Having defeated its most prominent enemies up to that point and kidnapped hundreds of thousands – maybe millions – of people to be used as expendable and cheap labor, the Late Roman Republic appeared in an exceptionally strong position. Sure, there was the occasional ‘Servile War’ and there was a guy called Mithridates causing some trouble in the east, but things appeared exceptionally good. The equities – most conveniently described as the knightly, traditionally upper middle class – grew extraordinarily w ...