Overview

This book explores the apex of the Roman Republic, positing that the Republic has been one of mixed characteristics combining monarchic, oligarchic, aristocratic and democratic elements in its constitution. It offers unique analytical insights into the golden constitutional era of the Roman Republic by exploring the essence, the fundamentals, the historical roots and the structures of its institutions. In addition to exploring the apex of the Republic and the reasons behind it, the monograph taxonomises and explores the constituent elements of the Republic. It does so by offering a detailed analysis of the precise constitutional nature of the Roman Republic and its institutions in the same period of time. Moreover, the book radically challenges the traditional picture of the Roman republic as a three-dimensional constitutional reality (monarchy aristocracy democracy), proposing that the Republic was more complex than that, as in it being a four-dimensional constitutional reality (monarchy aristocracy oligarchy democracy).

Full Product Details

Author:   Antonios Emmanuel Platsas
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:  

9781399545822

ISBN 10:   1399545825
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   28 February 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Part I: The Republic’s Rise 1. An Introduction to Rome in the Years of the Republic & Analytical Parameters 2. From the Monarchy to the Republic: From Legend to History 3. Periodisation of the Republic: between Classic Periodisation and Flower’s Periodisation Part II: The Republic’s Apogee 4. The Roman Character and the Republic’s Character at its Best (287-133 BC) 5. Lex Hortensia or How the Roman Republic’s Constitution Became More Democratic 6. A Constitution in Overdrive Responsible for Building an Empire Part III: A Mixed Polity of Monarchic, Oligarchic, Aristocratic and Democratic Elements 7. The Roman Republic as a Mixed Polity 8. The Social and Economic Forces behind the Republic’s Constitution 9. The Roman Constitution per se & Methodological Considerations 10. Monarchic Elements 11. Oligarchic Elements 12. Aristocratic Elements 13. Democratic Elements 14. A Unique Constitutional Blend Part IV: Concluding Thoughts 15. A Constitution That Could Not Support Anymore the Empire It Generated 16. The Fall of the Republic (133-27 BC) 17. Implications for the Future

Reviews

Platsas delivers a bold and provocative reappraisal of the Roman Republic’s constitutional design, challenging Polybian orthodoxy and revealing a richer, four-part mixed polity. Innovative and incisive, this work reshapes our view of Rome’s political engine and stands as a landmark in Roman legal scholarship and comparative constitutional analysis. -- Anna Tarwacka, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University

Author Information

Antonios Emmanuel Platsas is a Reader in Law at Leeds Beckett University.

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