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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SHARK" data-source="post: 169981" data-attributes="member: 1131">Greetings!Utrecht: My friend!<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> What the Romans accomplished was amazing! You know, there are advancements that the Europeans made during the Dark Ages, but like I explained to my wife, in comparison, a merchant in Rome in say, 85 AD had far more in common with our lifestyle today, than a Castle Lord in 10th century Britain! I mean, really! The "Dark Ages"--though some scholars eschew the term, while others do not--was named thusly for a number of reasons. Lets say there are twenty categories of advancement and technology, with each being rated at a scale of 1-20. If the Roman Empire could be described as averaging straight 15's across the board, Dark Ages Europe outscored the Romans in two or three categories, rating say, 16-18, while the other categories were at the level of 5. I explained this to my wife at dinner tonight. Did you know that in the 8th or 9th centuries, while most of Europe huddled by the fire and scurried from the wrath of the Vikings, Byzantium had street lights? Yeah, real, working lamps that the city had placed throughout the boulevards of the sprawling city that illuminated the city at night along the broad streets. The Byzantines also had running water, heated rooms, and a fully developed civil service. Before this, the citizen in Rome could take his case to a real magistrate, with a lawyer!--and have his case determined in a court of law. The same people in Britain, or France in the 8th century, well, their justice was only as good as the knight who oversaw them. Since he was often a rough barbarian who raped and preyed upon the local population at whim, any kind of "justice" was usually reserved for only when a fellow warlord was somehow wronged. It should be understood that with the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe lost so much that it took them a 1000 years or more, to fully recover. By this, I mean at least a framework of comprehensive recovery, integrated economy, political unity, rule of law, and the gradual refinement and progress of philosophy and technology. The great lack of these things is the reason why the first thousand years or so after the fall of Rome is considered to be the "Dark Ages." Did you also know that the Romans had not only running water, but hot and cold water-pools for the bath houses? The Romans also had indoor heating for their houses, too. True, such wasn't available for everyone, of course, but many of the wealthy and important could have them. It consisted of having stone floors in a house lets say, with a series of water pipes under the flooring. These pipes ran under some simple metal grills, which touched the stone flooring. When scalding hot water was run throught he system, and maintained, it caused the pipes to conduct heat through the stone flooring. This in turn heated the room quite nicely. This, without the endless logs of firewood, and the smoke and all that, though fire-places were also used. Pretty nifty, huh?Hey, Utrecht! I just thought of something you will get a kick out of! Do you have the movie Gladiator? You know, with Russell Crowe? Stick that in the player!<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I was so excited when they noted the history right in front of the starting of the movie! I laughed when I saw it! I gained respect for them immediately, because I knew they had done their homework! Utrecht, sir, I must confess that I never took umbridge with anything you said.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> It's not like a debate or something! It's just the History Professor coming out in me!(smile)I just love to share knowledge, especially history! You know, long before I began attending college, when I was in high school, as well as in the Marine Corps, I would check out *literally* a dozen or so books on the Roman Empire. These aren't Readers Digest ones, for popular reading, either!(smile)These are the huge 400-1200 page books that could kill someone if you bopped them on the head with one! I would read them each, very carefully, even taking notes. When I finished reading them, say a dozen or so, I then proceeded to check out a dozen or so books, like the earlier ones, on Dark Ages Europe. Then, I checked out a dozen or so books on the Byzantine Empire. When I was done, I not only had a foundation for my later studies in college, but even at the time, my thinking was revolutionized! I was awe-struck with the legacy that the Roman Empire, and the inheritors--the Byzantine Empire--had accomplished! I highly encourage all to pursue the same journey! Even if you don't teach, the journey will always be interesting, that I can assure you!I chew on this stuff all the time. It's really facinating! You know, in thinking about D&D, I think there are some very different presuppositions. 14th century European standards do not have to be the *standard* Did you know that when William the Conqueror invaded Britain in 1066, there were advanced kingdoms in Africa that fielded armies of 200,000 soldiers? William invaded England with, what, 16000 knights? These African kingdoms, at that time, were not only ruled by strong united governments, but also had sophisticated economies and trade routes in place. A vast trade of gold, ivory, exotic animal skins, pepper, gems, dyes,  and other spices  were constantly travelling from these African kingdoms to the Middle East, and the Far East, including India, as well as into other areas of southern Africa. Yeah, 200,000 soldiers, and some kingdoms had thousands of elephants, and others had tens of thousands of horse-cavalry. Some had chain-mail, too. That was in 1066 AD, when the biggest army led by the most powerful king in Europe, was vastly smaller than that. Pretty incredible, you know?It's also interesting to note that long before the middle-ages in Europe, China had developed a vast professional army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, perhaps even millions. The Chinese, while not terribly aggressive outside their vast borders, none the less developed sophisticated technology in weaponry, chemicals, communications, command and control, logistics, as well as recruitment and training. Long before Europe started to get the idea. China had developed a professional army that was recruited from all over the empire. The Chinese also built the Great Wall, as well as a sophisticated road system throughout China. The Chinese also had a regular mail delivery system that could promptly deliver mail from one side of the empire to the other. I mention all of this, because whether one is thinking about the accomplishments of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, or the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, or of the Chinese, or the Inca, there are a lot of different accomplishments outside the confines of 14th century Europe. Many say, "well, in medieval times, 5000 troops were an enormous army! Nothing bigger could be done!"--that's fine for poor, backwater Europe. But there is more beyond the impoverished backwaters of Europe! Change some of the presuppositions, and possibilities begin to really blossom! The game--your game!--can be played with different assumptions than from 10th-14th century Europe. The History of Europe, and of the world!--is rich with fresh possibilities!What do you think Utrecht?Alaric!--You're a Classicist? That is so cool my friend! I love the Classics! I'm glad that you like my contributions Alaric! Thankyou!Ace!--Go brother! See, I love it. I don't let adventurers just think they can stomp all over the world! Heh, they had best not try that nonsense with armies in my campaign! I just don't quite see why kingdoms and empires throughout D&D worlds, who have more wealth and power than the adventurers could ever imagine, wouldn't train, and equip their armies to be able to deal effectively with adventurers, you know?What do you think?Semper Fidelis,SHARK</blockquote>

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