@Goldenzeal
I edited in hindsight before you replied, but okay.
Yup. You’re absolutely right. Civil War, internal unrest, it has to be sniffed out quickly, before it rots and festers into a larger problem. I read somewhere that the best way to do it is to remove all your enemies in one go, so it seems like it was an act of necessity, because dragging it out will make you seem more like an abusive, powerhungry tyrant as days pass.
Tackling a few corrupt nobles here, a few dissenting-bordering treason senators there, bit by bit, makes the rest of them more and more desperate to make a counter play.