From the show:

Stephan Morrow set out to dramatize the unintended consequences of political assassination and out popped an epic fantasy, drawing on Plutarch, Shaw, Shakespeare and other sources. Since power struggles today so resemble Mafia wars, it's somewhat like "The Sopranos" meets "Mad Max," written in uber-contemporary language with vestiges of the Bard. The theme is that political assassination can have unintended consequences and should be considered as the least effective solution to political conflict if a free citizenry is valued above all else. The irony of history, you see, is that the democratic impulse to save the Roman republic by unseating Julius Caesar ushered in the age of Octavius, who governed so well that his system of authoritarianism lasted over 200 years, creating a heyday of empire.