In the history of Western Civilization, tensions have nearly always existed between the power and authority of the citizens and that of the State. It's easy to forget that Rome began as a Republic and only later transitioned into the Roman Empire. Power transferred, as if on a great Pendulum, from the people, to the Caesar. For Rome, this move toward autocracy was due primarily to the life and death of one man, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus.