“Can a constitution devised centuries ago to replace a monarchy, and based upon a citizen’s militia, possibly hope to run an empire whose scope is beyond anything ever dreamed of by its framers? Or must the existence of standing armies and the influx of inconceivable wealth inevitably destroy our democratic system? ( Cicero, quoted by Robert Harris in Dictator, his wonderful book about the fall of the Roman Republic and the struggle between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus)

I don’t suppose it is necessary for me to point out the parallels.