We can never go too long without one of these threads. Here's the premise of this one:
Propose reforms to the Roman Constitution (unwritten as it was) in order to stabilize it against the tides of autocracy. Don't feel too constrained by whether or not they'd actually pass, but try to keep to things that would make sense to a Roman. In other words, play the part of Sulla. Ultimately, this will likely require a few features:
1) Unite the interests of the aristocracy and the people to at least some degree, even in the face of no major threats to the Republic (in other words, once Macedon and Carthage are gone).
2) Curb the ambitions of the... ambitious, or better, channel them to productive means. Obviously, the entire point of the Republic was to do this, so its likely to be the hardest one to achieve
3) Tie the Legions to greater loyalty to the government, rather than their general.
4) Though not nearly as necessary, binding outlying populations to the government is very useful.
Here's my proposal, from the perspective of a more Republican-sympathetic Caesar (perhaps one who survives his assassination and is simultaneously humbled and determined to reshape the government, rather than just 'fix' it, with himself on top); though the background doesn't matter as much.
I) The Roman assemblies are reformed to better represent the population. In particular, the voting centuries are reorganized to account for the vast growth of un-landed soldiers, and all assemblies vote in random order, as the tribal assembly was.
- The common people and, most importantly, the soldiers, will now have a greater voice in the assemblies and a legitimate avenue for their political interests.
II) The number of Consuls is increased to three, and they served staggered 3-year terms, one elected every year, with honor and authority increasing incrementally with each year. The terms of the six Praetors is similarly increased to 3 years, and they are similarly staggered, two elected every year (each pair of Praetors will serve as the Urban and Peregrine Praetor, respectively, in their final year). Meanwhile, the minimum age of any magistracy is reduced roughly half a decade, while also reducing the number of years required to wait in between running for the same office (3-5, we'll say, or perhaps represented as at least a full term of governor). Finally, in light of the greater number of Roman provinces by Caesar's day, governorships are opened to Aediles as well as Praetors and Consuls, though the term of a governor is correspondingly increased to 3 years.
- Easing the restrictions upon the magistracies is done to make those same restrictions easier to enforce and reduce the temptation to flaunt the limitations of the Cursus Honorum. Increasing the terms also reduces the desire to run for consecutive terms. Meanwhile, increasing the number of Consuls to three creates a greater check on the power of any one Consul, while the staggering gives each the opportunity to be the First Man in Rome. Then, immediately after, he's sent to a province for 3 years, which should be more than enough to deal with any local military threats, while also getting him out of the day to day politics for quite awhile, and has an added bonus for the local of reducing the inclination for a governor to loot his province. In short, this is a sort of codification of the Triumvirate.
III) The composition of the Senate is required to include a set number of Senators from among the Roman citizenry in each province, with 16 Roman provinces during Caesar's time.
- In addition to consolidating Roman control over outlying provinces and providing an outlet for regional concerns, this also breaks up the solid front that the Senate had against popular politicians. Provincial Senators would likely align themselves to those Magistrates that governed favorably in their province, diffusing power in the Senate, and also prove something of a check on those that governed poorly, diffusing the power of too-greedy governors.
IV) Laws must be approved by both the Senate and an Assembly (or Plebeian Council). Now that the Assemblies themselves are given effective veto power over a law, the Plebeian Tribunes were barred from utilizing their veto against any law that had already won the approval of either the Senate or an Assembly/Council (presumably, the simplest way to accomplish this would be to declare them non-sacrosanct during any debate and vote on such matters).
- Neither the aristocratic Senate nor the democratic Assemblies may act out of concert with the other. Further, the Tribunate was an office open to a multitude of abuses, as is obvious from a cursory review of Roman history, and needed some reigning in.
Alright, have at it. Any proposals/counter proposals?
Propose reforms to the Roman Constitution (unwritten as it was) in order to stabilize it against the tides of autocracy. Don't feel too constrained by whether or not they'd actually pass, but try to keep to things that would make sense to a Roman. In other words, play the part of Sulla. Ultimately, this will likely require a few features:
1) Unite the interests of the aristocracy and the people to at least some degree, even in the face of no major threats to the Republic (in other words, once Macedon and Carthage are gone).
2) Curb the ambitions of the... ambitious, or better, channel them to productive means. Obviously, the entire point of the Republic was to do this, so its likely to be the hardest one to achieve
3) Tie the Legions to greater loyalty to the government, rather than their general.
4) Though not nearly as necessary, binding outlying populations to the government is very useful.
Here's my proposal, from the perspective of a more Republican-sympathetic Caesar (perhaps one who survives his assassination and is simultaneously humbled and determined to reshape the government, rather than just 'fix' it, with himself on top); though the background doesn't matter as much.
I) The Roman assemblies are reformed to better represent the population. In particular, the voting centuries are reorganized to account for the vast growth of un-landed soldiers, and all assemblies vote in random order, as the tribal assembly was.
- The common people and, most importantly, the soldiers, will now have a greater voice in the assemblies and a legitimate avenue for their political interests.
II) The number of Consuls is increased to three, and they served staggered 3-year terms, one elected every year, with honor and authority increasing incrementally with each year. The terms of the six Praetors is similarly increased to 3 years, and they are similarly staggered, two elected every year (each pair of Praetors will serve as the Urban and Peregrine Praetor, respectively, in their final year). Meanwhile, the minimum age of any magistracy is reduced roughly half a decade, while also reducing the number of years required to wait in between running for the same office (3-5, we'll say, or perhaps represented as at least a full term of governor). Finally, in light of the greater number of Roman provinces by Caesar's day, governorships are opened to Aediles as well as Praetors and Consuls, though the term of a governor is correspondingly increased to 3 years.
- Easing the restrictions upon the magistracies is done to make those same restrictions easier to enforce and reduce the temptation to flaunt the limitations of the Cursus Honorum. Increasing the terms also reduces the desire to run for consecutive terms. Meanwhile, increasing the number of Consuls to three creates a greater check on the power of any one Consul, while the staggering gives each the opportunity to be the First Man in Rome. Then, immediately after, he's sent to a province for 3 years, which should be more than enough to deal with any local military threats, while also getting him out of the day to day politics for quite awhile, and has an added bonus for the local of reducing the inclination for a governor to loot his province. In short, this is a sort of codification of the Triumvirate.
III) The composition of the Senate is required to include a set number of Senators from among the Roman citizenry in each province, with 16 Roman provinces during Caesar's time.
- In addition to consolidating Roman control over outlying provinces and providing an outlet for regional concerns, this also breaks up the solid front that the Senate had against popular politicians. Provincial Senators would likely align themselves to those Magistrates that governed favorably in their province, diffusing power in the Senate, and also prove something of a check on those that governed poorly, diffusing the power of too-greedy governors.
IV) Laws must be approved by both the Senate and an Assembly (or Plebeian Council). Now that the Assemblies themselves are given effective veto power over a law, the Plebeian Tribunes were barred from utilizing their veto against any law that had already won the approval of either the Senate or an Assembly/Council (presumably, the simplest way to accomplish this would be to declare them non-sacrosanct during any debate and vote on such matters).
- Neither the aristocratic Senate nor the democratic Assemblies may act out of concert with the other. Further, the Tribunate was an office open to a multitude of abuses, as is obvious from a cursory review of Roman history, and needed some reigning in.
Alright, have at it. Any proposals/counter proposals?
