The Roman Republic's collapse

The Roman Republic collapsed as powerful individuals sacrificed the common interests of the state to their quest for political supremacy, and in place of this dysfunctional pluralism Augustus eventually emerged as the supreme patron of the Roman state. Although Augustus and his successors certainly curtailed the exercise of senatorial patronage in Rome, and developed their own direct patronage of the Roman plebs, it would be a mistake to regard the emperor’s universal patronage as entailing a monopoly of patronal power.—J. M. G. Barclay, Paul and the Gift, 38

<idle musing>
Hmmm... sounds suspiciously familiar, doesn't it?
</idle musing>