So, I've been wondering recently if it was possible for the Roman empire to be like the Chinese empire. By that I mean that the borders of the Roman empire remain generally stable and the people see themselves as Roman and stay united up until the current day. Is it possible? What would the effects be?
Also, a book I've been reading has been talking about how the nation-state was really a product of a divided Europe, so if there was a stable Roman empire would the nation-state ever evolve or would we still be in large empires?