A Republic, If You Can Keep It

The Roman Republic is often romanticized as a stable and free society, tragically ended by Julius Caesar's dictatorship and his assassination by concerned senators. This act, intended to save the Republic, ironically hastened its fall, leading to civil war and the rise of the first Emperor, Octavian.

This was (supposedly) a golden era preceding the imperial ambitions of Julius Caesar and his successors, when Rome immediately shifted from one form of government to another.

I want to show you how wrong this perception is today.

Long before the Republic, Rome had kings—a monarchy that lasted for two and a half centuries. There aren’t amazing records of this time, so we have a blend of legends and recorded facts, but I think the legends themselves are important to understand, since many Romans believed them to be true.

The last king, legend has it, was called Tarquin the Proud. He was a notorious tyrant, and when the people of Rome had had enough of this dictatorship, they decided to never …