The Roman Republic

The Roman republic was first ruled by powerful kings who were advised by a council of elders (Senate) who's member's he appointed. He would chose from the patricians (men who's father already belonged to this hereditary group of leading families). When the king would die, his successor was chosen by the senate of its own members and approved by the assembly of male citizens. Rome then overthrew Etruscan rulers and abolished monarchy. The Roman republic was a mixture of greek-style republic and oligarchy. There was social struggles between the aristocratic side and the commoners. On one side you had the patricians and on the other, the plebeians. The plebeians was everyone who didn't belong to patrician families. The senate was made of a 300 assembly of patrician families. The senator functioned as consuls that served for one year and was in charge of appointing senators and chose its own successors. If there was an emergency, they could appoint a dictator: full power to make laws for a maximum of 6 months. Plebeians became wealthier and refused to be treated as second class citizens. The republic developed a government where both maintained the leadership of the senate but also gave plebeians power. Plebeians actually complained that they had no legal protection, since everything was always said orally. They then decided to engrave it which was came to be known as the the "Twelve Tablets". The farmers elected tribunes: magistrates elected by plebeians who gained power to initiate and veto laws. Slowly, plebeians got the same power as patricians.