Oh man, Emperor Commodus[0] is a perfect example of this. Commodus was the first emperor to be 'born in the purple'. His father was Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Yes

Oh man, Emperor Commodus[0] is a perfect example of this. Commodus was the first emperor to be 'born in the purple'. His father was Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Yes THAT Marcus Aurelius, the stoic of all stoics. Commodus was likely insane and participated in daily gladiatorial combat against people and animals already behanded or hamstrung before the fight (so as to not actual pose a threat to the emperor), slaughtering hundreds. He was drowned in the bath by his wrestling partner. His death kicked off the year of the five emperors and civil war in the empire. So, even when the prime example of stoic philosophy, Marcus Aurelius, is given the sole reigns of power to the prime example of an empire at it's height, Rome in the Nerva–Antonines, it falls apart at the hands of familial duty/love. One thing to remember about Romans is that there is not 'thesis' to them. They did whatever they needed to do at the time. For example: look at the Roman Honor of the Republic days. It was fierce, passionate, and swift. Any slight was dealt with in total violence and societal honor was worth much more than your life. Compare that to the stoics, where nothing could 'slight' a person, only their internal life was important, and society was to be nearly forgotten. The Romans were, if anything, adaptable to the extreme, which is why they lasted nearly 2000 years. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodus