I think you're over simplifying the past a bit. While it's true that it was harder for governments to track you, it wasn't like they weren't trying. If someone

I think you're over simplifying the past a bit. While it's true that it was harder for governments to track you, it wasn't like they weren't trying. If someone in power wanted you dead (or captured... but usually dead), they would go ahead and try. You can go right back to the Roman Republic and the Greek city-states and find cases of people trying to flee, or going into exile, and then being hunted down and executed. Your ability to protect yourself has always had as much to do with your own abilities and luck, as your ability to secure protection from a rival state.