lex majestatis :- "Crimen illud quod adversus Populum Romanum vel adversus securitatem ejus committitur." Dometius Ulpianus, Libri ad edictum.

Quote, from somewhere or other:

"The ancient lex majestatis among the Romans was intended against those who injured the state; and the majesty, in defence of which it was made, was the majesty of the people. But Tiberius perverted that salutary law into a protection for tyrants. So our court-sycophants cry out, on every remonstrance against misgovernment, 'Treason ! The king is betrayed; the nation is ruined,' while nobody but themselves has the least thought of hurting the king, nor of ruining any thing, but that which, if let alone, will ruin the nation."

Hmmm! Nothing new under the sun.

Ed: Turns out the quote was from Political Disquisitions by James Burgh (1714-1775).

Nothing new under the sun.

Yup. You got that right, dxb. Or as the Object of Bardolatry once penned: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the Sun." [Son. cxxx] Proves she was the Duchess of Billingsgate and a Corsican none to boot.