Why was the democracy created in ancient Rome?

Answer 1

It was the Greeks who created democracy. Athens developed into the first ever democracy. It came about through a three reforms over a period of 130 years which weakened the power of the ruling elite The origins of these reforms were the facts that the clans of the ruling elites at times clashed and this led to tyranny and that the elites often abused the poor. This eventually led to the concept of democracy, which to the Greeks it meant power to the people. Their democracy was different than us. It was direct. This means that people did not elect representatives. They voted on legislation themselves. The did so in the Assembly of the People, which was open to all male citizens. This assembly had four functions: it issued decrees, it legislated, it elected some officials and it tried political crimes. It was through the creation of these powers for this assembly that democracy was established.

Rome was never a democracy. During the monarchic period it was ruled by a king, during the republican period it was an oligarchy and during the period of rule by emperors the emperor was an absolute ruler. The middle and lower classes never had a substantial share in decision making. There was a democratic element. Three different types of popular assemblies elected the officers of state and voted on bills. However, the aristocracy and the wealthy entrepreneurial elite controlled politic via their control of the senate, the city's most powerful political body.

Answer 2

ancient Rome was never at any time a democracy. There were three types of government during the 1,200 years of her history: a monarchy for 244 years, a republic for 482 years and absolute rule by emperors for 506 years. During the republic there were five types of executive officers of state who were elected by two popular assemblies: the Assembly of the Soldiers and the Assembly of the Tribes. The Assembly of the Soldiers also voted on bills proposed by the consuls, the two annually elected heads of the republic. This was direct democracy; that is, the people voted directly on bills instead of electing representatives to vote on bills (indirect democracy). However, these democratic features did not make the Roman Republic a true democracy. The voting system of the Assembly of the Soldiers was heavily stacked in favour of the rich. The most powerful political body was the unelected senate, which favoured the interest of the patrician aristocracy. The Roman Republic has been described as an oligarchy. Politics was controlled by the patricians and the equites (a class of wealthy bankers, moneylenders, merchants and investors in shipping and mining). The poor plebeians were represented by parallel institutions, the Plebeians Council (the assembly of the plebeians) and the plebeian tribunes (the representatives of the plebeians), which were established during a conflict between patricians and plebeians. The plebeian tribunes gained the right to present bills to the vote of the Plebeian Council and for the laws passed by this body being binding on all Roman citizens. However, measures to improve the lot of the poor were fiercely resisted and defeated by the patricians.

The only ancient democracy was the Athenian democracy which was created by the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508/7 BC and of Ephialtes in 462/1.BC It ended in 317 BC, when under Cassander, the king of Macedon, the kingdom of Macedon started appointing the rulers of Athens (Athens had been defeated in a war against Macedon in 342 BC),