This is a really important point - I am reminded of a story of the 'Greek' occupation of 'Rome' in 1912:

On 8 October 1912, the island of Lemnos became part of Greece after being captured from the Ottoman Empire. Peter Charanis, born on the island in 1908 and later a professor of Byzantine history at Rutgers University, recounts when the island was occupied and Greek soldiers stationed themselves in the public squares.

Some of the children ran to see what Greek soldiers looked like. ‘‘What are you looking at?’’ one of them asked.

‘‘At Hellenes,’’ the children replied.

‘‘Are you not Hellenes yourselves?’’ a soldier retorted.

‘‘No, we are Romans."

An identity that had at that point endured for more than 2,600 years. There is nothing that compares to Rome.