The Roman Republic as System
Introduction 1
In last week’s post I left you with my proposition that the Roman republic could be classified as a society of ‘participatory differentiation’. Today I expand that claim by identifying the participants as named organisations and individuals holding power. I will comment on the term ‘power’, and I will explain why I think it is necessary to discuss the system characteristics of the republic’s mode of governance. Finally I will briefly outline three opposing views of how such a system may operate as ‘code’.
Introduction 2
Any reliable account of governance in the Roman Republic will begin with the proviso that little can be known with absolute certainty. It was a long time ago. Nevertheless there is general agreement about some of the main features.
The distinctive feature I wish to focus on tends to be acknowledged implicitly but rarely stated explicitly. Perhaps people regard it as too obvious to mention if their main task is not one of comparing societies. The fact is tha…