Sovereignty over any foreign land is insecure. – Seneca (Seneca the Elder)

We seem, as it were, to have conquered and peopled half the world in a fit of absence of mind. – Sir John Robert Seeley

Roman, remember that you shall rule the nations by your authority, for this is to be your skill, to make peace the custom, to spare the conquered, and to wage war until the haughty are brought low. – Virgil

The reluctant obedience of distant provinces generally costs more than it The Territory is worth. Empires which branch out widely are often more flourishing for a little timely pruning. – Thomas Babington Macaulay