Daily #25

What elements of the Roman Republican political and legal system appear present in the systems of modern democracies? 


Many elements are the same between the Roman Republic and the legal system today.  The Twelve Tables were established the basis of law for all Roman citizens.  We have the same type of system where our government comes up with laws for all American citizens to follow.  In Rome, if you were accused of a crime, you could request to be sent to a trial.  The same thing happens today where we go to trial when we are accused of a crime.  Like today, if trials are won, there is some kind of reward.  Also like today, you could plead not guilty, but if you were found guilty it was double the value.  In Rome, there were several kinds of Roman courts, just like today.  We have federal courts, circuit courts, and district courts.  The government was, in theory, a participatory and representative democracy, but voting and offices were limited to certain people.  Today however, anyone who wants to run for office can run for office, and voting is open to anyone.


On the other hand, the role of a lawyer in Rome is much different from lawyers today.  The persecutor and defendant were responsible for their own presentation.  The lawyer could offer advice and could give a speech for the client, but he was not paid for his services.  Today it is the opposite, lawyers do the talking, and the client can only talk when they are being interrogated.


As you can see, Roman political and legal systems are like our systems in some ways, but different in others.


Sources
http://www.dl.ket.org/latin3/mores/legallatin/legal01.htm
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/romangvt.html