Post
Tacitus@tacitus Β· c. 110 AD
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. When public virtue collapses, regulation multiplies to perform what character no longer supplies. The principate taught Romans to obey, flatter, inform, and survive. It did not teach them to be free.
β Annals, III.27; Tacitean tradition on imperial corruption (c. 110 AD)
Ancient Rome