It is almost without exception that every history book written on the Roman Empire, i.e, the period in which Rome transitions from oligarchy to tyranny, presents the Senate – the embodiment of the Roman Republic – as hapless democrats who are ultimately overwhelmed by the authoritarianism of the Caesars. For example:
Senators began to understand that the loss of their hereditary power was permanent, and they bitterly resented the fact.
Matyszak, P. (2023). “Pax Romana.” The Enemies of Rome: From Hannibal to Attila the Hun, Thames & Hudson, p. 160.
However, these salt of the earth aristocrats who were bulwarks of the rule of law oddly and Roman virtues oddly enough were resented by the people in the East. There were a myriad of uprisings against Roman rule. Such was Roman predation upon those it had conquered in the Hellenistic part of the empire, that these conquered people carried out a concerted genocide of some 80,000 Romans and Italians:
Oppressed by corrupt Roman administrators and greedy tax famers, the people of Asia rose joyfully in revolt, and delivered the province into Pontic hands.
Matyszak, P. (2023). “Mithridates: An Enemy for All Seasons.” The Enemies of Rome: From Hannibal to Attila the Hun, Thames & Hudson, p. 85.
The Republican régime did not limit their oppression to conquered foreigners or its Italian socii or ‘allies’. It oppressed its own people, violently putting down any threat to its rule. The Republican establishment (the Optimates or ‘best men’) had no compunction in turning to violence and assassinated the Gracchi brothers who sought to introduce a domestic reform agenda to address social and economic inequality.
These same history books express genuine surprise that the Roman plebeians took delight in the Caesars’ repression of the oligarchs.
What is noticeable, both in the case of Caligula and later ‘tyrants’, is that the weight of their tyranny fell squarely on the senate. The common people enjoyed the games, gossip, and imperial extravagances while the provinces continued to send in their taxes in return for reasonable competent governance. When Caligula was assassinated, the common people genuinely mourned him.
Matyszak, P. (2023). “Pax Romana.” The Enemies of Rome: From Hannibal to Attila the Hun, Thames & Hudson, p. 160.
This is explained by the characterisation of the plebeians as a mob easily bribed by ‘circus et panem’ instead of viewing them as an oppressed class with genuine grievances against the senatorial class that had exchanged power for protection of their wealth. For after all, their goal was never attainment of power for its own sake. Power was a tool to increase and guard their wealth to the detriment of the plebeians.