When you say stitch, I hear subjugate. Fair point about the before and after Caeser. The historical record is pretty clear that enormous volumes of Gauls died

When you say stitch, I hear subjugate. Fair point about the before and after Caeser. The historical record is pretty clear that enormous volumes of Gauls died during their “civilization” at the hands of Rome. It’s true that populations that have already been brutalized into an empire are easier to absorb by other empires. I guess I was responding to the language you were using that (to me) presumes that being smashed down and genocided into the murky doublethink of empire is a net positive for the cultures being rapaciously absorbed against their will.