To be fair, the most important part of any society, in theory, is its government. Even though the Roman Republic was a Republic in name, it doesn't look much like the United States, or any other Republican state for that matter; However, there are still some features of the government of the Roman Republic that influence many governments today, including that of the United States. The Roman government had three separate branches, all with powers that can control the other branch if it abuses its power (checks and balances). Equally important, the Roman government included the position of the Senate and the veto, which still play a major role in many governments today. Taking inspiration from the Romans, many other governments also used the Roman idea of ​​civil law, which consists of codes of law and codes of punishment, used to judge an individual.