Last Days of the Empire

History (sort of) repeats itself …

“Meanwhile in Rome, people plunged into slavery – consuls, senators, knights. The higher a man’s rank, the more eager his hypocrisy, and his looks the more carefully studied, so as neither to betray joy at the decease of one emperor nor sorrow at the rise of another, while he mingled delight and lamentations with his flattery.”

Annals, Tacitus (c. AD 56 – after 117)