How to Win an Election in Rome

How to Win an Election in Rome

Ancient Roman politics were the results of many trial and errors and then the trying of something new. The ancient Roman government is constructed a lot like the modern day government of the United States of America. There is one person who over sees everything, another group of people who act as a representative for the public, and a large group of citizens who serve and protect the government and its people. Both governments elect representatives and leaders by a public vote. This made campaigning important to win an election. This also led to many different strategies to win a campaign. The three major aspects to the Roman political life are campaigning among the people, and create a following, and the use fear.

The first aspect to the Roman political life and the first step to winning an election is to campaign among the people. To win an election, the voters must know the candidate. The voter might not need to know the facts, but knowing the name of the candidate is important. A candidate must go out amongst the people and voice his concerns and what he or she plans to do about them. They must all so hear the publics concerns and take into them into consideration. Later the candidate must go back to the people and combine the populaces concerns into a plan that suites all. Ð'...And you should be strenuous in seeing as many people as possible every day of every possible class and order, for from the mere numbers of these [who greet you] you can make a guess of the amount of support you will get on the balloting. This allows simple work of mouth to spread the name of candidate.

This relates to modern day campaigning in the United States in many ways. Candidates running in the Unites States for a position in the government must do the same things. Whether it is for national government or local government, the candidate must get his or her name out there. Candidates go to local schools, fire stations and other political meeting places to hear the concerns of the people the candidate is trying to represent.

The second thing a political figure must do to win an election in Rome is to create a following of many different people. During this period, every Roman Citizen had the privilege of voting on legislation and in the election of government officials. Since the social structure of Rome was split up into categories, it would be beneficial to have supporters from all. This allows the supporters to then tell the other members of their social class about the candidate and all so share the opinion. Talking to the different social classes allows a candidate to articulate his or hers words into a way that sound pleasant to each of the classes. It all so allows a candidate to talk about the things that are important to each group and leave out what might not be important to another group.

This can be related to modern day United States campaigning by looking at the presidential campaigns. The candidate tries to reach people of all the social classes, but not at once. The candidate meets with the corporate world behind closes doors, he or she meets with the rich at expensive dinners that only the rich could afford to attend, and then he meets the working class at their jobs. A resent example of this is President Bush's trip to Peoria Illinois and the speech he gave the Caterpillar