Recommended Reading - The Roman Republic
The best way to learn about the Roman republic is to start with the works of Michael Grant. His writing is enjoyable and not overdown like that of some historians.
My favorite is The History of Rome. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1978.
Grant has also written, The Gladiators, Julius Caesar, Nero, Fall of the Roman Empire, and others.
For more detailed look at the history, consider the work of H.H. Scullard. A History of the Roman World 753 to 146 B.C, Routledge Press, London & New York, 1980. His also wrote a companion work titled, A History of the Roman World 133 B.C. to 68 A.D.
The Roman Calendar
Because the Romans were an agrarian society, the phases of the moon and the seasons were the first yardsticks they used to build a calendar. The earliest known example supposedly dates from the founding of Rome (753 B.C.). That early calendar had ten months:
Martius (31 days), Aprilis (30 days), Maius (31 days), Junius (30 days), Quintilis (31 days), Sextilis (30 days), September (30 days), October (31 days), November (30 days), December (30 days)
Notice that December (Deci=10) is the tenth month, and there are only 304 days in this calendar. The other 61 days were not in a named month. Martius 1st (the first day of the year) was on the Vernal Equinox, which was the first day of planting for farmers.
In the 713 B.C, the calendar was reformed and two months were added at the end of the year.
Martius (31 days), Aprilis (29 days), Maius (31 days), Junius (29 days), Quintilis (31 days), Sextilis (29 days), September (29 days), October (31 days), November (29 days), December (29 days), Ianuarius (29 days), Februarius (28 days)
This calendar had 360 days, but was still mismatched with the solar year of 365 days, four hours, and fifty six minutes, so an accommodation was made to add a leap month. February was shortened to twenty-four days, to produce a twenty-seven day leap month about every three years. This leap month was called the Mensis Intercalaris.
The system described above lasted some 650 years until the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. Caesar made January 1st the beginning of the year and set the days of the months to their current length. December, the original tenth month, was now the twelfth month. A day was added at the end of February every four years to account for the four hour difference between the calendar and solar year. Caesar also changed Quintilis to July to honor himself. Not to be outdone, his successor, Caesar Augustus, named August after himself.
What is the origin of the names of the months? March was named for Mars, the God of War; April from Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. May comes from Maia the mother of Mercury; June from the God Juno. January comes from the God Janus and February from Februa, the Roman festival of Purification.
Oddly, September was renamed Germanicus during the year 37 A.D. April. May, and June were renamed Neroeus, Claudius, and Germanicus during the year 65 A.D.
The Senate of Rome. The Senate of America. Similar or Different?
The Senate of Rome came into being with the Republic in 509 B.C, after the last Etruscan King was overthrown. Originally comprised of 300 members, the Senate became the seat of power in the Roman Republic: introducing laws, nominating magistrates from its own members, and influencing clients to act on their behalf.
At its heart, the Senate was always a nepotistic club, consisting of family members succeeding family members over the generations. In the century between 230 B.C. and 130 B.C, for example, two hundred consuls were elected. Of those, 159 came from 26 families and 99 came from only 10 families. Despite its narrow ruling class composition, the Senate was an effective governing body for centuries.
What can we say about the Senate today? Certainly it is made up of rich men (40 millionaires by last count), but is it still an effective body? The Roman Senate was corrupted by bribes. The American Senate is corrupted by lobbyists. What this means for the future no one can say, but the Roman Republic was strong enough to survive for 450 years, while our Republic has endured for less than half that span.
The surviving portions of the Tables are an interesting mix of religion, private law, and criminal law. The first two deal with legal procedure, the third with debt, and the fourth and fifth describe rights of the head of the family and inheritance. Table six outlines law pertaining to acquisition and possession, while table seven deals with land ownership. Table eight covers injuries, table nine public law, and table ten sacred law.
Addressing potential technology advances with Apple's modem, Amon said the components will be key for AI and Qualcomm will be able to address that.
