>>18532181Basically this. People really overestimate how great Rome was. Rome was constantly locked in bloody civil war throughout large parts of history or stuck under absolutely ruthless to retarded emperors. Some smart guy might go
>oh just like now But it's nowhere close to that. Government seized property, the tax man was basically contractors who would squeeze the life out of you, it's only considered a great empire because Rome itself lasted for a long ass time, but that's mainly because there wasn't a single power in Europe capable of standing up to Rome that could also be assed. They had first mover advantage and there wasn't a single power in Europe left that could ever fight back against decades of military fine tuning. Had Rome pushed any further, IE I think Nero tried and failed and said alright not doing that again, then good chance they would have had a more serious revolt that would have killed the empire way faster. Look at how whipped Rome was in Britania. The only reason that shit didnt spread was because they were on a small island so the savages could only do so much.