The Roman Senate was structured in a strict hierarchy. Once elected, an ambitious senator had the opportunity to work his way up through the different ranks of magistrates; ...

When Augustus died in his bed at a ripe old age, the Roman Senate made him a god. This seems an honor that even the most sycophantic U.S. senators would be unlikely to suggest for our president.

The Roman Republic lasted almost 500 years. But the assassination of Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate in 44 BC, over fears that he was becoming too powerful, sped up the process of decay.

If you had told a Roman senator at the beginning of the first century B.C.E. that his grandchildren would willingly hand over governance to a monarch, he would not have believed you.