Yesterday, having been President’s day, I thought this an excellent time to touch upon leadership roles in Rome. We will not hit on all of them, but it will be a start.
It started with kings
King is translated rex, regis in Latin (for those of you thinking Tyrannosaurus rex, it comes from this word). The Kings began with Romulus, and were absolute monarchs (you can think of the medieval Kings, except they dressed differently and power wasn’t hereditary). The Kings were not necessarily Romans though, but often Etruscans. The Roman people greatly resented this. Knowing the Romans as we do, you can probably guess what happened. After seven Kings and much murder, the Roman people, lead by Collatinus and Brutus, rid themselves of the Kings and began the Roman Republic. (The final king was called Tarquinius Superbus, which means Tarquinius the arrogant).
The Romans had senators too
Senators had been the advisors to the king or consul during the time of the Roman Kings, but with the rise of the republic they received more power. They had a hand in finances, foreign relations, deciding who controlled the military, and, though they couldn’t pass laws, they controlled the proposal of laws.
The all important emperors
Almost everyone has heard of the Caesars, great Roman Emperors. Julius Caesar himself was not an emperor though. His heir Caesar Augustus was the first Roman emperor. An emperor was an absolute monarch, like a king, but since the Romans had already decided that they didn’t like kings, Augustus called himself an emperor. Emperors were perhaps even more powerful than the Kings before them, often being called gods. They acted much as the Kings before them had. Peter Jones in his book Veni, Vidi, Vici notes that, “virtually no one became or stayed emperor without blood on his hands.”
Rome had many leaders, and tried many forms of government. Though, we today might lament the fall of the republic, Augustus did begin the Pax Romana. Rome had both good and bad leaders during all of its governmental periods.
-Kyndalanne
Thanks to:
Veni, Vidi, Vici by Peter Jones
