During the 1920s and 1930s, most ideas about "being modern" acknowledged that modernity implied:

julius caesar turned the roman republic into the roman empire by coming in and taking the "dictator" role during the time of a civil war (elites vs lower classes) winning battles and reputation, then declaring him dictator for life

hope this : )

disease was the number one killer of native peoples. they had had little exposure to the diseases of europe. this led to some villages being almost completely wiped out and some tribes destroyed.