Did Romans recognise the fall of the republic?

[Lindsay_Powell]

I do believe the Romans did recognise the fact - and as early as 12-9BCE. The Romans saw Nero Claudius Drusus (Drusus the Elder) as a man who would restore the res publica. There is a report that Drusus sent a letter to his brother Tiberius in which he urged they approach their stepfather to stand down and restore the old form of rule. The story is that Tiberius revealed it to Augustus, yet he did not react badly to it. It was probably not much of a surprise to the princeps as his 'republican' leanings were well known. Twenty-nine years later there was great fury among the public in Rome at the death of Drusus' son Germanicus - widely presumed murdered - as he was also seen as the one man then alive who could restore the republic. There seems to have been a recognition that with the rule of Tiberius as Augustus' successor (abetted by Seianus) the democratic republic was effectively snuffed out.
I cover the matter in my book Eager for Glory on the life of Drusus the Elder due to be published in spring 2011.