Complex sentence: In general they seem equal parts brigands and lumpenproletariat--less a coherent "movement" than the expression of the frustrations of ordinary people with an ever more oppressive, bankrupt and distant Empire.
Split into simpler sentences: In general they seem equal parts brigands and lumpenproletariat. Less a coherent "movement" than the expression of the frustrations of ordinary people with an ever more oppressive, bankrupt and distant Empire.