> a magistrate would convene the senate and pose a question<p>This is a good reminder of the democracy of the Republic. I had forgotten that Magistrates had powers such as these. Popular press and film concentrate on the Senators, (and Emperors for post republic stories) but the magistrates, like the tribunes, were elected by the plebs (populace) into a government with some separation of powers. In fact it might be better to consider the roman Senate more like the UN Security Council: all countries are equal but de facto some countries are more equal than others, so there is some structure for focusing and constraining them.<p>And do not forget that those with political ambitions (like Gaius, who came from and old but minor patrician family, the Julii, through a cadet Caesar branch) started out by being elected a Tribune by the plebs, even if the objective was Senatorial rank and a generalship.<p>Since the Reagan era at least the US has seemed in the thrall of the same disease that afflicted the patricians of the roman republic. It's no surprise major biographies of Cicero appeared in the late 90s and early 20th century. The philosophy (as described in the article "tendency of Roman elites to think in terms of the virtue of individuals rather than the tendency of systems" afflicts the analysis today. I value my individualism and don't want government telling me what to do, but I also recognize the value and function of community (whether taxes, volunteering, speed limits, or vaccination). Rome (in all of royal, republican, and imperial times) was far more atomized and organized around families than most people realize today and that was ultimately its weakness. Though there was a doctrine of "civis romanus sum", the reality was that too much power remained in the patrician houses, enough to permit essentially continuous civil war once the republic was de facto gone.