How did Roman laws and a representative government influence the US?

Answer 1

The US legal system is a "common law" legal system which is based on law that is developed by judges through decisions of the courts, and is often contrasted to "civil law" systems which are more closely derived from Roman laws. One of the main similarities between common and civil legal systems is the systematic division of the law into property, contract, and tort. Therefore it could be said that this systematic division is likely the main influence of Roman laws on US law.

Answer 2

Roman civil law has acted as a model for modern civil law.

Rome did not have a representative government. The senate was not an elected body and laws were voted on by citizens in various assemblies in the period of the Roman Republic, instead of representatives in something like a congress.

What influenced the US was the concept of checks and balances of powers, which was an idea from the ancient Greek historian Polybius' interpetation of the Roman constitution. He throught that the Roman executive was like a monachy, the senate was aristocratic and the assemblies democratic elements. Because the branches of the state were different, they checked their respective powers and balanced their respective weaknesses. This influence came through the French philospher Montesquieu who was a modern theorist of the concepts of separation of branches of government and checks and balances of power who was inspired by Polybius.

Another influence was the power of veto. During the Republic, to prevent officers of state from becoming too powerful, officers of the same rank could veto each other and officers of higher rank could veto officers of lower rank.