How power shifted in the ancient world
October 9th 2006 23:43
Following up on my post about capitalism in ancient world.
I was asked how power shifted from one kingdom to another in the
ancient world and how superpowers developed when they had no nukes
back then. I am not a historian or a scholar but I will explain from
what I know. They didn't have nukes but every bit of technology made a
huge difference.The appearance of iron drastically changed the way war
was fought, so did the appearance of horses and chariots and the
invention of wheel.
Assyria had developed battering ram by which it could smash walls of
the cities and take them and not just plant a long siege outside the
walls. It is probably because of this that Assyria had to deport huge,
captive populations, something that was repeated by the Babylonians.
This made Assyria and its national god Ashur much feared around the
known world then. It is my hunch and I am not sure but that's why the
world assur stands for powerful gods or demons in most of the
Indo-European mythologies (aesir in Norse mythology, asuras in
Hinduism and Budhism, ahura in Persian).
Horses and chariots too made a huge difference; Hyksos in Egypt had
toppled the existing regime and Mitanni in Near East established a
huge empire because of their skill with horses. The Hittites became a
superpower when they stole a master horse- trainer from Mitanni and
developed their own horses. They were also the first to use the navy
in a battle.
The Parthians were known for their skill of shooting arrows backward
while riding on horses. This skill had given them such an advantage
that they became a feared opponent of the Romans. We still preserve
the term Parthian Shot. Some say even the Scythians had mastered this
skill a few centuries before.
Stirrups brought another revolution. Huns, I think, were the first to
master their use and with them had crossed from Asian steppe to
European heartland, a feat repeated by Mongols a thousand years later.
Mastering the navy made Athens into a superpower, a feat replicated by
the British. Building vast roads and inventing the corvus helped the
Romans.
Logistics too play a huge part in warfare. It is not enough to raise
huge armies; you need to have a lot of planning to move them across
difficult terrains. And world's greatest leaders from Alexander the
Great to Napolean were known for exactly this skill. Those who did not
possess this skill, those who had large armies but not enough skill to deploy them properly, figures like Darius, became known for their
hubris.
Whether it be a wheel or a battering ram, a stirrup or a corvus, each
of these inventions had made as much difference to the ancient world
as nuclear weapons and long range missile do to ours.
I was asked how power shifted from one kingdom to another in the
ancient world and how superpowers developed when they had no nukes
back then. I am not a historian or a scholar but I will explain from
what I know. They didn't have nukes but every bit of technology made a
huge difference.The appearance of iron drastically changed the way war
was fought, so did the appearance of horses and chariots and the
invention of wheel.
Assyria had developed battering ram by which it could smash walls of
the cities and take them and not just plant a long siege outside the
captive populations, something that was repeated by the Babylonians.
This made Assyria and its national god Ashur much feared around the
known world then. It is my hunch and I am not sure but that's why the
world assur stands for powerful gods or demons in most of the
Indo-European mythologies (aesir in Norse mythology, asuras in
Hinduism and Budhism, ahura in Persian).
Horses and chariots too made a huge difference; Hyksos in Egypt had
toppled the existing regime and Mitanni in Near East established a
huge empire because of their skill with horses. The Hittites became a
superpower when they stole a master horse- trainer from Mitanni and
developed their own horses. They were also the first to use the navy
in a battle.
The Parthians were known for their skill of shooting arrows backward
while riding on horses. This skill had given them such an advantage
that they became a feared opponent of the Romans. We still preserve
the term Parthian Shot. Some say even the Scythians had mastered this
Stirrups brought another revolution. Huns, I think, were the first to
master their use and with them had crossed from Asian steppe to
European heartland, a feat repeated by Mongols a thousand years later.
Mastering the navy made Athens into a superpower, a feat replicated by
the British. Building vast roads and inventing the corvus helped the
Romans.
Logistics too play a huge part in warfare. It is not enough to raise
huge armies; you need to have a lot of planning to move them across
difficult terrains. And world's greatest leaders from Alexander the
Great to Napolean were known for exactly this skill. Those who did not
possess this skill, those who had large armies but not enough skill to deploy them properly, figures like Darius, became known for their
hubris.
Whether it be a wheel or a battering ram, a stirrup or a corvus, each
of these inventions had made as much difference to the ancient world
as nuclear weapons and long range missile do to ours.
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