"If modem is relevant there's always a place for Qualcomm technology," Amon said.
"In the age of AI, modems are going to be more important than they have ever been. And I think that's going to drive consumer preference about do they want the best possible modem in the computer that's in their hand all the time," Amon added.
Xiaomi has grown its presence in Europe while others, like Transsion, have focused on emerging markets. With that success also comes the potential for further scrutiny, Wood said.
"The danger for these manufacturers is if they put their head too far above the parapet, they'll start to get scrutiny from the U.S. administration," Wood said.
"So I think they have to tread a fine line in Barcelona and make sure that they don't make too much noise because the last thing they want is to be the poster child for Chinese technology and become the latest focal point for Trump and his advisors."
"They [Chinese players] definitely don't have a chance selling in the U.S., but if they continue targeting Europe as they are, I don't think that's a risk and I don't think it will come to a point where the U.S. administration will tell whatever countries in Europe they need to stop selling Xiaomi or Honor or any other brand," Jeronimo told CNBC.
"I don't think there's a massive risk because at the end of the day as they are not targeting U.S. consumers."
Honor announced at $10 billion AI investment called the Honor Alpha Plan at the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona.
The IRS is drafting plans to cut its workforce by as much as half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation.The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to disclose the...
Class System in the Roman Republic
Ancient Rome operated as a two class society consisting of Patricians and Plebians. Patricians were the aristocratic class and Plebians were all Roman citizens who were not Patrician. The word Patrician comes from "Patres", the plural of father, a term used to designate the first members of the Senate. The term Plebian means "of the common people".
In the beginning of the Republic, the Patrician class controlled the administration of laws, all political offices, and the state treasury. Then, over time, agitation by the lower class broke down the control of the Patricians, and extended rights to the lower class. The Patricians agreed to display a list laws in the Forum to prevent indescriminate application of justice, and courts were made more equitable. High elected offices were opened up to the Plebian class and they began to have more of a say in government.
The People's Liberation Army — the military branch of the ruling Communist Party— has build bases on artificial islands in the South China Sea but its main objective is asserting Chinese control over Taiwan, a self-governing democracy Beijing claims as its own territory that has close ties to the U.S.
China deployed a smaller contingent of five planes and seven ships near Taiwan on Wednesday, just days after sending dozens of aircraft. Such missions are intended to demoralize and wear down Taiwan's defenses, which have been bolstered by upgraded U.S. F-16s, tanks and missiles, along with domestically developed armaments.
Faced with slower growth, China will likely prioritize key strategic goals over social and economic reforms, said Antonia Hmaidi, a senior analyst with the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
"Those resources are more important to the CCP's goals of advancing a techno-industrial agenda and modernizing the military," Hmaidi said, using an acronym for the governing Chinese Communist Party.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who oversees the armed forces, has attempted to force through major reforms and removed senior military leaders including two former defense ministers and the head of the missile corps.
Whether that will reduce the armed forces' influence remains unclear though, and the official Xinhua News Agency ran an item after Wednesday's announcement praising the government for keeping defense spending at below 1.5% of GDP for the last decade and criticizing the U.S. for not cutting its spending.
"China's development strengthens the world's forces for peace, and the country will never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism no matter what stage of development it reaches," Xinhua said, using standard Chinese terms defining its stance as purely defensive in nature.
In its 2004 report on military and security developments involving China, the U.S. Defense Department portrayed China's ever-growing ambitions, saying the "PLA concepts and capabilities focus on projecting power far from China's shores."
The navy's movement from offshore defense to open seas protection and the air force's interest in becoming a strategic force "reflect the PLA's interest in conducting operations beyond (China) and its immediate periphery," the department said.
Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote in his invitation to the mayors the local laws were "misguided and obstructionist policies" that "hinder the ability of federal law enforcement officers to effectuate safe arrests and remove dangerous criminals from American communities, making Americans less safe."
