We can draw an interesting historical parallel from the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Expansion had greatly enriched the Senatorial class (and

We can draw an interesting historical parallel from the Roman Empire in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Expansion had greatly enriched the Senatorial class (and the Equites). Meanwhile, middle class Romans (I use the term technically to refer those in the middle property classes able to serve in the military) had been the soldiers who fought in the campaigns the senators had used to get rich. The soldiers' farms fell into disrepair while they were away campaigning and were bought by the wealthy senators when the soldiers realised they could not work them anymore. The Senators then used the slaves they had brought back from overseas to work those farms thereby eliminating the need for hired labour from the dispossessed. The now landless soldiers lived off the grain dole until popularist leaders came along and offered to pay them directly to fight for them. This was a key factor in the breakdown of Roman democracy and the rise of the emperors (princeps).