Describing the collapse of Roman freedoms in the years leading up to Julius Caesar, Appian noted:
“…neither freedom, nor democracy, nor law, nor reputation, nor office, were of any help any longer to anybody when the holders of the tribunate, which had come into existence for the prevention of injustice and the protection of ordinary people, and was sacred and inviolate, both committed and suffered such wrongs.”–Appian, The Civil Wars (Penguin Classics, 19)
