Historical Awareness: how did the Romans arrive at their ideas about their own past? What motives and experiences shaped these ideas? Age of the Gracchi: what was the programme of the Gracchi? Why did the attempt to put it into practice cause the 'derailment' of political life in Rome? Crisis of the Republic: what were the basic factors underlying the crisis of the Republic during its hundred years of constant escalation? What was the role of the populares in these events? This volume is a collection of essays (some hitherto unpublished) and reviews written over 35 years, which attempt to find answers to important aspects of these questions.