romans also weren't anti-technology, he probably saw the fattening aristocracy and anyone dreaming of becoming a part of it as their downfall and end of pax romana. he was obviously adapting everything to the time and his goals, he wanted things conservative and strict--more or less like isis. men and women were normative hetero livestock, and the seed of survivors was always more prized over the celebrated/forgotten dead or washouts who were to become slave stock. no dreamy technology, no comforts, making it harder for everyone was a fetish. it would weed out the "weak" and survivors would be indoctrinated, ready to boast and bully everyone else into the line he wanted. he looked for tensions between tribes who if geared more towards their hatred than their capacity to dream and advance beyond conquest alone, could be unified and weaponised. insert isis comparison, he was pure populism, about fetishing older simpler times. maybe he was a paleo-dieter, who knows. the economy of most people being given salvaged arms and reserving anything better from fallen foes for the truly deserving fits pefectly with militarism, the trials of boot camp, hazing rituals.
