The Paradoxical Republic

Jonathan Cadiz

In the first chapter Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Empire, The Paradoxical

Republic, Tom Holland goes into detail about the complexity of the Roman government and all

the contradictions, hypocrisies, and the seemingly paradoxical situations that the Roman people

put themselves into and are put into due to this complexity. The most prominent of these

paradoxes are that Romans strove for expanded civil rights and constitutional reforms despite

having had a strong dislike for change, the isolated island-like architecture despite the fact that

Romans valued the rituals and rhythms of society above all else, and that such a stark separation

between classes can be made in a culture held together and woven by a sense of community.

The Roman people were stubborn, they viewed change as something negative itself, and

would only take change if it was wrapped up and disguised as the will of the gods or an ancient

custom, but never for its own sake. Despite this attitude towards change, the citizens of Rome,

after overthrowing the monarchy, constantly demanded the expansion of rights and constitutional

reform. They wanted to change so that society could be more egalitarian, without all those

hierarchies and distinctions, yet they still wanted to stay true to the laws and constitution that had

allowed them to get so far and successful that entire time. This led to a huge complexity within

the government which took the best politicians many, many years to master and understand.

As Rome became more powerful and conquered more territories, the population of the

city grew, becoming so dense it was almost inhospitable. Landowners were clever, however, and

decided to start building upwards, creating buildings multiple stories tall. These buildings went

against the law, but architectural law reinforcement was so petty that no one really cared, and
thus they were also very unsafe. The walls were thin, the supports almost nonexistent, buildings

would fall, and the landowners would simply build them back up even taller. These buildings

were called insulae, meaning island; they were isolated from the commotion of the city

below. The paradox here is that there were many Romans who lived in these buildings and

thought they were a good idea and built more, but one of the biggest parts of being Roman was

being a part of the city, the community; to be cut off from the rituals and rhythms of society was

to sink to the level of a barbarian.

The Roman Republic had the foundations of its society in the revolutions against

authority and the toppling of the monarchy. It was founded upon the principle that kingship was

wrong because it gave a man authority over all of the people of Rome, but as soon as the

monarchy was overthrown, the plebeians were simply ruled by the aristocracy. The Roman

society held social reputation and standing very highly, and it was important to have a connection

with everyone in the community; everyone was a part of something bigger. Even though these

principles guided the Republic, there were always distinct separations between classes, and thus

separation in rights and power. Everyone could vote and run for office, but a plebeian actually

winning elections was unheard of; laws, being hypocritical and contradicting, could be twisted to

benefit those of a higher class. The separation always remained there, despite the efforts to

expand civic rights and reach an egalitarian society.