The specifics of sanctuary laws vary from city to city, but are generally intended to afford migrants similar due-process rights as those of citizens, and to encourage people to speak with local police if they are victims of or witnesses to a crime, without fear their illegal status will be investigated.
In most cases, sanctuary laws forbid local officials from arresting or detaining a person the federal government suspects of violating its civil immigration code unless a judge has issued an arrest warrant.
The majority of these requests come without a judge's warrant, which some federal judges have ruled violates the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.
In New York City and elsewhere, local officials must ignore the requests unless they come with a judge's warrant and the migrant has been convicted of a violent felony. ICE officials must instead arrest the migrant independently, typically at their home or place of work, which they say makes their job more difficult and dangerous.
Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data, far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of his predecessor Joe Biden's administration.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the NRC lacked authority to issue the license based on a law called the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Biden's administration appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court and Trump's administration continued the appeal.
Biden's Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in a December brief that the 5th Circuit ruling would "entirely gut" the Atomic Energy Act because nuclear power plants cannot operate without creating spent fuel that must be stored somewhere.
The Trump administration's acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the justices in February that the 5th Circuit decision could "deprive the commission of authority to license the private storage of spent nuclear fuel in any location" and "grind the operations of nuclear reactors to a halt."
During his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said he received a letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Ukraine's president expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table over the Russia-Ukraine war.
"Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine," Trump said in his first address to a joint session of Congress since 2020. "The letter reads, 'Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.'"
Zelenskyy's relations with Trump broke down following a heated exchange Friday during the Ukraine president's visit to the White House.
Earlier Tuesday, just hours after Trump paused U.S. aid to his war-torn country, Zelenskyy posted what could be considered a conciliatory message and an attempt to get back into the U.S. president's good graces.
"Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be," Zelenskyy posted in a lengthy statement to X. "It is regrettable that it happened this way.
"It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive."
"The president's address to tonight's joint session of Congress is a constitutional obligation — not a sideshow for Democrats to use noisemakers, make threats, throw things or otherwise disrupt. Our colleagues are on notice that the heckler's veto will not be tolerated," the group said in a statement. "You will be censured. We expect the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police to take appropriate action against any members of Congress or other persons violating House rules."
Green was removed from the House chamber after shouting at the president while he was speaking about the mandate the voters gave him with his win in November. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had urged members of his party to avoid disrupting the event.
When Green continued to shout, Johnson hit his gavel and said that representatives were "directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House and to cease any further disruptions. That's your warning."
The car, with a planned battery range of over 700 km (435 miles) will be built at Volvo Cars' manufacturing plant in the Chinese city of Chengdu, and the company sees China as its likely main market.
U.S. Government Modelled after Roman Republic
You many not realize that the United States government was modelled after the Roman republic, which lasted some 450 years. The branches of the Roman republican government included a senate, assembly (House of Representatives), and consul (President). The executive branch had two consuls instead of a single executive. Consuls where elected simultaneously for one year, and were each given veto power over each other to avoid an accumulation of power.
Our founding fathers debated various aspects of the structures of the branches including whether there should be two presidents. Some felt a single president was essentially a king, while others thought that having two presidents would make each of them too weak to balance a strong legislature. In the end, those worried about the president having too much power were mollified by controls placed on the method of electing the president and his term of office.
!summarize #genehackman #alpacino #hoosiers #davidletterman #latenight #hollywood
Recommended Reading - The Roman Republic
The best way to learn about the Roman republic is to start with the works of Michael Grant. His writing is enjoyable and not overdown like that of some historians.
My favorite is The History of Rome. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1978.
Grant has also written, The Gladiators, Julius Caesar, Nero, Fall of the Roman Empire, and others.
For more detailed look at the history, consider the work of H.H. Scullard. A History of the Roman World 753 to 146 B.C, Routledge Press, London & New York, 1980. His also wrote a companion work titled, A History of the Roman World 133 B.C. to 68 A.D.
