Rome before 264BC

Discuss the military, political, social and economic strengths and weaknesses of Rome by 264BC
The Romans had a basic law of sorts, called the laws of the Twelve Tables. This governed a lot of Roman daily life and proceedings, and was the basis of a sort of equal rights scheme for the plebeian class. In addition to this, the Lex Hortensia, passed in 287BC, further blurred the distinctions between plebeians and patricians. The twelve tables, and any laws passed by a plebeian assembly, would now be binding to both plebeians and patricians, a sort of social justice.
The Roman army before 264BC was a citizens’ army, comprised of farmers and the population, with very little to no full time soldiers. Every man was expected to provide his own gear, and as such it was very difficult to recruit the poor or slaves to fight, and when they were recruited, it was at the expense of the state. Another problem with a citizens’ army is that they are not full time soldiers, and many are often inexperienced in combat, and lacked the training necessary to be truly superior to any opponent.
One major strength of the Romans was their policy of assimilation and compromise. This was a stark contrast to the preceding major civilisation, the Greeks. The Greeks followed a policy that is now known as Hellenization. This was effectively forcing Greek cultural, economic, social and political structures on to conquered territories. Alexander the Great even named over seventy cities after himself. They even tried to eradicate native languages and replace them with Greek. The Romans saw how unstable the Greeks became and instead followed a path of assimilation and compromise. Many assimilated cities and cultures were allowed to function fairly independently, needing only to pay taxes and fight in defence of the Romans. In return, they were often given citizenship of Rome, and could hence influence politics, especially at the Assembly of Tribes, where they would have the right to decide issues of war and peace. Additionally, the cities were now under the protection of the Romans, and therefore the Romans would come to their aid in time of need. The Romans often followed a similar tact when reforming their political and social systems.
An example of the Roman policy of assimilation applied politically and socially occurred in 494 BC. The plebeians threatened to secede from Rome and the rule of the patricians. In compromise, as the patricians were better at ruling than the plebeians, but required the plebeians to fight and make up the mass of the citizenry, the plebeians were allowed to elect two tribunes. The tribunes came from the plebeian class, and had extensive veto rights over the senate and consuls. They also had added protection from the senate and consuls for their actions, and could not be persecuted for their political decisions. The only thing that they could not veto was the commands of a dictator or a military leader. This is an example of how Roman policy of compromise allowed for political reform, and kept the state strong as a whole.
The political system of the Romans was instated after the overthrowing of the early Roman kings. There were three major political components of the newly-formed republic. Due to the comprising nature of the Romans, this would eventually take this form: two consuls, the senate and the assembly (of Tribes). This system was designed to prevent any one person from being able to easily seize power from the people, and was still effective up to 264BC. The consuls were determined by the Assembly of Centuries, made up of members of the army. In the Assembly of Centuries the richest voted first, and hence had the most impact. This was one of the social and political inequalities in Roman society.