• In some ways constitution resembled a Greek politeia
  • Had an assembly, in which all citizens voted
  • Had a council called senate which advising magistrates
  • Had magistrates who led army, proposed legislation, judged legal cases
• Political system was more aristocratic and hierarchical than Athens
• Social relations were dominated by system called patronage or clientela
  • People of unequal rank were bound by ties of loyalty and gratitude
• Ancient accounts contained struggle between patricians and plebeians
• Plebeians forced patricians to publish legal code called Twelve Tables