The story of men and empires is as old as time itself. By that I mean the story of the Greek titan Cronus (Father Time) is the story of governments, and the failure of men to ever learn from this story is the ultimate tragedy. To understand the story you must understand that governments are now and forever will be one and one thing only, a weapon.
Men create governments as a tool for liberation and self-defense. In their youth (0-80 years) men view governments as heros, like Hercules or young King David, who slay the beast that was oppressing them thus allowing peace and prosperity to return to their land. In Greek mythology Cronus earned his own liberation by castrating his father Uranus. In this stage men celebrate their governments but are under no delusion that they are anything other than a weapon.
In their middle age (80-160 years) governments learn to preemptively eliminate threats that could topple them and the weapon of self defense becomes a weapon of conquest. It's magnificent armies always return with the riches of the nations they conquer and men make their fatal mistake of seeing government as a provider instead of just a weapon. Government becomes the mature titan worthy of men's worship.
In old age (160-240 years) governments are less able to preemptively subdue foreign threats with brute force and resort to manipulation and subversion. It wants desperately to retain the admiration of it's people and title of provider, so it does the only thing it can do. It begins to pilfer and subdue it's own people while portraying itself as an all seeing, all knowing god to be feared and worshipped. As in the story of Cronus it begins eating it's own offspring in a desperate and futile attempt to delay it's supplantation by it's progeny. The carnage and destruction serves two vital purposes. First, by destroying the old, it clears the way for the new hero and second it assures that only the strongest can emerge to assume the role of protector and start the cycle all over again.
