The Roman government was created with three parts: magistrates, the Senate, and assemblies with tribunes. The magistrates like the consuls administered the city and led the army, while the Senate advised leadership and grew very powerful over time. Assemblies elected magistrates and tribunes protected common people by having the power to veto, or prohibit, other politicians' actions. This system of checks and balances helped distribute power and keep any one group from becoming too dominant.

1. ROME:
Government and Society
Social Studies for 9th EBG
Teacher: MauricioTorres

2. Roman Government
▪ With plebeians demanding changes in government, the citiy’s leaders
new that change was urgent.
▪ In order to calm the plebeians, patricians gave way for new offices
that could only be occupied by plebeians.
▪ Gradually, the line that separated both classes began to disappear.
▪ This is how a tripartite government (a government with three parts)
was created.
▪ Each part had its own responsibilities and duties, and their own power, rights
and privileges.

3. Magistrates
▪ The plebeians could now elect
magistrates: they handled finance, laws
and even organized games and festivals.
▪ The two most powerful magistrates were
known as consuls.
▪ They were chosen for a period of one year, and
two consuls shared power at the same time.
▪ They ran the city and lead the army.

4. Senate
▪ This was a council of wealthy and
powerful Romans that advised the city’s
leaders.
▪ Senators held office for life.
▪ At first they were only patricians, but with
time, wealthy plebeians also served as
senators.
▪ They were 300 senators.
▪ In time, the Senate grew more powerful,
and increased its influence over the city’s
magistrates.

5. Assemblies &Tribunes
▪ They protected the common people.
▪ They had assemblies:
▪ In the assemblies, they elected the magistrates.
▪ The second part of this branch were the
tribunes.
▪ They were elected by the plebeians.
▪ They had the power to veto (prohibit – it comes
from “I forbid” in Latin, the language spoken by the
Romans) actions by other politicians.
▪ As consuls, they could only stay in power for one
year.

6. Civic Duties
▪ Without the participation of the people,
Roman government would not have worked.
▪ They felt it was their civic duty (duty to Rome).
This included whatever means to make the
city prosper.
▪ This meant they had to attend assemblies and
vote in elections.
▪ Voting in Rome was not for everyone though!
▪ Wealthy citizens also felt it was their duty to
help run the city.This earned them respect
from fellow Romans.

7. Checks and Balances
Ability to restrict the powers of
other officials:
▪ For instance, the same way a
tribune could veto a law,
consuls could block laws
proposed by the Senate.
▪ This methods to balance power
are known today as checks and
balances.
Pros and cons:
▪ Even though this made government a
complicate issue, if they worked in
unison, it was a “well oiled machine”.

10. AskYourself
▪ Main ideas:
▪ What were the three parts of the Roman government?
▪ Define:
▪ What was a consul?
▪ Explain:
▪ Why was the senate so powerful?
▪ How did the government keep tribunes from becoming too powerful?
▪ Draw Conclusions:
▪ Why were assemblies and tribunes necessary?
▪ How was civic duty demonstrated in Rome?
▪ Identify:
▪ What was the veto?Who applied it?

11. Bibliography
▪ Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History (Teacher´s Edition)
(1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
▪ Images taken from Google.