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Roman Empire overview Rome was once a world power. The Roman Empire lasted from 23 B. C. To About 476 A.
D... In all there were 57 emperors of Rome. Behind Rome's great military and leaders was the brilliant political system, senators, and laws of Rome. Ancient Rome had the best political system for that time. Rome's political system was harsh early on but became greater as timed pasted, also Rome's leaders and laws were the best too. Feudalism overview In any event this early medieval period is often referred to as the Dark Ages because of the apparent collapse off Greco-Roman culture.
It started during the years 900 and 1000. All of the medieval kingdoms of France and Germany derived their constitutional traditions from Charlemagne's monarchy. Throughout medieval Europe, Charlemagne was considered the prototype of a Christian king and emperor. Feudalism was formed between 732 and 843 and can be considered the "first" European type of government, sculpted from numerous cultures and traditions bound together by Christianity. Roman Government Republic is English for the Latin Res Publica, meaning the public thing. A republic is "a country governed by the elected representatives of the people" (Encarta "Republic").
Instead of a president or king, the Republic has two praetors, later known as consuls, who were elected annually. The one exception was emergency dictators, who served for six months and six months only. The Senators served for life. The Senate was made up people voted into office once a year. The object of the Republic was to give the people a voice in the government, and to keep just one person from having all the power. Noting the Greek government, the Romans created the Centuriate Assembly of citizens.
This was an assembly where citizens discussed and voted on important issues. Many of the members were Patricians, but there were a few Plebs, or commoners too poor to own land. Only free Roman adult men who owned weapons were citizens. Not long after the Republic was formed, the Patricians closed off immigration of new patriarchal families. Roman Patricians assembly couldn't make laws, but they elected ten tribunes each year that had the power of vote. The Patricians pronounced the validity of decisions made by the assembly.
As the Republic grew older, it became more complicated. The Assembly had to elect officials to help. They elected eight praetors, or court judges, four aedile's, who managed public streets and buildings, two centres, who took censuses, admitted new senators and collected taxes, and twenty five quae stores, or financial officers. Feudal Government After Charlemagne's empire, Europe was again divided into many kingdoms. Most of the kings had little control of their kingdoms.
As a result, hundreds of vassals-with such titles as prince, baron, or duke- became independent rulers of their own fiefs. These noblemen ruled their fiefs through a form of government called feudalism. Under feudalism, the nobleman who controlled the land also had a political, judicial, economic, and military power. Each nobleman collected taxes and fines, acted as judge in legal disputes and maintained an army knight with his own territory.
He also supervised the farming of the manors on his fief. The fief holders were the ruling class in Europe for more than 400 years. Feudalism picked up the same kind of society structure. A typical member of the feudalism ruling was a nobleman, a knight, a vassal, and a lord and all at the same time. He was a nobleman because he was born into the noble class. He became a knight when he decided to spend his life as a professional warrior.
He became a vassal when he promised to serve the king or other important person in return for a fief. Finally, he became a lord when he gave part of his own land to persons who promised to serve him. In feudal society lord and a vassal had rights and duties toward each other. A Lord promised his vassal protection and justice and the vassal gave the lord various services, most of which were military.
Feudal society is in term used to describe a society in which most people were peasants who lived in poverty and farmed the land. Their time was spent working for a small number of landlords. The landlords were also military leaders, usually trained as knights, acting as the ruler of the land. Feudalism was initially used as a method of local defense. In the times of uncertainty that plagued after the fall of the Roman Empire feudalism provided public power and armed forces in the hands of private landowners. Early feudalism mainly evolved to allow monarchs to maintain large armies of mounted troops by giving them land in exchange for their services.
Conclusion The Roman government was one of the most powerful ever, at one point ruling most of the civilized world. It is almost certainly the best known. Both the German word Kaiser as well as the Russian word Czar are from the name Caesar and mean ruler. Today some three-fourths of the countries are Republic, styled after the Romans. Medieval government was a disorganized affair that grew out of Germanic tribal ties of kinship and personal loyalty. Their greatest gains in this transitional period were made for them by their kings.
Most kings tried to rule according to Roman law and government structure. But, gradually, by a painful process of political pioneering, the kings learned to rule in their own names without the benefit of imperial restrictions. Bibliography: Mckay, Hill, and Buckler, Ebay's. A History of World Societies. Volume I to 1715. Adcock, F.
E. Roman Political Ideas and Practice. Computer Software: Encarta Encyclopedia, 1996 ed. Narrow, Don. The Roman Republic. San Diego: Lucent, 1994.
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Research essay sample on Roman Empire Feudal Society
