Rome nearly collapsed many many times, and arguably did collapse when going from Republic to Principate, , then again in the third century before Diocletian reformed the empire and founded the Tetrarchy, which then collapsed and turned into the Constantinian system with constant civil wars.
Rome was very very far from stable, and in fact one of the defining phenomenons during the entire period was a lot of political violence and class struggles.
According to my 6 year old that's a definite yes!