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Re: [OM] IMG: January Surprise

Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: January Surprise
From: Bob Whitmire <bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 08:25:38 -0500
While mobs were often a feature of Roman politics, I don't think they're what 
did in the Republic. The way Romans voted would have made us crazy. The 
wealthier the voter, the more his vote counted. It was a complicated system, 
sorta/kinda similar to our precinct system except precincts were assigned by 
status and wealth rather than geography, and the top two (IIRC) "precincts" had 
far more clout than the others. Romans loved tradition, at any cost, and 
unfortunately had a "clause" in their "constitution" that permitted the 
appointment of dictators to protect and preserve the Republic in times of great 
duress. Think Sulla. when people such as Julius Caesar threatened the stability 
of centuries of tradition--and took advantage of the dictator 
"clause,"--something had to be done. That triggered the last in a series of 
civil wars that ended when Caesar's rather ruthless nephew Octavian solidified 
power and transformed himself into the Emperor Augustus. He did so in the name 
of st
 ability, and promoting tradition and the best ideals of the Roman Republic.

>From my reading of history, I'm not sure the Roman Republic was ever a 
>republic in the sense that we think of republics today. They seemed to think 
>that no longer having a king was enough.

--Bobus Maximus


On Jan 31, 2013, at 10:40 AM, Ken Norton wrote:

> It can be argued that the fall of the Roman Republic was hastened by
> democracy. What happened was that the elected officials became puppets
> of the mob. Especially since the mob was able to attend the sessions
> and threaten/kill anybody that didn't vote their way.

-- 
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