The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word BRUTUS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
B
R
U
T
U
S
More clues leading to the result BRUTUS
- Ancient Roman wheel mark crossed by modern vehicle
- Very dry American senator in Rome once
- Dry American statesman who led a coup
- Very dry American’s wig
- Dry wine across the Pond
- Dry American conspirator
- Dry American who helped to finish me off?
- Conspirator is a beast — American not English
- Ancient Roman description of dry wine reaches us
- Conspirator not sweet to you and me
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "senator in Rome once" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case senator in rome once = brutus.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.