They had overthrown the ruling kings and established the Republic, and they were determined never to be ruled by a king again.
So when the word king--or rex--was avoided and called something else, they accepted it and accepted rule by a tyrant with absolute power.
Is there something familiar about this euphemism?
How about: "Liberalism"? "Progressive"? "War is Peace." "Freedom is slavery." "Love is hate." We hear these Orwellian paradoxes constantly every day. "the Democrat Party is the party of freedom, looking out for the 'little man.'" We're talking about the Party of slavery, lynching, infanticide, totalitarianism, racism, Jim Crow laws--the selling of America to the highest bidder--and government corruption!
So what have we got to lose? EVERYTHING! Remember:
The second Roman Emperor was the monster Tiberius. The third Caligula. The fifth Nero. This is what we're asking for when we accept decadence!
And remember their recent counterparts: Stalin, Mao, Hitler!
This is what's at stake.
The imperial system and the culture that sustained it survived another 400 years. Or more, if you count the Eastern Empire/Byzantium, and you should.
Tiberius wasn’t a monster. Caligula was a power-mad youngster and Nero was a monster.
They don’t have any parallels with Stalin, Mao or Hitler.
Stalin, Mao and Hitler have parallels with the great centralized states of the Bronze age or early Iron age.