Hi, I'm John Green, this is Crash Course World History, and today we're going to learn about the Roman Empire, which of course began when two totally non-fictional twins, Romulus and Remus, who'd been raised by wolves, founded a city on seven hills. Mr. Green, Mr. Green, what does SPQR stand for? It means Shut Pie Hole Quickly Rapscallion. No, it means Senatus Populusque Romanus, one of the mottos of the Roman Republic. So today we're going to do some old-school great man history and focus on Julius Caesar while trying to answer a question, when, if ever, is it okay to stab someone 23 times? INTRO Shakespeare answers that question by saying that Roman senators killed Caesar because he was going to destroy the Roman Republic, but even if that's true, we still have to answer whether A, the Roman Republic was worth preserving, and B, whether Caesar actually destroyed it. One of the things that made the Roman Republic endure, both in reality and in the imagination, was its balance.