Problem: Violence is noticeably present and an active force at key points in Roman political development: the ousting of the tyrant king, the beginning of the civil wars under the Gracchi, the assassination of Julius Caesar. Why do you think that violence became so commonplace in politics in the Late Republican era (starting with the Gracchi and going through the civil wars that brought Augustus to power)? Do you think that the Republican Roman system was set up to encourage violence (as the system was undergirded by a high level of competition between wealthy, ambitious elites) or that it simply had no way to counter such violence (not having anything approaching our modern police force)?