Urbs Prima In Indis

Now that the very first day of the monsoon has made Mumbai stumble, here's a cheerful little quote from Edward Gibbons' The Decline And Fall of the Roman Empire:

"It is scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption. This long peace, and the uniform government of the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated."