That disastrous time left the post-Sullan generation of aristocrats with a grimmer and more cynical outlook, and they were much readier to believe that change, or the prevention of change, could only be achieved by naked force – within or without the constitution. This is why in 49 BC the senate was prepared to violate the constitution and over-ride a tribunican veto in order to bring down Caesar, and why Caesar was prepared to ignore the constitution and march on Rome allegedly in defence of tribune’s rights. That sequence of events marked not just the final collapse of the Roman Republic,
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