> In the same way that the Roman Empire was a failure? Or the =20
>dinosaurs? Come now, Jeff, the GLers survived for centuries, spread =20
>their ideas, architecture, deities, and culture around the world, =20
>and though they are gone, their descendants survive and the world =20
>has been forever altered by their presence. Today, they are still at =20
>least as profound an influence on Glorantha as were the Renaissance =20
>and Industrial Revolution combined on modern Earth.
Point well taken. Of course, if I want to be stubborn, I think that a =
very good argument can,
and has, been made that the Julio-Claudian Empire was ultimately a =
failure from the=20
perspective of those who established it: the senatorial nobiles. Within =
a century, provincials
and even Greeks were the masters of the massive military machine that =
was built in the
two centuries following the Punic Wars to further the careers and =
ambitions of the senatorial
aristocracy. =20
By the time of the "Good Emperors" of the Second Century, the old =
aristocracy that ruled
the Republic and later destroyed it were gone. By that admittedly =
limited criteria, the=20
Empire of Rome was a failure.
From the perspective of the heirs to the Julio-Claudian Empire, it was a =
smashing success,
surviving in at least legal theory until 1453 (with the fall of Nea Roma =
- - better known as
Constantinople), 1804 (with the destruction of the German Reich) or 1917 =
(with the fall of=20
the Romanovs). Take your pick - regardless of which one you choose, the =
legal entity that
was founded by Rome lasted a very long time.
Comparing the GLers to the Italian Renaissance is more apropos, except =
the Italian citystates
were never the European powers that the Jrusteli were in =
Glorantha. Perhaps an even
better analogy would be the rise of the Greek "Golden Age" of the =
5th-4th Centuries and its
subsequent rise to utter heights/ultimate failure with the =
post-Alexandrian Hellenistic=20
empires.
Nonetheless, Sandy is correct that my calling the GLers a "failure" was = a bit overly glib.=20
Of course to really be able to evaluate the GLers, I guess we'd need to =
know - who were the
God Learners? A cabal of sorcerous mystics and their trading house =
allies or a distinct cultural group [not likely], or a confederation of =
adventuring entreprenuers, conquistadors,
and clients all dominated by a cabal of mystics and their trading house =
allies [my personal
favorite]. This doesn't disclose the GLer secret - simply humanize the =
face of everyone's
favorite bugaboo.
Yours truly,
Jeff Richard
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #653
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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