The Roman Republic

A very long time ago, in the year 509 BC, the people of Rome sent away their last king. They were angry with him, and they made a promise: never again would one man rule them. So they made a new system, called a republic. In a republic, there is no king. The people choose their leaders, and power is shared.

Each year, the people voted for two leaders called consuls. There were always two, not one, and they had the job for only one year. Each consul could say "no" to the other one. This way, no single man could become too strong. There was also the Senate — a group of important, older men who gave advice and controlled the money.

There was one special rule for emergencies. If Rome was in great danger, the people could choose one man to be a dictator. A dictator had all the power — but only for a short time, about six months. Then he had to give the power back. Every part of the system was made to stop one man becoming a king.

Over the next few hundred years, Rome grew bigger and bigger. Its army won war after war. Rome beat its biggest enemy, a city called Carthage, and took control of Greece, Spain and many other lands. A lot of treasure, land and slaves came into Rome. The city became very rich.

However, the money was not shared. The richest families took huge farms and used slaves to work them. Normal people went away to fight in the wars for years. When they came home, their small farms were often gone. Now there were many poor, angry people in the city, and only a few very rich families. This was a big problem.

Some leaders tried to help the poor. In 133 BC a young man called Tiberius Gracchus wanted to give land back to poor people. But the rich men were angry, and they killed him. Ten years later, his brother tried to do the same thing, and he died too. So now there was a terrible new idea in Rome: you could win in politics not by votes, but by violence.

Soon, strong generals took control. One general, Sulla, marched his own army into the city of Rome and made himself dictator — but he did not give the power back. Then came Julius Caesar, a brilliant and very popular general. He won many wars, and his soldiers loved him.

The Senate was afraid of Caesar. They told him to leave his army and come home alone. But in 49 BC, Caesar brought his army across a small river, the Rubicon. This was not allowed, and it started a civil war — Romans fighting Romans. Caesar won, and he made himself dictator for life. To people who hated kings, this was too much. So in 44 BC, a group of men killed Caesar. They thought they were saving the Republic.

However, killing Caesar did not save the Republic. It only started another civil war. In the end, Caesar's young heir, a man called Octavian, won. He was very clever. He kept the old words — Senate, consul, republic — but really he held all the power himself. In 27 BC, he took a new name: Augustus. Now Rome had one ruler again, like a king. We call him an emperor. The system built to stop one man ruling had ended with exactly one man ruling.