What evidence suggests that Roman society was more stable during the time of republic than it had been during the time of the empire?

Question

http://www.infoplease.com/cgi-bin/id/ipa/A0001206

At the above website, be sure to read the section on Rome before Augustus as well as the Roman Empire.

Up to Julius Caesar's time, the Romans elected two consuls because they didn't want a king; they didn't trust any ONE person to have too much power. Julius Caesar, however, was able to make himself sole consul after his many successes conquering Gaul (now France) and other places, and from then, he was succeeded by others who took on the title of "Caesar" and retained sole power.

Here are some other good sites to check on:

http://www.roman-empire.net/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/

http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html

http://www.vroma.org/~jruebel/timeline/

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