How the Romans Voted in the Roman Republic

How the Romans Voted in the Roman Republic The vote was almost a side issue. When Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, reformed the tribal system of Rome, giving the vote to men who had not been members of the three original tribes, he increased the number of tribes and assigned people to them on the basis of geographic location rather than kinship ties. There were at least two main reasons for the extension of the suffrage, to increase the tax body and to add to the rolls of young men suitable for the military. Over the next couple of centuries, more tribes were added until there were 35 tribes in 241 B.C. The number of tribes remained stable and so new citizens were assigned to one of the 35 no matter where they lived. So much is pretty clear. Details are not so sure. For instance, we dont know whether Servius Tullius established any of the rural tribes or just the four urban ones. The importance of the tribes was lost when citizenship was extended to all free people in A.D. 212 by the terms of Constitutio Antoniniana. Posting Issues Roman assemblies were called to vote after notice of issues had been publicized. A magistrate published an edict in front of a contio (a public gathering) and then the issue was posted on a tablet in white paint, according to the University of Georgias Edward E. Best. Did Majority Rule? Romans voted in a couple of different groupings: by a tribe and by centuria (century). Each group, tribe or centuria had one vote. This vote was decided by majority vote of the constituents of said group (tribe or tribe or centuria), so within the group, each members vote counted as much as anyone elses, but not all groups were equally important. Candidates, who were voted on together even when there were multiple positions to fill, were counted as elected if they received the vote of one-half of the voting groups plus one, so if there were 35 tribes, the candidate won when he had received the support of 18 tribes. Polling Place Saepta (or ovile) is the word for the voting space. In the late Republic, it was an open wooden pen with probably 35 roped-off sections. It had been on the Campus Martius. The number of divisions is thought to have corresponded with the number of tribes. It was in the general area that both tribal groups and comitia centuriata held elections. At the end of the Republic, a marble structure replaced the wooden one. The Saepta would have held about 70,000 citizens, according to Edward E. Best. The Campus Martius was the field dedicated to the war god, and lay outside the sacred border or Pomoerium of Rome, as Classicist Jyri Vaahtera points out, which is significant because, in early years, Romans may have attended the assembly in arms, which didnt belong in the city. Voting was also held in the forum. Centuriate Voting Assembly The centuriae may also have been started by the 6th king or he might have inherited and augmented them. The Servian centuriae included about 170 centuriae of foot soldiers (infantry or pedites), 12 or 18 of equestrians, and a couple of others. How much wealth a family had determined which census class and therefore centuria its men fit in. The wealthiest infantry class had close to a majority of the centuriae and were also allowed to vote early, just after the cavalry whose first position in the metaphorical voting line (may have) earned them the label praerogativae. (It is from this use that we get the English word prerogative.) (Hall says that later after the system was reformed, the first [selected by lot] centuria to vote had the title of centuria praerogativa.) Should the vote of the wealthiest (infantry) first class and that of the cavalry be unanimous, there was no reason to go to the second class for their vote. The vote was by centuria in one of the assemblies, the comitia centuriata. Lily Ross Taylor thinks the members of a given centuria were from a variety of tribes. This process changed over time but is thought to have been the way the vote worked when the Servian Reforms were instituted. Tribal Voting Assembly In tribal elections, the voting order was decided by sortition, but there was an order of the tribes. We dont know exactly how it worked. Only one tribe might have been chosen by lot. There might have been a regular order for the tribes that the winner of the lottery was allowed to jump over. However it worked, the first tribe was known as principium. When a majority had been reached, the voting probably stopped, so if 18 tribes were unanimous, there was no reason for the remaining 17 to vote, and they didnt. The tribes voted per tabellam by ballot by 139 B.C., according to Ursula Hall. Voting in the Senate In the Senate, voting was visible and peer-pressure-driven: people voted by clustering around the speaker they supported. Roman Government in the Roman Republic The assemblies provided the democratic component of the mixed form of Roman government. There were also monarchic and aristocratic/oligarchic components. During the period of kings and the Imperial period, the monarchic element was dominant and visible in the personage of the king or emperor, but during the Republic, the monarchic element was elected annually and split in two. This split monarchy was the consulship whose power was deliberately curtailed. The Senate provided the aristocratic element. References The Centuriate Assembly before and after the Reform, by Lily Ross Taylor; The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 78, No. 4 (1957), pp. 337-354.Literacy and Roman Voting, by Edward E. Best; Historia 1974, pp. 428-438.The Origin of Latin suffrÄ gium, by Jyri Vaahtera; Glotta71. Bd., 1./2. H. (1993), pp. 66-80.Voting Procedure in Roman Assemblies, by Ursula Hall; Historia (Jul. 1964), pp. 267-306

