While it's true that Rome never really came close to being a democracy, that's not to say that representation and accountability weren't relevant. The questions

While it's true that Rome never really came close to being a democracy, that's not to say that representation and accountability weren't relevant. The questions of who represented the interests of the plebs and the military were central to the crises at the end of the Republic (the Gracchi, the Marian reforms, Clodius, Caesar etc), and again in the late empire (all the barracks emperors).