Dana wrote:
Blake is a convicted and supposedly rehabilitated rebel and traitor. Wouldn't The Powers that Be want him to feel a constant sense of guilt for getting his family killed (whether or not this had actually happened) instead of wanting him to think that his family were still alive off-world? In the latter case, they *could* serve as hostages for his continued good behavior, but in the former, he would be an awe-inspiring example of the high cost of rebellion and therefore an effective deterrent.
The Romans made a habit of killing the immediate families of traitors (by throwing them from the Tarpeian Rock) or proscribing them, but whether this deterred people is hard to say. Certainly there were plenty of aspirants to the purple despite this (some successful). Perhaps there would have been a lot more otherwise, who knows.
Nico