A Critical Contribution to Rome’s Institutional Structure from the Perspective of Inclusive Institutions Theory

In this article the transformation of the Roman Republics form of government in the historical process is reexamined with the theoretical framework of Acemolu and Robinsons The Fall of Nations The authors draw attention to how overarching institutions shape the economic and political development of societies and analyse the structures of the early Roman Republic in this context The Early Republic was a period of intense power struggle between patricians and plebeians While social problems such as the economic and political privileges of the patricians conquest strategies and debts deepened class tensions reforms such as the LicinioSextian Laws brought important gains for the plebeians and allowed Rome to become more inclusive These reforms ensured that Romes political and economic system was controlled by a wider segment of the population and increased social equality and participation However the Roman economy was based on shortterm gains from conquest rather than the longterm dynamism promised by inclusive institutions in the modern sense The large land ownership system called Latifundium established after the Punic Wars allowed large landowners to increase their production by taking advantage of cheap slave labour leading to the economic weakening of small farmers According to Acemolu and Robinson Rome did not have a sustainable economic structure due to the slave economy However while the slaves obtained from the Punic Wars alone did not put the plebeians in a difficult situation Romes cheap grain imports from the conquered lands in an environment without state intervention further weakened the economic power of small farmers For Acemoglu and Robinson the transformation of the republic into an empire signalled the end of institutional inclusiveness and economic development However the Augustan period enabled the Roman economy to gain strength through the development of trade and economic innovations With the reforms carried out by Augustus the economic structure of Rome was strengthened and a transition to a marketoriented model was achieved