Also, that the people as the public body, having elected their representation according to the laws of Rome, failed to compel the Republic to adhere to the laws, and thus, met with its demise. As Nifong discussed, the first tenet of the principle of natural law is the premise that promises made will be kept. Heitland identified the indicators of the fallen republic by these marks:

The rise and predominance of Antony

The return and progress of Octavian

The relations between Antony, Octavian and Cicero

The collapse of Cicero's policy, and the formation of the Triumvirate and the doings of the Triumvirs

Given Heitland's depictions of the indicators of the fall of the Republic, and for the sake of argument ruling out other factors, what was the mood of the people that they allowed their republic to slip away from them? if, as Nifong's discussion on natural law suggests, the people are responsible for maintaining the natural order, why, then, did the citizens of the Roman Republic and allow their right to self-govern to be usurped by imperialists?

Conclusion

The decline of Rome began, as noted by Heitland, during a period when taxes were desperately needed to support the activities of the Roman military. Under Augustus - Rome's greatest leader - tax collection was not a give or die demand on the population. In fact, it was the philosophy of Augustus that he would be better off with "sheep shorn" as opposed to "sheep slaughtered." Later, after Augustus, the need for tax collection became intense, and tangential to the success of Rome's military actions.

The burden placed upon a population in being responsible for funding the goals of imperialism and empire building is one that is 1) not always immediately recognized by the population, and 2) exhausting, demoralizing and resulting in a psychological condition that causes people to be more absorbed with struggling to produce their responsibility than they are aware of what is going on around them in the politics that is actually...

This would be the first crack in the system to follow the increase of taxes to a level that exceeds the taxpayer's ability, or the taxpayer's interest in managing the Republic. From this point, that crack widens and conspiracies begin to form and, when the people fail to react in a timely fashion, the wheels of self-interest began spinning and culminated with the murder of Ceaser; and the fall of the Republic.
The natural order, the first tenet of which is the promise upon which the order is built, began, in Rome, to fail the people of Rome, who, in turn, failed to react to protect their rights and to enforce the promise. Thus, the fall of Rome was a social failure, as opposed to a government failure.

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Nifong, William R. "Promises Past: Marcus Atilius Regulus and the Dialogue of Natural Law." Duke Law Journal 49.4 (2000): 1077. Questia. 27 Nov. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001775975.

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Smith, R.E. The Failure of the Roman Republic. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1955. Questia. 27 Nov. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9018145.