«Πόλις», «civitas» та «res publica»? Problem of interpretation the nature of the Ancient Roman state in scientific works

The purpose of the article is to highlight the problem of ambiguous interpretation of the nature of the Roman State and the appropriateness of using the terms in scientific research. The research methodology is based on general and special historical research methods. The following methods were used in the study of scientific literature and ancient sources: historical and comparative method, statistical method, analysis of dictionary definitions, and the method of generalization and logical analysis. Scientific novelty. The research substantiates the peculiarities and specifics of the use of certain terms, such as: “πόλις”, “civitas” and “res publica” to explain the peculiarities of the Roman state. The author also identifies rarely used concepts that are intended to specify the structure of ancient Rome and have the potential for their further use in scientific works. Conclusions. The vision of the Roman state structure differed in the historical works of ancient authors. They viewed the state through the prism of the terminology available to them, which often led to differences in explanations. With the beginning of Roman expansion in the Mediterranean, the vision of the state structure of the Roman state was different in the historical works of ancient authors. It was determined by the different ethnic origin, political views, and education of its authors. The active participation of the ancient Greeks in writing the history of Rome gave rise to one of the widespread versions according to which Rome, in its structure, was similar to the polis formations of ancient Hellas. The establishment of its primacy in this region also gave rise to its own vision of the structure of their state among Roman citizens. This vision is presented in a significant literary heritage of the politician and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. Antiquity schools sought to simplify specific terms of the ancient era for explanation, which distorted their meaning, leading to the formation of an incorrect idea of the ancient world. “. Enhancing the specificity of terminology in scholarly works will enable a more specific examination of different periods in the history of the Roman state. Additionally, it will allow for more precise direction of scientific research by indicating the specifics of the conditions in which the studied processes took place.