!summarize #britain #empire #second #corruption #history #spidersweb
!summarize #joelewis #brucelee #fight
The Roman Calendar
Because the Romans were an agrarian society, the phases of the moon and the seasons were the first yardsticks they used to build a calendar. The earliest known example supposedly dates from the founding of Rome (753 B.C.). That early calendar had ten months:
Martius (31 days), Aprilis (30 days), Maius (31 days), Junius (30 days), Quintilis (31 days), Sextilis (30 days), September (30 days), October (31 days), November (30 days), December (30 days)
Notice that December (Deci=10) is the tenth month, and there are only 304 days in this calendar. The other 61 days were not in a named month. Martius 1st (the first day of the year) was on the Vernal Equinox, which was the first day of planting for farmers.
In the 713 B.C, the calendar was reformed and two months were added at the end of the year.
!summarize #saquonbarkley #eagles #pti #espn #sports
!summarize #joytayler #fs1 #sex #scandal #sports
!summarize #quantuminternet #telecommunications
!summarize #investing money #stocks #crash
Martius (31 days), Aprilis (29 days), Maius (31 days), Junius (29 days), Quintilis (31 days), Sextilis (29 days), September (29 days), October (31 days), November (29 days), December (29 days), Ianuarius (29 days), Februarius (28 days)
This calendar had 360 days, but was still mismatched with the solar year of 365 days, four hours, and fifty six minutes, so an accommodation was made to add a leap month. February was shortened to twenty-four days, to produce a twenty-seven day leap month about every three years. This leap month was called the Mensis Intercalaris.
The system described above lasted some 650 years until the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. Caesar made January 1st the beginning of the year and set the days of the months to their current length. December, the original tenth month, was now the twelfth month. A day was added at the end of February every four years to account for the four hour difference between the calendar and solar year. Caesar also changed Quintilis to July to honor himself. Not to be outdone, his successor, Caesar Augustus, named August after himself.
What is the origin of the names of the months? March was named for Mars, the God of War; April from Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. May comes from Maia the mother of Mercury; June from the God Juno. January comes from the God Janus and February from Februa, the Roman festival of Purification.
Oddly, September was renamed Germanicus during the year 37 A.D. April. May, and June were renamed Neroeus, Claudius, and Germanicus during the year 65 A.D.
!summarize #nfl #jalenhurts #draft
!summarize #trump #tariff #rick #trade
!summarize #nathaniellowe #nationals #washington #mlb
!summarize #carljung #psychology
!summarize #tesla #fsd #ford #toyota
!summarize #ford #economy #automotive
!summarize #china #war
!summarize #china #blackrock #deepseek #tariffs #ai
!summarize #pambondi #ag #fraud
The Senate of Rome. The Senate of America. Similar or Different?
The Senate of Rome came into being with the Republic in 509 B.C, after the last Etruscan King was overthrown. Originally comprised of 300 members, the Senate became the seat of power in the Roman Republic: introducing laws, nominating magistrates from its own members, and influencing clients to act on their behalf.
At its heart, the Senate was always a nepotistic club, consisting of family members succeeding family members over the generations. In the century between 230 B.C. and 130 B.C, for example, two hundred consuls were elected. Of those, 159 came from 26 families and 99 came from only 10 families. Despite its narrow ruling class composition, the Senate was an effective governing body for centuries.
What can we say about the Senate today? Certainly it is made up of rich men (40 millionaires by last count), but is it still an effective body? The Roman Senate was corrupted by bribes. The American Senate is corrupted by lobbyists. What this means for the future no one can say, but the Roman Republic was strong enough to survive for 450 years, while our Republic has endured for less than half that span.
!summarize #quantum #physics #science
!summarize #democrats #dnc #paidactors #trust
The surviving portions of the Tables are an interesting mix of religion, private law, and criminal law. The first two deal with legal procedure, the third with debt, and the fourth and fifth describe rights of the head of the family and inheritance. Table six outlines law pertaining to acquisition and possession, while table seven deals with land ownership. Table eight covers injuries, table nine public law, and table ten sacred law.
