The fall of the Roman Republic was orchestrated by those clinging to power, officially to defend it.

Like the Uniparty élites in the United States of today, the Optimates launched an extensive campaign of obstruction and disinformation when one of their own defected to support the Populares, challenging their entrenched privileges and authority. This defiance led to the assassination of Tiberius Gracchus, an act that symbolized their ruthless determination to maintain control.

The cycle of violence continued with Gaius Gracchus, and the Optimates' reaction to the Populares holding power under Marius culminated in Sulla's establishment of a deadly autocratic regime.

This sequence of events set the stage for the emergence of another figure from the Optimates who allied himself with the Populares, Julius Caesar.

His assassination by members of this entrenched élite led into Caesar's chosen successor, Augustus, ascending to power, effectively ending the longstanding conflict by decisively defeating the Optimates and marking the transition from Republic to Empire.