What Is A Flat Character †Definition and Definitive Examples

What Is A Flat Character s What is a Flat Character? (And How to Fix One) â€Å"Riddled with flat characters† is perhaps the most damning thing you can hear from an editor or reviewer. An accusation that your characters read like a cardboard cut-outs is like a knife in the heart of any fledgling writer. But having a flat character or two isn't the end of the world  - or even the end of your story! And if you can learn how to turn a two-dimensional character into a three-dimensional one, you'll have a real leg up on all future character creation. Sometimes the hardest part is simply identifying when you  do  have a flat character on your hands... especially if you're not exactly sure what constitutes one. Which is why we want to illustrate exactly what is a flat character: with a clear definition, examples, and instructions on how to fix any flat characters you may come across in your writing. First off, let's talk about what this term means.What is a flat character?A flat character  is a character with little to no complex emotions, motivat ions, or personality. They also don't undergo any kind of change  to make them more well-rounded. In other words, they're the opposite of a "round character," who has a fully fleshed out profile and changes throughout the story. A flat character will typically:Have no internal conflictConform to a stereotypeNever experience character developmentLack a multi-faceted personalityWhereas a three-dimensional or round character will typically:Have internal conflictUndergo significant character developmentExperience mental and emotional changesHave a multi-faceted personalityFlat characters are also sometimes referred to as â€Å"one-dimensional† or â€Å"two-dimensional." Both of these monikers point to the same thing: a character who has very minimal complexity, and often renders the story less believable as a result. Are you accidentally writing a flat character? Learn more in this post Not all static characters are flatDon't make the mistake of conflating a flat character with a static character. â€Å"Static† (or its inverse, â€Å"dynamic†) strictly describes the amount of change that a character undergoes throughout the story. â€Å"Flat† is a referendum on the character's complexity. That means that, generally speaking, all two-dimensional characters are static, but not all static characters are two-dimensional. To learn more about the flip side of the equation, we wrote extensively about what makes a dynamic character here.Are flat characters bad?Again, having two-dimensional characters never spells automatic death for your book. And the occasional flat character can even benefit your narrative! Charles Dickens, for instance, was a genius at writing casts that were packed with memorable caricatures. Are Miss Havisham, Mrs Micawber, and Mr Jaggers flat characters? Absolutely - they have few complex characteristics and exist mostly to inter act with the main character of their respective stories. But does their flatness make them inherently uninteresting or irrelevant to the story? Not necessarily. Flat characters can fulfill a number of roles: they populate the environs of the protagonist’s journey, and can move the story along in a plot-driven book. You really just don't want your  main  character(s) to be flat, otherwise your audience will lose interest in them. Her animal friends are the most interesting thing about her. (Image: Buena Vista Pictures)6. Mary Jane from Spider-ManSummed up in one sentence: The girl next door who’s the object of Peter Parker’s affection. Purpose in the story: To be the damsel in distress whom Peter rescues time and time again.7. Karen Smith from Mean GirlsSummed up in one sentence: A popular high school student who isn’t the brightest bulb in the box. Purpose in the story: To be the comic relief. (Though, to be fair, she would unquestionably make a great weather reporter!)8. Mr Collins from Pride and PrejudiceSummed up in one sentence: A silly, pompous, vain, obsequious clergyman with narcissistic tendencies. Purpose in the story: To represent the stereotype of the silly, servile parts of British society that Jane Austen ends up eviscerating.So why do authors write flat characters?As you can see, authors utilize flat characters in a number of ways. Writers generally bring them out when:The story in question is extremely plot-driven. Genres such as detective novels and thrillers will feature more two-dimensional protagonists for this reason (i.e. Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and The  Da Vinci Code’s Robert Langdon.)The story is simple enough that complex characters are unnecessary.  This is the case in many children's movies, such as the  Cinderella  example above.Minor characters are needed. These characters don’t need depth, as they exist in order to further a three-dimensional protagonist along on their journey.So a flat character isn't necessarily a  bad  character; it's all about how you use them. Some very popular stories make almost everyone into flat characters except the protagonist(s). However, when it comes to standard literature, it's usually best to steer clear when possible. As a general rule, the more complex and multi-dimensional you make your characters, the deeper you'll pull readers into the vivid world of you r story - and that goes for all  characters, not just the ones we see the most.Do you have any favorite flat characters? Have you included any two-dimensional characters in your own work? Let us know in the comments below.