PARIS: In the past, all great empires have fallen. The feeling seems to be that it’s inevitable – that something like what the Romans built could not last.
Paris refers to the Roman Empire, previously mentioned.
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican era of Roman civilisation, lasting from the accession of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus, in 27 BC to 395 AD, when it disintegrated under onslaughts from Germanic tribes such as the Goths and the Huns after the death of Theodosius the Great, the last Roman Emperor.
The fall of the Roman Empire is often invoked whenever a particular long-standing institution is threatened, or is perceived to be threatened, by destructive outside forces.
[Painting shown is The Course of Empire, Destruction by Thomas Cole, 1836].
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 