Institutional Reform

Research Case: Why Was the Military Failure of a Plebeian Consul Used to Deny the Governing Ability of Plebeians as a Whole?

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A Three-Layer Analysis (TLA) of Livy, History of Rome, Book 7 1. Question In Livy’s History of Rome from its Foundation, Book VII, the opening of the consulship to plebeians was followed by a serious military failure. The plebeian consul Lucius Genucius led the war against the Hernici. He fell into an enemy trap, was … Read more

Research Case: Why Did the Patricians Continue to Obstruct Plebeian Consuls and Their Elections Even after the First Plebeian Consul Appeared?

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A Three-Layer Analysis (TLA) of Livy, History of Rome, Book 7 1. Question In Livy’s History of Rome from its Foundation, Book VII, Lucius Sextius became consul as a plebeian. This was the moment when the political reform associated with the Licinian Sextian laws was no longer only a legal demand. It became an actual … Read more

Research Case: Why was Marcus Manlius’ rescue of the plebeians treated not as institutional reform, but as a danger of monarchy?

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A Three-Layer Analysis (TLA) of Livy, History of Rome, Book 6 1. Question Why was Marcus Manlius’ rescue of the plebeians treated not as institutional reform that repaired the Republic, but as a danger of monarchy? This question is important for reading Book 6 of Livy’s History of Rome from its Foundation. Marcus Manlius was … Read more

Research Case: Why Did the Roman Republic Keep Adding New Institutions such as Censors, Military Tribunes with Consular Power, and Dictators, While Still Fearing the Concentration and Long Duration of Power?

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A Three-Layer Analysis (TLA) of Livy, History of Rome, Book 4 1. Question Why did the Roman Republic keep adding new institutions such as censors, military tribunes with consular power, and dictators, while still fearing the concentration and long duration of power? In Book 4 of Livy’s History of Rome from its Foundation, Rome has … Read more

Research Case: Why Did the Roman Republic Avoid Collapse by Adding Institutions, Adjusting Power, and Self Correcting Its State OS?

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A Three-Layer Analysis (TLA) of Livy, History of Rome, Book 4 1. Question Why did the Roman Republic avoid collapse, even though it faced internal division, external threats, and social crises, by adding institutions, adjusting power, and self correcting its state OS? Rome in Book 4 of Livy’s History of Rome from its Foundation is … Read more

Research Case: Why did the Decemvirate change from a reform institution into a despotic institution?

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A Three-Layer Analysis (TLA) of Livy, History of Rome, Book 3 1. Question Why did the Decemvirate change from a reform institution into a despotic institution? This question is central to Livy’s History of Rome from its Foundation, Book 3. The Decemvirate was not created as a despotic institution from the beginning. Originally, the Decemvirate … Read more