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.