that Scipio Aemilianus' death - murder? - was tied into the whole crisis of the Gracchi at that time - I also would love to hear Dr. Fagan's ideas on that. Isn't it supposed to be one of the great mysteries of the late Republic?

I was pondering Dr. Fagan's comments on the Gracchi driving to work, and wondered if, in the end, their epitaph is that they yelled "fire" in a crowded theatre. There may have BEEN a very small fire, but I suppose he's saying that giving in to the impulse to yell it puts some serious guilt on both brothers. I can see that! But I still feel that the late Republic was run like a private club by a bunch of family corporations that were utterly indifferent to any public-spirited actions to deal with reforms for the new realities of imperial politics. I have no sympathy for how they reacted to the Gracchi, either. If the fall of the Republic came partially through introducing murder into political disagreements, the Senate did it first - and second.