Week 5: Daily #1

Question: What elements of the Roman Republican political and legal system appear present in the systems of modern democracies?

There are many elements in the Roman Legal system that are alike in the systems of modern democracies. One element in the Roman legal system is an even amount of power distributed to each person in government. This means that one person does not have more power over another person. This is present in our modern democracy because there is a balance of power between the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch, and the Legislative Branch. If one person thinks they have more power than someone else in the Roman legal system, that person could be taken out of the government. So all power is equally distributed in a democracy and the Roman political system. The Roman legal system also contained a constitution that contained many laws that are present in the Constitution in our modern democracy. These laws included checks and balances, the ability to veto, and the ability to impeach someone out of office. So our modern democracy includes a Constitution that is very similar to that found in Ancient Rome, another key element that these two systems share. Also, there was one person who had the ability to veto in the Roman legal system as well as in a democracy. That person in the Roman system was the Plebeian who served as the Tribune of the Plebs. Just like how the President in our democracy can veto bills from Congress, that one Plebeian could veto any laws passed by the Roman Senate. So if the Roman Senate thought of a bill to go into law, the Tribune of the Plebs could turn it down immediately, just like the President. So these are a couple of elements from the Roman political and legal system that are present in our modern democracy.