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The main reason for the fall of the Roman Republic, as I see it, was the loss of land by veterans, who were trained in violence and confrontation. This alongside the Roman history of violence, starting with the story of Romulus and Remus, and the unrestrained and unmanageable rate of growth in power, population, land area and wealth, led to a situation where life in the Republic was ingrained with anger, fear instilled by those …

…Lucretius also refers to "helter-skelter" and death. The population obviously was in turmoil. The mix of fear and violence, with unrestrained growth caused an environment of in fighting amongst those in authority for power and control, not necessarily only for these ends in and of themselves, but at least in part to save what was left of a great society. Eventually it was this chaotic power struggle that led to the decline of the republic.