Polity Atlas
BookPrimary source

The Histories, Book 6 (Loeb Classical Library, translated by W. R. Paton)

Polybius · Harvard University Press; online edition at LacusCurtius (University of Chicago) · 1923

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Type
Book
Author
Polybius
Accessed
2026-09-01

Claims citing this source

2 claims
EstablishedThe republic's core institutions were two annually elected consuls, a Senate that advised magistrates and in practice held great power, and popular assemblies (centuriate and tribal) that elected magistrates and voted on laws; tribunes of the plebs could veto.EstablishedPolybius described Rome's constitution as combining monarchical (consuls), aristocratic (Senate) and democratic (people) elements that could check or support one another, and argued that such a combination is the best form of constitution.