This is a topic that pops up every so often. I, with the help of /u/xenophontheathenian, have a series of threads here about it.

The problem is no one knows what a res publica is, and the term was used consistently for as long as the West lasted, and in the East in the Greek equivalent until the Ottoman conquest.

It's certainly not a system of government.

In the threads I've linked, there are several definitions of res publica and the point it ended, and none of them agree.

I will be more than happy if anyone wants to add to this conversation, because clearly it's something I don't understand.