: How did the Romans go from masters of Italy to masters of the Mediterranean in only 53 years? Well, if you ask the historian Polybius, the answer you’ll get is “Government.” In this political case study on the Roman Republic, we’ll see how the various social orders and their special interests were represented by the multiple legislative assemblies of ancient Rome. Along the way, we’ll climb the social ladder as we work our way up the Cursus Honorum, the course of offices that every young Roman aspired to finish in his lifetime in public service!