[Smokin' Joe]

The only 'bittersweet' part is that the people who lived in those times weren't such fools as we are today

Well, not all. The Romans and the US have a few parallels, and we appear to be following a similar path to perdition.

[agere_contra]

The big difference I see between the Romans and us is that we've had centuries of science, democracy and the rule of law - and our leaders are still doing the moral equivalent of Caligula declaring war on Neptune.