The Roman Republic — Founding, Governance, and the Conflict of the Orders

THREE PROMISES recite (MG-8 Living-Descendant + MG-9 Humanity-FIRST + MG-10 Resilience-FIRST); turn-and-talk on yesterday's exit-ticket or I-STILL-WONDER

• Display Three Promises posters
• Lead recite intentionally
• I-STILL-WONDER chart quick scan

Rome traditional founding 753 BCE (Romulus and Remus myth). EARLY MONARCHY (753-509 BCE) — 7 traditional kings including Etruscan kings Tarquin the Elder and Tarquin the Proud (last king, expelled 509 BCE according to tradition). ROMAN REPUBLIC (509-27 BCE). GOVERNANCE per MG-16: 2 CONSULS at top — 1-year terms, can veto each other, imperium (military command) + civil authority. SENATE — 300 lifetime members from patrician families (later open to wealthy plebeians); advisory but increasingly dominant. POPULAR ASSEMBLIES — three with overlapping jurisdictions: COMITIA CENTURIATA (organized by military century, weighted toward wealth — elected consuls + declared war), COMITIA TRIBUTA (organized by tribe — elected lesser magistrates), CONCILIUM PLEBIS (Plebeian Council — exclusive to plebeians, elected Plebeian Tribunes). PLEBEIAN TRIBUNES — 10 elected by plebs, with veto power over Senate (sacrosanct — physically inviolable). LESSER MAGISTRATES: praetors (judicial), quaestors (financial), aediles (civic services), censors (census + morals). Motto: SPQR = Senatus Populusque Romanus = 'The Senate and the People of Rome.' CONFLICT OF THE ORDERS (494-287 BCE) per MG-17: patricians (~10% of citizens, hereditary aristocracy, monopolized Senate and magistracies in early Republic) vs plebeians (~90% of free citizens, farmers + artisans + merchants + soldiers). KEY EVENTS: 494 BCE First Secession of the Plebs (plebs withdrew from Rome to threaten military service strike); 451-450 BCE Twelve Tables (Rome's first written laws — made law public and accessible to plebeians); 445 BCE Lex Canuleia (legalized patrician-plebeian intermarriage); 367 BCE Licinian-Sextian Laws (one consul must be plebeian); 287 BCE Lex Hortensia (plebeian-council laws binding on ALL Romans). CINCINNATUS (c. 519-430 BCE) is the famous Republic-defending exemplar — twice appointed dictator for emergencies, twice resigned and returned to his farm. George Washington was deliberately compared to Cincinnatus by Federalist-era Americans. CICERO (106-43 BCE) — late-Republic philosopher and statesman. His DE RE PUBLICA (On the Commonwealth) Book I argues that the best constitution mixes monarchy (consul) + aristocracy (Senate) + democracy (assemblies) — the mixed-constitution theory that influenced the US Founders. COMPARE WITH US CONSTITUTION: similar mixed-government theory (President / Senate / House); similar checks and balances; key differences — Roman magistrates unpaid + property-qualified + brief terms; Senate seats lifetime; the two systems differ significantly.

• Refuse common conflation of 'republic' with 'democracy.'

  model No. It was a REPUBLIC with mixed-constitution elements — oligarchic Senate + popular assemblies + magisterial executive. Plebeians did not gain full legal-political equality until the Lex Hortensia 287 BCE — after ~200 years of organized struggle (Conflict of the Orders).

  prompt Was the Roman Republic a democracy?
• Cross-curricular with G5-Fall Founding Documents — Washington-as-Cincinnatus framing.

  model Cincinnatus was a Roman Republic citizen who was twice appointed dictator for emergencies and twice resigned and returned to his farm — the model of a citizen-soldier who refuses permanent power. George Washington was deliberately compared to Cincinnatus when he resigned the army command 1783 and the presidency 1797.

  prompt Who was Cincinnatus and why did US Founders care?

• Name 3 Roman Republic institutions per MG-16.
• Apply MG-7 to Cicero De Re Publica Book I — what does Cicero argue about mixed constitution?
• When did plebeians gain full legal-political equality?

