Continuity - The Lost Principate

On the face of it, Roman history seems, if you'll excuse the pun, cast in concrete. The Republic falls, Augustus claims the empire as ruler, and Imperial history begins. Is it really that obvious? I ask because I'm increasingly drawn to different conclusions that the somewhat flawed accepted story. Time then to outline where I am in this accentuated period in history. What was the Roman Republic? You only have to watch the successful film Gladiator to see how fixated with modern concepts we

Yep, I decided to quit the thread because I don't know much about it anyway. So, all facts are at yours disposal now, you can use whichever you like. By the way, Google search has produced quite a few results on the corruption laws in the Roman society. Here is the list of some: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Baebia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Acilia_repetundarum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Cornelia_de_maiestate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lex_Aurelia_iudi