With a PoD after the founding of the Roman Empire, is it possible to prevent the concept of a "nation-state" from arising? What I mean by that is preventing ethnicity-based, well-defined states becoming the global norm, like they did after Western conquest IOTL. Please educate me if I misunderstand, but it is my understanding that before the development of Western Europe, most empires or kingdoms were not nation-based or ethnicity-based, but rather based around loyalty to a protector; in medieval times, this was the feudal system, in ancient times this was the Empire. The same can be said of the ancient Eastern kingdoms. In the East, instead of ethnically fragmenting and solidifying their own boundaries, the Chinese states were ruled for so long by a single empire that their culture revolved around the idea of staying in one empire— the Mandate of Heaven. Could this happen in the West?
(Sorry about the short question, I'm typing this in my phone.)
(Sorry about the short question, I'm typing this in my phone.)