Can we agree that the Roman Empire was a mistake? They should've stayed as a Republic

I don't know shit about Rome, but I was reading somewhere that one of the reasons the Republic might've broken down was due to Sulla setting the standard for powerful Generals who use their army for political gain, is that true? I can kinda see it, the Republic suffered from tons of civil wars started by political rivals

Sulla is just the culmination of a series of events introducing violence to the political system in Rome, starting with the Gracchi.

When people realized that murdering your political opponents is easier than trying to gain majorities in the assemblies, and acted upon that, was were things really escalated.

>free reign to plunder Europe to their heart's content.
Who gives a shit about Europe?

The Eastern Mediterranean is where the world's desire, it's wealth and massive populations, are.

>that gif
My sides

By the end of the Republic, Rome had actually already conquered all the wealthy areas around.

We would definitely be talking about them, if they'd suddenly collapse by then.