Not <i>bad</i>...but the cringe-simplistic "Republic = Good, Dictator = Bad" framing ignores an enormous amount of Roman history, and underlying social complexities.<p>If you are interested in understanding how ancient Rome actually worked, I'd suggest starting here: <a href="https://acoup.blog/tag/rome/" rel="nofollow">https://acoup.blog/tag/rome/</a> Dr. Devereaux is a serious historian, and this is pretty much his specialty.