Founded on principles of shared power and fierce personal competition, the Republic was created to prevent any one man from seizing absolute control. It is a society where soldiers can rise up from provincial commoners to become national heroes, even leaders of the Republic.
But as the ruling class became extravagantly wealthy, the foundations have crumbled, eaten away by corruption and excess, and the old values of Spartan discipline and social unity have given way to a great chasm between the classes.
Rome: Episode Guide: Summary: Season 1: Episode 10
“Let this be an end to division and civil strife.” After a unanimous vote in his favor, Caesar declares the war over and announces five days of feasts and games honoring his ‘triumph.’
For his first ceremony, the new emperor presides over the public execution of his former adversary, the King of Gauls, who has been kept alive–just barely–in the dungeons of the city.Â
In the woods outside Rome, the body of the King of Gauls, rescued from a trash heap in the city, burns atop a bonfire.Â
Vercingetorix of the Gauls is depicted as being executed as part of the Triumph, although this does not seem to have been the practice. Such captives were held, or executed at the Tullianum, not in public as part of the ceremony. Also, had he been executed publicly, he would have been beheaded (or possibly have had his throat slit), not strangled. Stranglings were commonly used to dispose of people, but were done in the tullianum, as said above, not in public. It is generally assumed that Vercingetorix was executed by strangling in the prison after being featured in the triumph, though the possibility he may have been publicly executed at the Gemonian stairs is not completely excluded.