Zach Shulman’s Reviews > SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome > Status Update

“For several Roman observers, senatorial weakness for bribery was one major factor behind their failure: ‘Rome’s a city for sale and bound to fall as soon as it finds a buyer’, as Jugurtha [a rebellious North African ruler] was supposed to have quipped when he left the city.”

This was about 80 years before the Republic ended. This has no relevance to our current situation.