Echoes of Democracy in Ancient Rome

Abstract

The republican thought dates back to the theory of mixed government, or mixed constitution, founded by Plato and Aristotle who advocated for a power which combines elements of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. This chapter outlines the development of this theory and illustrates its implementation with an example of the Roman Republic (509 – ca. 30 BC). There, participation by the people was assumed to provide political stability and social cohesion, but it was not as multi-sided as in the classical democracy of Athens. It was reduced to the accepting or rejecting of some new laws with no right of initiative, and election of certain officials by the citizenry without, however, giving everybody access to high offices. The chapter concludes with a description of a complex decision situation in the Roman Senate, which, for the first time in history, was rigorously analyzed according to standards of logical reasoning. This analysis, made by Pliny the Younger (62–113?), anticipates the emergence of the mathematics of multi-alternative choice and strategic voting.

In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.

Marcus Tullius Cicero(106 – 43 BC)