the highest officials in the government of the roman republic were
Roman Republic Roman government in the early Republic was dominated by patricians, a wealthy, landowning minority who traced their ancestry to Rome's foundation, and had overthrown its monarchy. They shared the former powers of the kings among themselves, in the form of annually elected magistracies, senior military posts, and influential priesthoods. Republican government was headed by two consuls, advised by a senate of magistrates and ex-magistrates. Social class and status determined a citizen's voting rights, the value of his vote, and his lawful capacity for high civil, military and religious office; a patrician's vote far outweighed that of a citizen-commoner (pleb); this led to conflicts between the patrician minority and the far more numerous plebs. A series of constitutional reforms recognised wealthy, leading plebeian families as a legitimate aristocracy, and their most distinguished, reputable men as eligible for the highest elected offices.
Conflict of the Orders In the decades following the passage of the Licinio-Sextian law of 367 BE, a series of laws were passed which ultimately granted Plebeians political equality with Patricians.[9][10] The Patrician era came to a complete end in 287 BC, with the passage of the Hortensian law.[10] When the Curule Aedileship had been created, it had only been opened to Patricians. However, an unusual agreement was ultimately secured between the Plebeians and the Patricians. One year, the Curule Aedileship was to be open to Plebeians, and the next year, it was only to be open to Patricians.[11] Eventually, however, this agreement was abandoned and the Plebeians won full admission to the Curule Aedileship. In addition, after the Consulship had been opened to the Plebeians, the Plebeians acquired a de facto right to hold both the Roman Dictatorship and the Roman Censorship [5] since only former Consuls could hold either office. 356 BC saw the appointment of the first Plebeian Dictator,[12] and in 339 BC the Plebeians facilitated the passage of a law (the lex Publilia), which required the election of at least one Plebeian Censor for each five-year term.[12] In 337 BC, the first Plebeian Praetor (Q. Publilius Philo) was elected.[12] In addition, during these years, the Plebeian Tribunes and the senators grew increasingly close.[13] The senate realized the need to use Plebeian officials to accomplish desired goals,[13] and so to win over the Tribunes, the senators gave the Tribunes a great deal of power, and unsurprisingly, the Tribunes began to feel obligated to the senate. As the Tribunes and the senators grew closer, Plebeian senators were often able to secure the Tribunate for members of their own families.[14] In time, the Tribunate became a stepping stone to higher office.[14]
Senate of the Roman Republic The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. It was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a Roman magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic appointment to the Senate. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government. Polybius noted that it was the consuls (the highest-ranking of the regular magistrates) who led the armies and the civil government in Rome, and it was the Roman assemblies which had the ultimate authority over elections, legislation, and criminal trials. However, since the Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy, it had the most control over day-to-day life. The power and authority of the Senate derived from precedent, the high caliber and prestige of the senators, and the Senate's unbroken lineage, which dated back to the founding of the Republic in 509 BC.
History of the Constitution of the Roman Republic By 287 BC, the economic condition of the average Plebeian had become poor, and the result was the final Plebeian secession. The Plebeians seceded to the Janiculum hill, and to end the secession, a Dictator named Quintus Hortensius was appointed. Hortensius, a Plebeian, passed a law called the "Hortensian Law" (Lex Hortensia), which ended the requirement that an auctoritas patrum be passed before any bill could be considered by either the Plebeian Council or the Tribal Assembly.[40] The requirement was not changed for the Centuriate Assembly. The importance of the Hortensian Law was in that it removed from the senate its final check over the Plebeian Council (the principal popular assembly).[41] It should therefore not be viewed as the final triumph of democracy over aristocracy,[41] since, through the Tribunes, the senate could still control the Plebeian Council. Thus, the ultimate significance of this law was in the fact that it robbed the Patricians of their final weapon over the Plebeians. The result was that the ultimate control over the state fell, not onto the shoulders of democracy, but onto the shoulders of the new Patricio-Plebeian aristocracy.[41]