[RightWhale]

Rome was not democratic

Over the course of its 1000+ years it was just about everything one time or another.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Good response. The Republic had evolved into a complex form of government that divided power between two Consuls, elected from the aristocracy (however new men were allowed), ten tribunes of the plebes that any one of which could veto a law, and an assembly where all citizens voted (some tribes had more members and tribes voted) on important measures.
Rome was not a pure Democracy like the Athenian Republic, but it divided power, and every citizen had some voice in the outcome in some way. By ancient standards, it was much more pluralistic than the absolute monarchies of Egypt, Persia or Hellenistic states in the Med.
Once of the reasons that Rome’s Republic collapsed was that its government was not able to handle the huge empire it had created. Two Consuls were elected every year, and until Gaius Marius in the early 1st Century BC, Consuls were not allowed to be elected in successive years, effectively limiting the time a commander could pursue a campaign.