I've recently been watching HBO's "Rome" and the way they show the life in the city of Rome itself (Lots of murder, humiliation and threatening with physical abuse and mutiliation; sometimes even openly in the streets) left me wondering if that is a historically accurate presentation of life in an ancient city. I guess I should at that I am not primarily speaking of the political intrigues and riots, which are also shown in the series and which are historically accurate (i.e. Caesar was actually killed in the senate).