 However, other scholars have argued that as the Republic was meant to be "res publica"—the essential thing of the people—the poor and disenfranchised cannot be blamed for trying to redress their legitimate and legal grievances.For centuries, historians have argued about the start, specific crises involved, and end date for the crisis of the Roman Republic.As a culture (or "web of institutions"), Florence Dupont and Christopher Woodall wrote, "no distinction is made between different periods."