Once Rome, fully conscious of the irresistibleness of her power by land, had transferred her superiority also to the other element; now the mighty state was powerless at sea and, as it seemed, on the point of also losing its dominion at least over the Asiatic continent.

Certainly the documented prevalence of online gender- and race-bending would lend strong support to such an interpretation; […]

And I may add old buffties like me who have forgotten some of it and could do with the reminding!

get me a thing of apple juice at the store; I just ate a whole thing of jelly beans