"Gunner" wrote in message
...
...
"The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be
reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and
controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced,
if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again
learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."

(Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 B.C.)

Instead their Republic descended into civil war followed by
dictatorship.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus