Explanation: Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, the victor of the brutal civil war after the mad Emperor Commodus (murdered for being a bad man) and the Senate-elected successor of Emperor Pertinax (murdered for being a good man), told his children on his deathbed to "enrich the soldiers, and scorn all others"
His sons took this to heart, as did their successors. Unfortunately, and probably not coincidentally, this happened at the same time of the Crisis of the Third Century, wherein the Empire itself almost fell apart due to constant wars and a spiraling economic situation exacerbated by government mismanagement and bribery competitions.
Mistakes were made.