[philwelch]

"Every so often, someone will come along, hand you a sword, and tell you to go die for the Emperor; if you aren't killed in battle, it's quite likely that you'll die of disease or starvation hundreds of miles from home."

But less likely than dying at home on the farm, at least in Rome.

"your husband, who may have three or ten or twenty wives"

In which case your husband is probably rich, powerful, and influential, and you share a measure of luxury. Most men in polygamous cultures only have/had one wife because they can only afford to support one wife.

"If you want to live like this, for whatever reason, you still can. Go out into the middle of nowhere and purchase a plot of land (such land is generally worthless). Build a house on it, farm it for food and make all your tools yourself."

There's a marked difference between living in a primitive community and living as a primitivist hermit.