Addressing potential technology advances with Apple's modem, Amon said the components will be key for AI and Qualcomm will be able to address that.
"If modem is relevant there's always a place for Qualcomm technology," Amon said.
"In the age of AI, modems are going to be more important than they have ever been. And I think that's going to drive consumer preference about do they want the best possible modem in the computer that's in their hand all the time," Amon added.
Xiaomi has grown its presence in Europe while others, like Transsion, have focused on emerging markets. With that success also comes the potential for further scrutiny, Wood said.
"The danger for these manufacturers is if they put their head too far above the parapet, they'll start to get scrutiny from the U.S. administration," Wood said.
"So I think they have to tread a fine line in Barcelona and make sure that they don't make too much noise because the last thing they want is to be the poster child for Chinese technology and become the latest focal point for Trump and his advisors."
"They [Chinese players] definitely don't have a chance selling in the U.S., but if they continue targeting Europe as they are, I don't think that's a risk and I don't think it will come to a point where the U.S. administration will tell whatever countries in Europe they need to stop selling Xiaomi or Honor or any other brand," Jeronimo told CNBC.
"I don't think there's a massive risk because at the end of the day as they are not targeting U.S. consumers."
Honor announced at $10 billion AI investment called the Honor Alpha Plan at the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona.
!summarize #tesla #stock #investing
!summarize #ice #amazon #warehouse #immigration
!summarize #buffalo #bills #stadium #nfl
The IRS is drafting plans to cut its workforce by as much as half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation.The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to disclose the...
!summarize #car #dealerships #automotive #cars #market
Class System in the Roman Republic
Ancient Rome operated as a two class society consisting of Patricians and Plebians. Patricians were the aristocratic class and Plebians were all Roman citizens who were not Patrician. The word Patrician comes from "Patres", the plural of father, a term used to designate the first members of the Senate. The term Plebian means "of the common people".
In the beginning of the Republic, the Patrician class controlled the administration of laws, all political offices, and the state treasury. Then, over time, agitation by the lower class broke down the control of the Patricians, and extended rights to the lower class. The Patricians agreed to display a list laws in the Forum to prevent indescriminate application of justice, and courts were made more equitable. High elected offices were opened up to the Plebian class and they began to have more of a say in government.
The People's Liberation Army — the military branch of the ruling Communist Party— has build bases on artificial islands in the South China Sea but its main objective is asserting Chinese control over Taiwan, a self-governing democracy Beijing claims as its own territory that has close ties to the U.S.
China deployed a smaller contingent of five planes and seven ships near Taiwan on Wednesday, just days after sending dozens of aircraft. Such missions are intended to demoralize and wear down Taiwan's defenses, which have been bolstered by upgraded U.S. F-16s, tanks and missiles, along with domestically developed armaments.
Faced with slower growth, China will likely prioritize key strategic goals over social and economic reforms, said Antonia Hmaidi, a senior analyst with the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
"Those resources are more important to the CCP's goals of advancing a techno-industrial agenda and modernizing the military," Hmaidi said, using an acronym for the governing Chinese Communist Party.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who oversees the armed forces, has attempted to force through major reforms and removed senior military leaders including two former defense ministers and the head of the missile corps.
Whether that will reduce the armed forces' influence remains unclear though, and the official Xinhua News Agency ran an item after Wednesday's announcement praising the government for keeping defense spending at below 1.5% of GDP for the last decade and criticizing the U.S. for not cutting its spending.
"China's development strengthens the world's forces for peace, and the country will never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism no matter what stage of development it reaches," Xinhua said, using standard Chinese terms defining its stance as purely defensive in nature.
