The situation in our country does have parallels to the end of the Roman Empire.
Historians trace the death of the Roman republic to Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon river to engage in Civil War. I think historians will trace the end of our republic to the day in 2008 that the SCOTUS did not look into the eligibility of Obama, which was their job. They didn’t do it because they feared the political consequences. The SCOTUS has been granted lifetime employment for that very reason, that they wouldn’t need to consider political consequences in upholding the constitution. They failed our republic.