According to Cicero, the political conflicts surrounding the…

According to Cicero, the political conflicts surrounding the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus “divided one people into two factions” (On the Republic, 1.19). These two factions are the optimates and populares. To whose authority did the optimates appeal for support?

Who am I? I am an early Roman, an early and exemplary dictat…

Who am I? I am an early Roman, an early and exemplary dictator. I took up the dictatorship when the Romans were being attacked by neighboring Italic tribes. When senate representatives came to inform me of my election, I was busy working on my small farm. I used the powers granted to me by the dictatorship to punish a man who prosecuted my son for murder.