Quote Originally Posted by Inst View Post

As others have mentioned, the transition, even an extremely bloody one, from internecine war to a "peaceful" hegemony is often a good one as deaths and instability from interstate warfare drop off. The benefits of living in Tarquinland or Malackville, where at least you can expect the state to kill you only for predictable reasons, outweigh that of the anarchy this replaced.
Just to point out, predictable reasons in Tarquinland are pretty much anything. If he wants you dead, he'll find a way. It's anarchy under the guise of a state.