Roman Politics And Social Development Of The Roman Empire

The Roman empire vastly transformed during the time period of 500 BCE to 500 CE politically and culturally due to social class division. It lead to the motivation of citizens to change their government and the conversion from their polytheistic beliefs into one monotheistic religion. This great empire’s history began with the tale of two brothers, Romulus and Remus, who are said to be the founders. According to Kotkin, “ The source of Roman greatness lay instead in their peculiar civic mythology and sense of divine mission. The city was said to be founded in the year 753 B.C, by two brothers, Romulus and Remus, abandoned by the Tiber and raised by a she-wolf. They were bloody-minded from the start, turning murderously on each other.” The last line is a bit of a foreshadow into the …show more content…
However, some might argue that Republican and Imperial Rome did not develop greatly because the senate was still in the government during the whole disarray of events yet gradually they lost their authority and control over the people. Firstly, the government in Rome was democratic but it eventually turned into an empire which was influenced from actions by the citizens. The social structure in Rome was divided by patricians who were the high class and wealthy citizens and the plebeians who were the poor or low ranked citizens. The patricians were given more rights than the plebeians such as access over Rome’s laws, or the Twelve Tables which could be used for their advantage in things such as defending in court. The plebeians felt that the difference in power was starting to affect their rights and thus created a conflict better known as the Struggle of the Orders. “ [..] the Plebeians sought to increase their power by taking advantage of the fact that Rome’s survival depended on its army, which needed plebeians to fill the ranks of the infantry. According to tradition, in 494 BCE the plebeians literally walked