In the West, Imperial Rome begins in 27BC with the reign of Augustus and ends in 476 with Romulus Augustulus. Throughout this period, we can find good, mediocre and horrible rulers. America has often been compared to Rome, and today, like Rome, we see the transformation of our country from a republic to something closer to a dictatorship or autocracy. I know that many Freepers are Roman history bufffs, so we should come up with a pretty convincing consensus view.