History doesn't repeat but it rhymes. Roman emperors starting with Marcus Aurelius began devaluing their currency to pay for endless war, and to a lesser extent, free bread; i believe that is the principle cause of the decline of Roman empire.

It is more of the endless civil wars they had. See the Crisis of the Third Century when every military regional commander revolted and marched on Rome. Even during times of peace e.g., during Augustus time, they would pass laws trying to stop people from amputating their son's thumbs to avoid conscription.

Empire is a structure that exist strangely disconnected from the country that spawned it to keep the lights at the cost of other countries.

Just imagine if the us empire and its institutions, war machine parted ways with the country and its population. It would not be as hard as one imagines, but would reveal a country that has benefitted in parts by snuggling up to the imperial maxhine, while other paets where abandoned. It would also reveal how deeply the empire structure seeped into the privat social landscape.