I was reading Livy's history of Hannibal's war (as well as remembering HBO's Rome), and it struck me that Romans had a whole bunch of rules designed to preserve the republic and prevent any single general (or other powerful individual) from taking control of Rome.
And I started wondering who thought up those rules? Like the rules that there were always two consuls, and there was a consular election every year.
Or the rule that a dictator had to resign after completion of his given task, or in six months, whichever came first?
Or the rule of no exercising imperium in Italy (south of Rubicon / Arno)?
Those all sound to me like rules derived by either brilliant thought, or bitter experience, or both. Were they derived from Greek political experience? Or from the experience of living under the Kings in Rome? Or something else?
What do we know about the people who thought them up or about the circumstances in which they did so?
I'm not trying to be short with you, but are you only reading a small portion of Livy's writings (like a single book)? He answers all of these questions in depth in his earlier work (before the Punic writings). I highly recommend starting from the beginning of Livy's works instead of in the middle.