Politics in the Roman Republic

Abstract

While no Roman ever disputed that power belonged to the populus, it does not necessarily follow that the Roman assemblies were conceived of or intended as vehicles of direct popular influence. As argued above, their peculiar structures hint at a formalistic, almost ritualised notion of legitimacy in Rome. The res publica may, as Schofield argued, have belonged to the populus but it was always managed by leaders to whom the people had entrusted its care. The question is how this paradoxical construction worked in practice, and in this section we will look more closely at the influence the people exercised after the res publica had been handed over to its chosen leaders. The highly formalised structure of the assemblies in principle does not exclude the possibility that they could have served the interests of the populus, thereby making the constitution more 'democratic' than it might otherwise appear. If so, that might explain the broad social and political stability which scholars have identified as a defining feature of the 'classic' middle republic. Confronted with these issues historians have in recent years increasingly turned from traditional constitutional history towards the study of 'political culture', a concept which also comprises the attitudes and beliefs that inform and give meaning to the political process. Thus the ideology, 'style' and self-representation of the elite as well as its interaction with the populus have been widely identified as key elements in forging the apparent consensus, which impressed even Polybius. In addition, there is now much greater awareness of the symbolic and 'performative' aspects of politicsmonuments, spectacles, processions, and festivalsas factors contributing to civic inclusion and a shared sense of community. This approach has greatly advanced our understanding of the Roman republic, and we will return to some of the new insights it has generated later in the chapter. It is vital, however, that the 'nuts-and-bolts' of Roman politics are not forgotten; indeed one might argue that it is through a combination of 'hard' and 'soft' political history that further progress may be made. Let us

Political Cohesion and Fiscal Systems in the Roman Republic

“…To contextualize the dynamics of collective action and of fiscal sociology, it is necessary to emphasize that Rome in this period did not operate as a bureaucratic state with legalistic operations (Mouritsen, 2017). It sustained and rejuvenated its Republican practices much more through symbols and rituals that affirmed the community's acceptance of the socio-political hierarchy (Hölkeskamp, 2010(Hölkeskamp, , 2017.…”

“…16 A convenient overview can be found at Jehne (2010). For monographs, see Flaig (2003), Morstein-Marx (2004), Hölkeskamp (2010Hölkeskamp ( , 2017, Mouritsen (2017).…”

Z dziejów badań nad frekwencją wyborczą w późnorepublikańskim Rzymie

“…Masowe w nich uczestnictwo było zgoła nieistotne. I może dlatego sytuacja wyborcza, z jaką się spotykamy u schyłku republiki rzymskiej, nie powinna być uznana za jakąś degenerację instytucji ludowych zgromadzeń 66 . Jak bowiem słusznie stwierdza nasz współczesny historyk, "z tym wszystkim jest rzeczą oczywistą, że suwerenność ludu, biernego i praktycznie niemego, była suwerennością arbitra, a nie efektywnie rządzącego i że właściwa gra polityczna toczyła się między czynnikiem aktywnym, to jest utrzymującym w ruchu machinę państwową magistratami (i trybunami), oraz senatem, jedynym w państwie organem deliberacyjnym i jedynym forum, na którym panowała wolność słowa" 67 .…”

Reseña bibliográfica de: Angius, A. (2018). La Repubblica delle opinioni. Informazione politica e partecipazione popolare a Roma tra II e I secolo a.C. Grassina: Le Monnier Università, 408 pp.

“…El autor rastrea las fuentes de la opinión pública en la república romana tardía y explica, de forma convincente, los mecanismos de sociabilidad de la población que permitían la producción y circulación de información independiente de la clase dominante. La Repubblica delle opinioni cuenta con una introducción y una 1 Vale mencionar, bajo un criterio selectivo y no exhaustivo, las obras que han revisado toda la historia de la república tardía desde los argumentos que proponen y guían las investigaciones más recientes: Yakobson (1999), Flower (2010), Steel (2013), Mouritsen (2017), Rosillo López (2017a), entre otros. 2 Sugiero, al lector interesado, revisar una síntesis de los problemas y cuestiones debatidas en Jehne (2006), Clemente (2018, pp.…”