The Roman world knew nothing approaching political parties. Sometimes older scholars will speak of "party politics" in the late Republic, but they don't mean that in the modern sense. There were no organized political parties, and individual politicians rarely saw any need to adhere rigidly to some set of idealistic beliefs--indeed, it would've been absurd, as it's been ably demonstrated that for many politicians a realignment of political interests frequently happened in their later careers. Nor were there platforms. An established political platform or legislative program was not a requirement of seeking office, nor was it expected--in fact, it was exceedingly rare for a candidate to promise a legislative program, or even a political alignment, in advance of his magistracy. There is simply no analogue here with modern politics