Theodor Mommsen Quote

...public opinion justly recognized in both, above all things, the bankruptcy of the government, which, in its progressive development placed in jeopardy first the honour and now the very existence of the state.People just as little deceived themselves then as now regarding the true seat of the evil, but as little now as then did they make even an attempt to apply the remedy at the proper point. They saw well that the system was to blame; but this time also they adhered to the method of calling individuals to account.

Vol. 3, Pg, 185, translated by W.P.Dickson - The History of Rome - Volume 3