The world, regardless of whether it is today or more 2000 years ago, has always been highly political. Modern politics is for more metaphorically "stabby" than what was seen during the age of the Roman Empire.

Several Roman political leaders, not just by being literally stabbed in the back, saw violent politically motivated deaths. Chief amongst theses deaths, marking a significant turning point in the Roman Empire's history, were the assassinations of the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus.