The significance of the Roman Senate to the development of American institutions is a much-debated topic; and concentration on the details of constitutional organization can obscure broader questions of classical reception in American political thought. This article argues that direct influence of Roman forms on Americal political institutions is difficult to demonstrate, and in many cases the absence of such influence is obvious in the light of the actual forms adopted. The importance of Rome is evident, however, in the claims of eighteenth and nineteenth century American writers that their government drew on ancient models. This phenomenon is to be understood as an aspect of a wider debate about representation and the role of an aristocracy, in which ancient mixed-government theory could be presented as a valuable contribution.
