Rome: From Empire to Republic (and Back Again)

JANUARY 19, 2026 · 1 HOUR 2 MINUTES · HISTORY OF IDEAS CLUB · REVOLUTION OF THOUGHT

What can Rome’s movement from kingship to republic and empire teach us about mixed government, political conflict and constitutional decline?

Episode summary

This seminar traces Rome’s constitutional transformations through classical political thought and historical experience. Beginning with early monarchy, it examines the Republic as a mixed constitution in which aristocratic and popular forces were held in an unstable balance.

The discussion then turns to conflict between patricians and plebeians, imperial expansion and the civil wars that destroyed republican government. The rise of Augustus raises the final question: did Rome return to monarchy, or create a distinct imperial form of rule?

Episode guide

• Cicero, Plato and classical theories of constitutional change
• The Roman Republic as a mixed constitution
• Patrician-plebeian conflict and the development of political institutions
• Civil war, Augustus and the return of monarchical power

Sources and further reading

• Cicero, On the Republic.
• Polybius, Histories, book VI.
• Livy, History of Rome.
• Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (2015).

Transcript

A full transcript is in preparation. This page provides an accessible summary and episode guide in the meantime.

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