In the Roman realm ethical life tears apart.

Which extremes?

On one side the private consciousness of the single person. On the other an abstract universality.

How does it go?

It begins with the struggle between aristocracy and democracy. One side turns into superstition and cold, greedy power. The other decays into a rabble.

The end:

The whole dissolves in general misfortune. Ethical life dies. The spirits of the nations die out in a shared pantheon. All become private persons, equal in formal right. Only a boundless arbitrary will still holds them together.

Summary: In the Roman realm ethical life tears apart into private persons and abstract universality. It ends in the death of ethical life. Only arbitrary will still holds the equals together.

[…] They received laws and commanders from the will of their monarch, and the descendants of the boldest chieftains were content with the rank of citizens and subjects; the more highly aspiring spirits gathered round the standard of the emperors; and the abandoned provinces, deprived of political strength or unity, sank imperceptibly into the dull indifference of private life.