I don’t know what pantelism is, but my understanding of Paul’s advice to obey the government is that it was the right advice for the time. They weren’t going to take down Rome, and even if they could have done, it may have made things even worse. They did have the Pax Romana, which, cruel though the Romans absolutely were, nevertheless created a consistent, more-or-less stable environment that facilitated the spreading of the gospel.
The barbarians (who were at some point (maybe not Paul’s time–I’m not sure–) the chief threat to Rome) would not have cared at all about being “better than the Romans.” There was no such thing as political correctness back in the day. There was only power. But that was all moot, because there was no way in hell anyone (at that time) was going to succeed at putting an end to the Roman Empire’s dominance in any of its occupied territory. OTOH, Roman subjects were apparently permitted to defend themselves against those on the wrong side of Roman law… highwaymen, for example. Thus, the advice to sell a cloak and buy a sword because (presumably) the sword would be the more vital piece of kit to have in one’s possession.