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🕑 Added 2017-02-21 11:00:21 +0000 UTC

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Historia Civilis

I mean, I love democracy, so I would probably pick the Roman Republic. Representative governments are incredibly stable, and I'm all about stability. The average citizen was probably safer and richer during the Empire, but I would rather give that up than risk living under somebody like Caligula. I definitely hear what you're saying about being of two minds about Caesar. I feel it too. He took something beautiful that had been around for almost 500 years and destroyed it, and part of me can't forgive him for that. That feeling is even stronger when I think about Augustus, because even though he was a great ruler, he took a bad political situation and made it permanent. I don't think I've been particularly good about communicating this feeling in the videos. By the time Caesar crosses the Rubicon, I hope that I can get across the idea that "this was good for Caesar, but bad for world history."

21 minutes? You spoil us

JAF1320

Hey Historia Civilis, great video. I just want to ask, would you rather be a Roman citizen during the Republic (before Augustus) or the Empire (after Augustus)? Also, Caesar to me is both a badass and destroyer because there are certain things the Roman Republic stood up for, namely the Rule of Law. The Empire ditch all of that in most part, thanks to Caesar (though one could argue it was also the work of the Gracchi Brothers, Marius, Sulla, etc.).