this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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I don't think this really captures what it would have felt like to be abandoned by Rome.
For all it's ills Rome brought civilisation and technological advantages to the places it conquered.
When Rome withdrew I think the most keenly felt loss in many areas would have been to be cut off from that ordered civilisation.
One moment you're a citizen of Rome, and the next your grain is looted and your daughters have been taken by barbarians.
It might be something more like, an announcement that it's no longer profitable to maintain internet access for your entire country, so the network is simply being shut off, never to return.
As an aside, I'm in Western Australia. In terms of national identity I think many of us are fairly ambivalent to being "Australian" as opposed to being "Westralian". 50 years ago there was a referendum about succession which actually won support - we chose to succeed from Australia. The Australian government saw sense after that and acquiesced to our demands, so it never went ahead. My point is though, if you live in a place and that place is cut off from the broader nation, do you lose your national identity or does your existing national identity just become more closely defined.