Herod Agrippa sounds eerily modern in this exchange from Claudius the God:
“Caesar, my advice is, be rough with them! Stamp on the worms and watch them wriggle.”
I said, stiffly, “My friend King Herod, you seem to forget that I am Roman and that the powers even of an Emperor depend constitutionally on the will of the Senate. If the Senate sends me a message which I am able to answer politely and submissively, I shall not fail to do so.”
“Have it your own way,” Herod answered with a shrug, “but they won’t treat you any better for it. Constitutionally, eh? I must bow of course to your superior authority as an antiquarian, but has the word ‘constitution’ any practical meaning today?“