The Ancient Roman Republic was a confederacy of thieves – the best comparison would be those cobbled together privateer or pirate armadas/KINGDOMS of the 18th Century, or even the VIKINGS.
As a “pirate armada”, the Romans expanded – and like all pirate armada, they eventually retreated BACK to their “island”, Rome. And Constantinople.
And the BRITISH EMPIRE, that wiped OUT those PIRATE KINGDOMS in their heyday? – well they started as kings and barbarians, forming groups and gangs of men and women to scour the countryside and rip people off and this is a common road.
The fate of governments is similar to the “so called” fate of STARS.
Some governments burn out fast: like a PIRATE KINGDOM or JONES TOWN …
Some take longer to burn: like ROME, the BRITISH EMPIRE, and the USA thus far.
But the fate is always the same, they burn out and change into something else, and what is left behind is usually some kind of destruction.
Hillsdale College and other “conservative” diploma mills CELEBRATE this wretched ROMAN EMPIRE shit, because their interpretation fuels the neocon rhetoric … the truth is uncomfortable.
The truth is ROME was a bunch of bullshit, and all governments are: 1 SAM 8
Link: https://www.history.com/news/6-famous-pirate-strongholds