- The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government.
- It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c. 508 BC, and lasted 482 years until its subversion, through a series of civil wars, into the Principate form of government and the imperial period.
- The Roman Republic was governed by a complex constitution, which centered on the principles of a separation of powers and checks and balances.
- The evolution of the constitution was heavily influenced by the struggle between the aristocracy and other Romans who were not from famous families, the plebeians.
- Early in its history, the republic was controlled by an aristocracy of individuals who could trace their ancestry back to the early history of the kingdom.
- Over time, the laws that allowed these individuals to dominate the government were repealed, and the result was the emergence of a new aristocracy which depended on the structure of society, rather than the law, to maintain its dominance.
- During the first two centuries, the Republic saw its territory expand from central Italy to the entire Mediterranean world.
- In the next century, Rome grew to dominate North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, and what is now southern France.
- During the last two centuries of the Roman Republic, it grew to dominate the rest of modern France, as well as much of the east.
- At this point, the republican political machinery was replaced with imperialism.