Was Rome better off as an 'empire' than as a republic?

The Roman Republic was what made Rome great and what made the empire seem so big. The Roman Empire was what brought about Rome’s decline and fall. The Roman Empire basically gained a little to what all the Roman Republic had established, and then lost it all. The Roman Republic is what brought all the people together and the empire just tore them all apart to less than what they had before the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was a system and was based on law and government. The Roman republic was so affective and useful that we use the process of Checks and Balances that was first invented by the Romans during the republic. I believe the empire, was very ineffective and attributed barely anything to the Greatness of Rome. The rulers in the empire only were concerned about themselves and didn’t really contribute to the benefit of Rome. The Republic was when it was about the people and equality, and that is when Rome flourished. The Roman Republic started out as just a small city state, but then grew and grew, until it ruled practically the whole Mediterranean. All the Roman Empire did was just take what the Roman Republic had earned with hard work, and then abuse it. By far, I believe the Roman Republic was much better off than the Roman Empire.