Sarah Seong, Jeju
A language is a tool of communication, a social contract in which people make an implicit promise setting certain words to have its certain meaning. Language differs depending on what society it is being used in. This is equally applied to the term “republic”. Its concept originates from the word res publica in Latin, meaning “public thing”. 1 However, the use of the “republic” greatly differs from then in the Roman Republic compared to the republic states nowadays.
In modern views, the republic is defined as “a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives.” 2 In all the countries which recognize themselves as a republic and which are understood by others as such, this definition of the “people” encompasses all the citizens - including woman, children and people of different ethnicity. In other words, they promote equality in people. This is the main difference between the modern and the Roman ‘republic’: the Roman Republic was a male-dominated, class-divided society. With the society divided into two classes - the patricians (the wealthy elite), and the plebeians (the common people 3 ) - the plebeians couldn’t gain as much political power as the patricians. Moreover, their foreign policy was no less harsh but foreign expansion was an ongoing business, even during the era in which the country was called the Roman Republic. 4 Unlike the idealized image that people normally have of the Republic, its political and economical status wasn’t as ideal. For that reason, the Republic ended up being superceded by Augustus’s monarchy, leading into the Roman Empire. 4
However, this doesn't undermine the value of learning about the history of the Roman Republic and its constitution. There is a recurring theme in learning about history, that we learn from the past, for history repeats itself. This can be shown via the theory of historic materialism. While it can be argued that societies cannot be summarized by a single phase, it is a fact that such a diagram can give an insight into the countries’ political structure. In the transition of a feudal society to a modern-bourgeois society, there was an industrial revolution. And as the industrial revolution happened, mass internal migration took place in many parts of Europe due to the increased chances of work in cities. 5 Additionally, in such situations, the consideration of the working conditions of working-class people emerged. This was also what happened in the transition of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire; unable to compete with provinces, many Roman farmers migrated to the city, while there was a great gap between the patricians and plebeians. 6 Though it may seem unrelated at first view, a similar phenomenon happened in the Roman Republic and in Europe in the Industrial era. And this recurrence is the primary reason why people consider learning about the past. The history of the Roman Republic is an important topic to discuss, for the origin of the word often gives an idea of what things are about: one of the reasons why learning Latin can be useful. So do such concepts. Though the Roman Republic was not an ideal republic society, it was the fundamental idea of our modern idea of a republic. By examining such eras, future insights can be gained.
Sources:
1“Government - Rome.” n.d. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed March 9, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/topic/government/Rome#ref60644. 2“Republic Countries 2020.” n.d. Worldpopulationreview.com. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/republic-countries. 3“The Roman Republic.” 2008. Khan Academy. 2008. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/roman-empire/a/roman-rep ublic. 4“View Article: Imperial Rome vs. Roman Republic.” n.d. Depts.washington.edu. https://depts.washington.edu/hrome/Authors/joelnish/ImperialRomevsRomanRepublic/pub_zbarticle_ view_printable.html. 5 Immigration in the Industrial era 1750-1900 overview - OCR A - Revision 3 - GCSE History - BBC Bitesize. (2010). BBC Bitesize. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zqpvxsg/revision/3 6Roman Republic | History, Government, Map, & Facts | Britannica. (2020). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Republic#ref280096
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