Power tends to corrupt

Lawrence Reed was once asked “Who would you rank as the [Roman] Empire’s worst Emperor?” After describing some pretty awful ones he settles on Caligula. But power tends both to attract awful people and corrupt those who weren't:

Power does so much more than corrupt. It attracts the already-corrupted and gives them the wherewithal to administer their corruption. It feeds on arrogance, narcissism, and self-deception. It dements the mind until it embraces schemes that ruin the lives of others. It rots the soul. I can think of no more destructive motivation than the lust for it. Rare is the individual who emerges a better person for having possessed it. ....

The Worst Emperor of Ancient Rome: Caligula | Intellectual Takeout