Roman Republic vs Roman Empire: Difference and Comparison

Rome is a city with much ancient history and the civilizations associated with it. The history of the city is quite influential in today’s scenario. The city was founded by Romulus (one of the twin brothers).

In 509 BC, the Roman Republic era commenced, and in 27 BC, the Roman Empire was established. Both of them are two very important events in the history of Rome.

Key Takeaways

1. The Roman Republic functioned as a representative democracy with a complex system of checks and balances. In contrast, the Roman Empire operated under an autocratic government led by an emperor.
2. The Roman Republic valued the rule of law and the separation of powers, while the Roman Empire emphasized the centralization of authority in the hands of the emperor.
3. The transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire occurred due to internal conflicts, leading to the rise of Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, who established imperial rule.

Roman Republic vs Roman Empire

The difference between the Roman Republic and Roman Empire is that the ruling period of the roman republic was from 509 BC to 27 BC. During the republican period, the city followed the constitutional republic governance. Whereas comparatively on the other side, the ruling period of the roman empire was from 27 BC to 476 AD. And the roman empire followed the absolute monarchy system of governance during their reign.

Roman Republic was the period started after the Etruscans left Rome in 509 BC to 27 BC. The citizen adopted the Republic form of government to establish the work system.

The citizens of the Roman Republic used Latin as their official language and followed Roman polytheism as their religion. The Roman Republic government was resolved in 27 BC, and Roman Empire gets established.

Roman Empire was the period from 27 BC to 476 AD. The first emperor or the ruler of the reign was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, known as Augustus.

The successor of Augustus never took the title of the emperor or ruler; instead, they insisted on being called or known as the first citizen of Rome. The official language of the Roman Empire was the Greek and Latin languages.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Roman Republic	Roman Empire
Ruling Period	509 BC – 27 BC	27 BC – 476 AD
Official Language	Latin	Greek and Latin
Religion Practiced	Roman polytheism	Imperial cult polytheism
Type of Governance	Constitutional Republic	Absolute monarchy system
Preceded By	By the Roman Kingdom	By the Roman Republic
Succeeded By	Roman Empire	Western and Eastern Roman Empire

What is Roman Republic?

The reign of the Roman Republic was from 509 BC to 27 BC. The reign of the Roman Republic lasted till the Roman Empire was established in 27 BC.

The Roman Republic government was established after Etruscan left Rome in 509 BC. Thus to form a system, people decided to accept the Republic system, which is still now used by the United States.

The Republic government includes the elected representatives from the society but still, the society plays a vital role. It is unlike that of the democratic form of government.

During the late Roman Republic times, the government classified three types of citizens – full citizens were allowed to vote, marry freeborn, and practice commerce, the second type of citizens wasn’t allowed to have a public office or cast a vote,

but still, they were allowed to practice other rights, the third type of citizens wasn’t allowed to practice any of the rights.

The official language used by the citizens was Latin. The people during the reign practised the roman polytheism religion.

What is Roman Empire?

The reign of the Roman Empire was from 27 BC to 476 AD. It was following the period of Roman republican faced by Ancient Rome.

The areas covered by Ancient Rome were North America, Europe, and West Asia. While the Roman Empire period was going on, the city experienced the most stability along with the highest territorial expanse in the first two centuries.

The Roman Empire was based on the absolute monarchy system, and thus the first emperor or the ruler of Ancient Rome was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, name Augustus.

Also, he never accepted the ruler’s title, and nor did his successor; they only claimed to be the first citizen of Rome.

The city accepted Greek and Latin as their official language. The religion followed by the people living in Ancient Rome during the reign of the Roman Empire was inspired by the Imperial cult of polytheism.

Although the city still followed the monarchy system, the emperor was threatened by the Palmyrene Empire, and the Gallic Empire broke the monarchy, which led to the empire being run by small empires.

Also, during the period in Ancient Rome established two courts: The western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire, where later the western roman empire collapsed while the eastern roman empire survived.

Main Differences Between Roman Republic and Roman Empire

1. The ruling period of the roman republic period was from 509 BC to 27 BC, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the ruling period of the Roman Empire was from 27 BC to 476 AD.
2. The official language used by the people living in the period of the Roman Republic was Latin, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the official language used by the people during the period of the Roman Empire was the Greek language and the Latin language. 
3. The religion practised by the people during the Roman Republic period was Roman polytheism religion, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the religion practised by the people during the Roman Empire was the imperial cult polytheism. 
4. During the reign of the roman republic, the constitutional republic was the governance type, whereas comparatively, on the other side, during the reign of the Roman empire, there was the absolute monarchy system.
5. The predecessor of the roman republic was the Roman kingdom, whereas comparatively, on the other side, the predecessor of the Roman empire was the Roman republic. 
6. The successor of the roman republic was the Roman empire, whereas comparatively, on the other side, the successor of the Roman empire was the Western and Eastern Empire. 

References

1. https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/113428/mmubn000001_052672816.pdf
2. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400834907/html
3. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=BXf5bkC3r5YC&oi=fnd&pg=PR12&dq=difference+between+roman+republic+and+roman+empire&ots=JIUXwN0fZX&sig=pGUng56MTgdJ1lEJmc2NV8F70uE&redir_esc=y
4. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XJ6_BwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=difference+between+roman+republic+and+roman+empire&ots=l2nGZkKkVy&sig=tdaC44jwnblVXGbqyo3wB2IVRCY