In what 2 ways was the power of the 2 consuls limited? The consuls term was only one year long and the same person couldn’t be elected until another 10 years. One consul could always overrule the others decision.

executive branch

For 500 years Ancient Rome was governed by the Roman Republic. This was a form of government that allowed for people to elect officials. It was a complex government with a constitution, detailed laws, and elected officials such as senators.

“Praetor” was a rank of considerable power and prestige. It was an elected office, one step below consul. The best modern-day equivalent of a consul (another elected office, and there were always two of them) would be president or prime minister. A praetor could command an army, govern a province, or be a magistrate.

ROMAN MAGISTRATES

The first praetor specially so called was appointed in the year B.C. 356, and he was chosen only from the Patricians, who had this new office created as a kind of indemnification to themselves for being compelled to share the consulship with the Plebeians (Liv. VI.

The praetoria potestas in Republican Rome was at first held by the consuls. These two officials, elected on an annual basis, inherited the power formerly held by the kings of Rome. Very likely, the king himself was the first praetor.

Praetors were judges. They would assume consuls’ administrative duties in their absence. Aediles were the organizers of public games. They were also the supervisors of public places.

After a term as praetor, the magistrate would serve as a provincial governor with the title of propraetor, wielding propraetor imperium, commanding the province’s legions, and possessing ultimate authority within his province(s). Two of the praetors were more prestigious than the others.

consuls

The consuls served for only one year (to prevent corruption) and could only rule when they agreed, because each consul could veto the other one’s decision. The consuls were the chairmen of the Senate, which served as a board of advisers.

When a fire burned down Julius Caesar’s Senate building in the late 200s AD, the emperor Diocletian had a new Senate house built in the latest architectural style. This is the Senate house that is still standing today. It is still in the same place, in the Roman forum.

Answer. After the transition of the Republic into the Principate, the Senate lost much of its political power as well as its prestige. Following the constitutional reforms of Emperor Diocletian, the Senate became politically irrelevant.

In the early ages of Rome, the senate was there to advise the king. During the Roman Republic the senate became more powerful. Although the senate could only make “decrees” and not laws, its decrees were generally obeyed. The senate also controlled the spending of the state money, making it very powerful.

Patricians

The Senate directed the magistrates, especially the consuls, in their prosecution of military conflicts. The Senate also had an enormous degree of power over the civil government in Rome.

The Senate had broad jurisdiction over religious and judicial matters, as well over tax, war and peace, criminal (including bills of attainder), military, foreign policy (with concurrent powers with the executive), and administrative matters. In short, the Senate controlled all areas of public life.

In the 5th century, however, some of them helped the barbarian leaders against the imperial authority. In the 6th century the Roman Senate disappears from the historical record; it is last mentioned in ad 580.

603 A.D.

The Senate handled Rome’s finances and acted as an advisory body to the consuls. Although they were only providing advice, the Senate’s collective influence as a group of noblemen often dictated consuls’ decisions.

There were two consuls, and each could veto the other to ensure neither had too much power. Serving only a one-year term, consuls were the political and military leaders of Rome.

The final defeat of Mark Antony alongside his ally and lover Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and the Senate’s grant of extraordinary powers to Octavian as Augustus in 27 BC – which effectively made him the first Roman emperor – thus ended the Republic.