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The History of the Roman Constitution is a study of Ancient Rome that traces the progression of Roman political development from the founding of the city of Rome in 753 BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. The constitution of the Roman Kingdom vested the sovereign power in the King of Rome. The king did have two rudimentary checks on his authority, which took the form of a board of elders (the Roman Senate) and a popular assembly (the Curiate Assembly). The arrangement was similar to the constitutional arrangements found in contemporary Greek city-states (such as Athens or Sparta). These Greek constitutional principles probably came to Rome through the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in southern Italy. The Roman Kingdom was overthrown in 510 BC, according to legend, and in its place the Roman Republic was founded. The constitutional history of the Roman Republic can be divided into five phases. The first phase began with the revolution which overthrew the Roman Kingdom in 510 BC, and the final phase ended with the revolution which overthrew the Roman Republic, and thus created the Roman Empire, in 27 BC. Throughout the history of the republic, the constitutional evolution was driven by the struggle between the aristocracy (the "Patricians") and the ordinary citizens (the "Plebeians"). Approximately two centuries after the founding of the republic, the Plebeians attained, in theory at least, equality with the Patricians. In practice, however, the plight of the average Plebeian remained unchanged. This set the stage for the civil wars of the 1st century BC, and Rome's transformation into a formal empire. The general who won the last civil war of the Roman Republic, Gaius Octavian, became the master of the state. In the years after 30 BC, Octavian set out to reform the Roman constitution, and to found the Principate. The ultimate consequence of these reforms was the abolition of the republic, and the founding of the Roman Empire. Octavian was given the honorific Augustus ("venerable") by the Roman Senate, and became known to history by this name, and as the first Roman Emperor. Octavian's reforms did not, at the time, seem drastic, since they did nothing more than reorganize the constitution. The reorganization was revolutionary, however, because the ultimate result was that Octavian ended up with control over the entire constitution, which itself set the stage for outright monarchy. When Diocletian became Roman Emperor in 284, the Principate was abolished, and a new system, the Dominate, was established. This system survived until the ultimate fall of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire in 1453.〔Abbott, 340〕 ==Under the Kingdom== The period of the kingdom can be divided into two epochs based on the legends, handed down to us principally in the first book of Livy's ''Ab Urbe condita'' ("From the City Having Been Founded", or simply "History of Rome").〔Abbott, 6〕 While the specific legends were probably not true, they were likely based on historical fact. It is likely that, before the founding of the republic, Rome actually had been ruled by a succession of kings. The first legendary epoch saw the reigns of the first four legendary kings. During this time, the political foundations of the city were laid,〔Abbott, 3〕 the city grew increasingly organized, the religious institutions were established, and the senate and the assemblies evolved into formal institutions.〔 The early Romans were divided into three ethnic groups.〔Abbott, 5〕 The families that belonged to one of these ethnic groups were the original Patrician families. In an attempt to add a level of organization to the city, these Patrician families were divided into units called curia.〔 The vehicle through which the early Romans expressed their democratic impulses was known as a "committee" (''comitia'' or "assembly"). The two principle assemblies that formed were known as the Curiate Assembly and the Calate Assembly. The two assemblies were designed to mirror the ethnic divisions of the city, and as such, the assemblies were organized by curia. The vehicle through which the early Romans expressed their aristocratic impulses was a council of town elders,〔 which became the Roman senate. The elders of this council were known as ''patres'' ("fathers"), and thus are known to history as the first Roman senators. The ''demos'' ("people") and the elders eventually recognized the need for a single political leader,〔 and thus elected such a leader, the ''rex'' (Roman King). The ''demos'' elected the ''rex'', and the elders advised the ''rex''.〔 The second epoch saw the reigns of the last three legendary kings. The second epoch was more consequential than was the first, which was in part due to the significant degree of territorial expansion which occurred during this period.〔 Regardless of how true these legends were, it is likely that, as the legends suggest, a series of conquests did occur during the late monarchy. As a result of these conquests, it became necessary to determine what was to be done with the conquered people.〔 Often, individuals whose towns had been conquered remained in those towns,〔Abbott, 7〕 while other such individuals came to Rome.〔 To acquire legal and economic standing, these newcomers adopted a condition of dependency toward either a Patrician family, or toward the king.〔 Eventually, the individuals who were dependents of the king were released from their state of dependency, and became the first Plebeians.〔 As Rome grew, it needed more soldiers to continue its conquests. When the Plebeians were released from their dependency, they were released from their Curia. When this occurred, while they were no longer required to serve in the army, they also lost their political and economic standing.〔Abbott, 7-8〕 To bring these new Plebeians back into the army, the Patricians were forced to make concessions.〔Abbott, 8〕 While it is not known exactly what concessions were made, the fact that they were not granted any political power〔 set the stage for what history knows as the Conflict of the Orders. The reign of the first four kings was distinct from that of the last three kings. The first kings were elected. Between the reigns of the final three kings, however, the monarchy became hereditary,〔Abbott, 10〕 and as such, the senate became subordinated to the king.〔 This breach in the senate's sovereignty, rather than an intolerable tyranny, was probably what led the Patricians in the senate to overthrow the last king.〔 The king may have sought the support of the Plebeians; however, the Plebeians were no doubt exhausted from their continued military service, and from their forced labor in the construction of public works. They were probably also embittered by their lack of political power, and therefore did not come to the aide of either the king or the senate.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the Roman Constitution」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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