Sandy may have been obnoxious on this topic, but he was right. The Roman
Republic may be considered to be a great power after the victory over
Pyrrhus of Epirus at Maleventum (renamed Beneventum to commemorate the
occasion) in 275 B.C. The Roman Empire ceased to be a great power at
its defeat at Myriocephalum by the Seljuk Turks in 1180 A.D. (repeat
after me: there is no such thing as a Byzantine Empire, that was the Roman
Empire!) That is 1455 years as a great empire, a record hardly challenged
elsewhere. Languages descended from Latin are spoken all over Europe, and
there is something called the Roman Catholic Church which can also be
considered a successor to the Roman Empire. I have not read recently of
any pilgrimges to Karakorum! It is the nature of nomad empires, no matter
how impressive, that they do not endure very long. The Mongol impact on
the Middle East, which I know best, was largely destructive. It is very
hard to point to any positive result at all, and certainly nothing equivalent
to the long lasting impact of the Roman Empire. To bring this back to
Glorantha, Pentan conquests of Peloria or Praxian conquests in Dragon Pass
cAn and have happened, but there is no sociological basis for them to be
retained. Like the Chinese impact on the Mongols, which was far greater
then any Mongol impact on the Chinese, the settled folk of Dara Happa will
still be there long after their nomad conqerors have faded back into the
grasslands. Jim Chapin
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