining political stability. But the republic's institutions, designed for a city-state, could not manage a Mediterranean empire. The lesson — that republican government requires constant vigilance and adaptation to survive — remains relevant.