Frankie being nostalgic with Tom in military compound said that the Corleones was once like a Roman Empire. I suppose he meant that the Corleones going down and down. When do you think the glorious period that he was talking about.

Frankie judgement was wrong then because in GF III the family is getting richer and getting more powerful

He could have just meant The Corleone's were like the Roman Empire in that they where the most powerful, most richest and most feared "group of people" in their area.

The Roman Empire stretched across alot of land with alot of men and alot of power as did the Corleone's.

I always understood that statement to mean - The Corleone family was one of the most influential and powerful families with Don Vito as the king/emperor. They ruled New York - their hands were in everything and with everyone. Life was good- they were on top and now with the demise of the king/emperor things were changing. LIfe had changed and the empire was slowly coming to an end.

Yes, I think that's it, exactly. Frankie constantly looked confused in GFII. He was a man of simpler, earlier times. He said it all when he told Michael, "I don't have your head for the big deals...but why don't we hit 'em now, while we have the muscle?" He used the Roman analogy to evoke an earlier time in the Corleone Family when he understood the rules and had complete faith in his Don.

And when people knew how to throw a decent party!

From his opening line to Fredo about, "...can o' peas my ass...Bring out the peppers and sausage!!!"

To later on when he tries in vain to coax the orchestra into an Italian ditty only to get laughed off the stage by 'Pop Goes the Weasel' (with Mama standing nearby...).

To the Senate hearings...where he finally admits to no more than being in the olive oil business with Michael's father...

To all that is mentioned above...Frankie is GFII's last link to the Corleone Family of the past.

A past that basically dies by the end of the film, along with Frankie and Fredo.

Y'know...it just now came to me with this very thread the theme that Frankie represents...and how deftly FFC conveyed that link in just about all of his scenes.



Apple

I really like that scene at the military prison. The conversation has both literal and coded meanings for comparing the Corleones to the Roman Empire.

1) The excesses, the corruption, the bacchanalia of the Roman Empire as they exercised absolute power over everyone in their domain...not unlike the old days of Frankie's youth. The Corleone family was very much like the Roman Empire in that regard.

2) The structure of the family patterned after the Roman legions.

3) Frankie's insistence that his family be taken care of in response to Tom's suggestion that Frankie has to go away. Using the analogy of a failed plot aganst the emperor is brilliant dialog. Regardless of the circumstances that put him there, Frankie was smart enough to understand the real consequences of appearing before the Senate sub-committee particularly since his betrayal was already on the record in the form of a sworn affadavit. He was a dead man and he knew it. When they brought his brother over from Italy, is was a not-so-subtle reminder that those consequences might extend to his family. Frankie understood, made it clear to Tom that he had a solution and extracted a promise that the Pentangelli "family was taken care of" (meaning both his immediate family and his "Corleone" family). To Frankie, Tom's word was firm. Frankie kept his honor, his immediate family faced no threats, and his crime family continued to operate their territory in the Corleone empire.

tony b.

I didn't take it as being insistence. I thought he was just sorta "asking for his own peace of mind" kinda thing. There are different interpretations of it, I just felt like he realized at that point that the only way for his family to be taken care of was for him to die. If he stays alive he spends his life in jail and can't help his family.
But, those few lines have always confused me, can you explain to me why you think he was insisting??

quote from Turnbull:
He said it all when he told Michael, "I don't have your head for the big deals...but why don't we hit 'em now, while we have the muscle?" He used the Roman analogy ...
--- unquote ---

I don't understand why Frankie underestimated Michael's balls. I don't think anybody should underestimate a man who order the killing of the Head of the Five Families.
To me Michael is still the Emperor of his Romans.
So I guess this two gays just wasn't made for each other. Frankie with his simplicity, and Michael with his intelligence (tactical), yet cold and ruthless.
If only Frankie were still alive in GF III, he will see what kind of empire Michael had built (getting stronger and more influence ... from Vaticans ...), before Michael's guilt (Fredo's killing etc) getting unbearable, and his determined to go legitimate (finally).

Bimo, I don't think Frankie underestimated Michael's balls. I think he just couldn't understand why Michael wouldn't want to whack Roth and the Rosatos immediately--which was what Frankie would have done. When Michael explains why he doesn't want to move immediately (so he can buy time to find out who's the traitor in his family), Frankie nods as if he understands.