In its 2004 report on military and security developments involving China, the U.S. Defense Department portrayed China's ever-growing ambitions, saying the "PLA concepts and capabilities focus on projecting power far from China's shores."
The navy's movement from offshore defense to open seas protection and the air force's interest in becoming a strategic force "reflect the PLA's interest in conducting operations beyond (China) and its immediate periphery," the department said.
Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote in his invitation to the mayors the local laws were "misguided and obstructionist policies" that "hinder the ability of federal law enforcement officers to effectuate safe arrests and remove dangerous criminals from American communities, making Americans less safe."
The specifics of sanctuary laws vary from city to city, but are generally intended to afford migrants similar due-process rights as those of citizens, and to encourage people to speak with local police if they are victims of or witnesses to a crime, without fear their illegal status will be investigated.
In most cases, sanctuary laws forbid local officials from arresting or detaining a person the federal government suspects of violating its civil immigration code unless a judge has issued an arrest warrant.
The majority of these requests come without a judge's warrant, which some federal judges have ruled violates the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.
In New York City and elsewhere, local officials must ignore the requests unless they come with a judge's warrant and the migrant has been convicted of a violent felony. ICE officials must instead arrest the migrant independently, typically at their home or place of work, which they say makes their job more difficult and dangerous.
Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data, far less than the monthly average of 57,000 removals and returns in the last full year of his predecessor Joe Biden's administration.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the NRC lacked authority to issue the license based on a law called the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Biden's administration appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court and Trump's administration continued the appeal.
Biden's Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in a December brief that the 5th Circuit ruling would "entirely gut" the Atomic Energy Act because nuclear power plants cannot operate without creating spent fuel that must be stored somewhere.
The Trump administration's acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the justices in February that the 5th Circuit decision could "deprive the commission of authority to license the private storage of spent nuclear fuel in any location" and "grind the operations of nuclear reactors to a halt."
During his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, Trump said he received a letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Ukraine's president expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table over the Russia-Ukraine war.
"Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine," Trump said in his first address to a joint session of Congress since 2020. "The letter reads, 'Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.'"
Zelenskyy's relations with Trump broke down following a heated exchange Friday during the Ukraine president's visit to the White House.
Earlier Tuesday, just hours after Trump paused U.S. aid to his war-torn country, Zelenskyy posted what could be considered a conciliatory message and an attempt to get back into the U.S. president's good graces.
"Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be," Zelenskyy posted in a lengthy statement to X. "It is regrettable that it happened this way.
"It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive."
"The president's address to tonight's joint session of Congress is a constitutional obligation — not a sideshow for Democrats to use noisemakers, make threats, throw things or otherwise disrupt. Our colleagues are on notice that the heckler's veto will not be tolerated," the group said in a statement. "You will be censured. We expect the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police to take appropriate action against any members of Congress or other persons violating House rules."
Green was removed from the House chamber after shouting at the president while he was speaking about the mandate the voters gave him with his win in November. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had urged members of his party to avoid disrupting the event.
When Green continued to shout, Johnson hit his gavel and said that representatives were "directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House and to cease any further disruptions. That's your warning."
The car, with a planned battery range of over 700 km (435 miles) will be built at Volvo Cars' manufacturing plant in the Chinese city of Chengdu, and the company sees China as its likely main market.
!summarize #mavericks #dallas #nicoharrison #nba
U.S. Government Modelled after Roman Republic
You many not realize that the United States government was modelled after the Roman republic, which lasted some 450 years. The branches of the Roman republican government included a senate, assembly (House of Representatives), and consul (President). The executive branch had two consuls instead of a single executive. Consuls where elected simultaneously for one year, and were each given veto power over each other to avoid an accumulation of power.
Our founding fathers debated various aspects of the structures of the branches including whether there should be two presidents. Some felt a single president was essentially a king, while others thought that having two presidents would make each of them too weak to balance a strong legislature. In the end, those worried about the president having too much power were mollified by controls placed on the method of electing the president and his term of office.