Apply MG-7 to Cicero De Re Publica Book I selected (Zetzel 1999 translation): 'A commonwealth is the property of a people. But a people is not just any assembly of human beings brought together in any sort of way, but an assembly of a multitude united by agreement on law and by community of interest.' WHO/WHEN (Cicero c. 54-51 BCE end of Republic) / CONTEXT (Republic crisis; civil wars beginning) / CORROBORATE (Polybius Histories Book VI ~ 150 BCE mixed-constitution theory) / CLOSE READ / LIVING DESCENDANTS (modern Italians + Roman-law tradition) / TRANSLATION (Zetzel translation choices).

M-6-F-CIV-17-A Diagram

MG-16 Roman Republic Governance Diagram (c. 100 BCE): top of diagram shows 2 CONSULS (1-year terms, can veto each other) at apex; SENATE of 300 patricians (advisory + increasingly powerful) on the side; 10 PLEBEIAN TRIBUNES (elected by plebs, veto power, sacrosanct) on the other side; three POPULAR ASSEMBLIES at base — COMITIA CENTURIATA (military-century organization, elected consuls + declared war) + COMITIA TRIBUTA (tribal organization, elected lesser magistrates) + CONCILIUM PLEBIS (Plebeian Council, exclusive plebeian); lesser magistrates beneath consuls — PRAETORS (judicial) + QUAESTORS (financial) + AEDILES (civic) + CENSORS (census + morals); SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus) emblem at bottom. Each element labeled with brief role. Style: civics-textbook clear hierarchical diagram.

MG-16 Diagram

Roman Republic Governance Diagram — visual of Roman Republic structure c. 100 BCE: 2 Consuls at top (1-year terms, can veto each other); Senate of 300 patricians (advisory, increasingly powerful); Plebeian Tribunes (10 elected by plebs, with veto power over Senate); Plebeian Council + Centuriate Assembly + Tribal Assembly (three popular assemblies with overlapping jurisdictions); Praetors (judicial) + Quaestors (financial) + Aediles (civic) + Censors (census + morals) as magistrates beneath consuls; SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus) emblem at the bottom. Each element labeled with brief role description. Style: civics-textbook diagram, clear hierarchical visualization.

• Label MG-16 Roman Republic Governance Diagram and apply MG-17 patricians-vs-plebeians chart to identify 3 plebeian victories in the Conflict of the Orders

  scaffold Partially-labeled diagram
• Apply MG-7 6-question Source Card to Cicero De Re Publica Book I excerpt

  scaffold Source Card structure

M-6-F-CIV-17-B Chart

MG-17 Patricians vs. Plebeians Class-Conflict Chart: 2-column comparison. Left PATRICIANS (~10% of Roman citizens; hereditary aristocracy; descended from senatorial families; owned most land; held priesthoods; monopolized Senate and magistracies in early Republic). Right PLEBEIANS (~90% of Roman citizens; free citizens including farmers + artisans + merchants + soldiers; won Plebeian Tribunes c. 494 BCE; won Twelve Tables 450 BCE making law public; won Lex Hortensia 287 BCE making plebeian-council laws binding on all). Bottom row CONFLICT OF THE ORDERS 494-287 BCE timeline: 494 First Secession of the Plebs / 451-450 Twelve Tables / 445 Lex Canuleia (intermarriage) / 367 Licinian-Sextian (consulship to plebeians) / 287 Lex Hortensia (full legal-political equality). Style: civics-comparison chart.

MG-17 Chart

Patricians vs. Plebeians Class-Conflict Chart — 2-column comparison: PATRICIANS (~10% of Roman citizens, descendants of senatorial families, owned land, held priesthoods, monopolized Senate seats before Conflict of the Orders) vs PLEBEIANS (~90% of Roman citizens, free citizens including farmers + artisans + merchants + soldiers, won Tribunes c. 494 BCE, won Lex Hortensia 287 BCE making plebeian-council laws binding on all). Bottom row: Conflict of the Orders 494-287 BCE timeline with secession of the plebs c. 494 BCE + Twelve Tables c. 450 BCE + Lex Hortensia 287 BCE. Style: civics-comparison chart.

• Name 3 Roman Republic offices/institutions.
• When did plebeians gain full legal-political equality?

• Preview Lesson 18 (Punic Wars + Republic-to-Empire transformation)

• Compare Roman Republic mixed constitution (2 consuls + Senate + Tribunes + assemblies) with US Constitution mixed government (President + Senate + House + Court). Write 4 sentences.