By the time of Caesar the Roman Republic was fatally flawed, like someone in California decided what a fair election was. This is what Caesar faced when he decided to cross the Rubicon, not that he wasn't a part of this system, but because he was going to be jailed and murdered if he didn't.
In the Roman Republic, the wealthy had
substantially more political influence and, in many cases, more effective voting power than ordinary citizens. The system was designed to give greater weight to wealth and status.
How voting worked:
Roman citizens were assigned to voting groups based largely on
property and wealth. One important assembly was the
Centuriate Assembly (
Comitia Centuriata).
Citizens were divided into "centuries" (voting units), but these were
not equal-sized groups. Wealthier citizens were placed into centuries that contained fewer people.
As a result:
- A rich citizen's vote effectively carried more weight.
- The wealthiest classes controlled a disproportionately large number of centuries.
- Voting was conducted by century, not by counting individual ballots across the entire population.
The biggest advantage: voting order
The centuries voted in a fixed order:
- The richest centuries voted first.
- Then the next wealthiest.
- Poorer citizens voted last.
Because voting stopped once a majority of centuries had been reached, the wealthiest groups could often decide the outcome
before many poorer citizens even voted.
The Senate
The Roman Senate was not elected directly by the people. Membership generally came from:
- Former magistrates
- Members of aristocratic families
- Wealthy political elites
So ordinary citizens had little direct influence over Senate membership.
How was wealth determined?
Roman officials called
censors periodically conducted a census. They recorded:
- Land ownership
- Livestock
- Slaves
- Other property and assets
Based on the value of a citizen's property, he was assigned to a social and voting class. The wealthiest class included the
equites (knights) and the senatorial elite, while poorer citizens were placed in lower classes.