In 509 BC, the Roman monarchy came to an end and the republic was established. The Ombudsman system was an early system in the Republic, and its creation dates back to the middle of the fifth century BC.
There are two main reasons for the birth of the ombudsman system. The contradiction between the nobility and the commoners was one of the important factors in the creation of the procuratorial system. In early Roman society, the aristocracy held political and social dominance, while the plebeians faced poverty and inequality in social status. This growing tension between the nobility and the commoners led to political tensions and social conflicts.
The need for national surveys led to the establishment of the Ombudsman system. The National Situation Survey is a statistical survey of national resources such as population, land and property for the purpose of better managing and planning national affairs.
In the early years of the Roman Republic, due to external threats and internal conflicts, the need for national surveys became very urgent. However, the old bureaucratic system could not meet this need, so the system of ombudsmen was created to be responsible for conducting national surveys and supervising social order.
The establishment of the system of ombudsmen can be seen as a product of compromise on the micro level of the contradiction between the aristocracy and the commoners. Although the initial establishment of the Ombudsman was limited to the nobility, the system eased tensions between the nobility and the plebeians by providing a way for the commoners to participate in politics and influence decision-making.
The emergence of the procurator system is related to the standard of property division in ancient Rome and the contradiction between the nobility and the commoners. However, the conflict between the nobility and the commoners was not simply a struggle for power, because in such a struggle, one side was bound to lose.
The origins of the social environment and political system of the Ombudsman system can be traced back to the Hundred Regiment system in ancient Rome. The Hundred-member system was originally created by Servi Tulius during the Roman monarchy and was known as the "Servi system".
The hundred-member system was the core of the Roman political system during the Republic, which regulated the rights and obligations of citizens to participate in public life and realized the rational distribution of state power.
On the basis of the 100-member regiment system, the system of supervision officials was formed and developed. The function of the supervision officer system is basically an extension of the 100-member group system in the field of political practice. Among them, one of the important duties of the Ombudsman is to conduct "Ombudsman Demerits", that is, to assess whether citizens meet the conditions to become a member of the Knight Hundred or even the Hundred Regiment.
Through the evaluation and adjustment of citizens' status, rights and obligations, "supervision officials' demerits" directly affect whether citizens can participate in important matters such as taxation, military service, and the right to vote and stand for election.
Therefore, the 100-member group system provides the basis for the emergence of the supervision officer system. By determining the rights and obligations of citizens, the 100-member system provides an assessment of the needs of citizens for the function of national surveys. The national census requires the registration and evaluation of citizens, which lays the foundation for the development of the core functions of the ombudsman system.
Religious factors did play an important role in the emergence of the Ombudsman system. According to research, the system of the Ombudsman had a strong religious background during the Republican period.
In the design of the political system, the system of procurators has a certain "sacredness" and is closely related to the traditions of Roman religious Xi. Religious factors provide strong support for the legitimacy of the Ombudsman system and give it a certain legitimacy in the republican political system.
Surveys of state status are one of the core functions of the Ombudsman, and the atonement offering is part of religious practice. This integration of the state investigation and the atonement gave formal legitimacy to the exercise of the power of the Ombudsman, and at the same time emphasized the importance of religion in the Ombudsman system.
The unique funeral Xi of the Ombudsman and the close connection between the Ombudsman and the sacrificial community also reflect the influence of religious factors on the Ombudsman system.
Ombudsmen have a special position in the official system of the Republic, and their special funeral Xi indicate their uniqueness in the official system. At the same time, the overlap between the early stage of the establishment of the supervision official system and the sacrificial group also reflects the direct influence of religious factors on the establishment and practice of the supervision official system.
As an important part of the official position of the republic's political system, the practice of the functions of the supervision officials is the inevitable result and embodiment of the development and formation of the republic's political system. With the social and economic development of the Republic, the system of Ombudsman has been gradually improved in the political system of the Republic, and has been deeply integrated into the social life of the Republic through its functions.
The formation of the republican political system has deep social roots, and one of the important backgrounds is the conflict between the commoners and the aristocracy. In the early years of the Republic, the aristocracy had a monopoly on the qualifications to be elected procurators, which reflected the aristocracy's control over high-ranking official positions.
However, there was a long-standing conflict between the commoners and the nobility over the eligibility to be elected to official positions. In the 387 BC Protector Incident, the Protector challenged the nobles over land distribution, but it did not make a big splash.
At the beginning of the 4th century BC, the conflict between the commoners and the nobility was not acute, mainly because Rome had gained new territory in the war with the Uighurs.
In the controversy of 387 BC, the tribune took the initiative to express the contradictions between the commoners and the nobles to some extent, laying the foundation for the land disputes that followed. The outbreak of the social debt problem of the republic, such as the Manlius incident, became the fuse of the social contradictions of the republic.
During the Republic, Roman citizens could be seen as subjects of "producers, defenders, participants". This "trinity" status has given rise to the need for a review of citizens' qualifications, and the formation of the Ombudsman provides a solid foundation to meet this need.
The development of the Ombudsman system has always been closely linked to the political system of the Republic. Before entering this stage, the republic had achieved great results through external expansion.
Especially after the Second Punic War, Rome's territory expanded considerably. However, the republic also faced serious internal problems in the process of expansion, the most important of which was the contradiction between the commoners and the nobility. This fragmentation of social groups intensified, eventually leading to the gradual decline of the republic in the course of history, and the system of ombudsmen was affected.
