INTRODUCTION

The Republican period of Rome's history occupied half a millennium, from the late sixth century to the late first century bc. It was characterised by a form of government that distributed public rights and responsibilities among a group of interdependent entities – magistrates, senate, citizens – in a cohesive system intended to prevent the monopolisation of political power by a single individual. At the beginning of the period Rome was a small city-state, comparable to and no more distinctive than many other communities in peninsular, especially central, Italy. By the end of the period it was by far the largest city in the ancient Mediterranean world – larger than any other European city until the modern era – with a population conventionally estimated at close to one million. It controlled a vast empire embracing much of continental Europe, parts of North Africa, and regions in the Near East, and indirectly its influence extended further still. The preservation of political freedom within the civic community was a hallmark of Republican government, but it did not deter or prevent Romans from subjecting others to their will.

There are no contemporary sources to show with any certainty how the Republican form of government was instituted. Later Romans believed that it came into existence as a reaction against tyrannical rule exercised in the sixth century by a sequence of overlords of foreign, especially Etruscan, origin (which modern scholarship denies). At no point, however, was the constitution given written form.