'Kingdoms [states] without justice are like criminal gangs' - St Augustine (412 AD)

The constitution of state and society cannot be legitimate without the underpinning of The Natural Law - the laws of God

Remove justice, and what are kingdoms [states] but gangs of criminals on a large scale? What are criminal gangs but petty kingdoms? A gang is a group of men under the command of a leader, bound by a compact of association, in which the plunder is divided according to an agreed convention.

If this villainy wins so many recruits from the ranks of the demoralised that it acquires territory, establishes a base, capture cities and subdues peoples, it then openly arrogates to itself the title of kingdom, which is conferred on it in the eyes of the world, not by the renouncement of aggression but by the attainment of impunity. [my emphasis]

St Augustine, The City of God against the Pagans, John O'Meara ed. & Tr, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth UK, 1972, p. 139