History glossary
Roman Republic
Rome's pre-imperial political system, run through elected offices, the Senate, assemblies, and elite competition.
- Category
- State
- Region
- Rome and the Mediterranean
- Date range
- 509-27 BCE
What it means
The Roman Republic was the system that governed Rome before the emperors. It mixed elected magistrates, aristocratic Senate authority, popular assemblies, and intense competition among elite families. Its expansion across the Mediterranean eventually strained and broke its institutions.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Roman Empire
From Augustus to the fall of the Western Empire, Rome built a vast imperial system whose law, cities, armies and ideas shaped the ancient and medieval worlds.
The Roman Republic
From the expulsion of Rome’s kings to the rise of Augustus, the Roman Republic built a powerful mixed constitution, expanded across the Mediterranean, and ultimately collapsed into civil war and one-man rule.
