I think you'll need to adjust for speed of data transfer and population density when attempting such analogies. A peasant from Gaul for example could not travel

I think you'll need to adjust for speed of data transfer and population density when attempting such analogies. A peasant from Gaul for example could not travel to say Alexandria unless as a slave via Roman galley, and had no information of interest generally unless related to insurrection. Roman legions on roman roads operating from the hub of power, Rome, controlled information at a minuscule fraction of today's rate, but it served as a topological monopoly on transfers. The Romans spent centuries withholding the northern tribes of Europe, like Picts and Teutonic peoples, the barbarians from the gate. But after adjustments to modern propagation speeds, the northern wars were much like a flash revolution in Egypt I would suggest.