Gian does not Agree

From: MOB <mrmob_at_ozemail.com.au>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 10:07:21 +1100


G'day all,

Gian does not Agree

>Byzantinism and Lunar Empire
>My reasons are as follows:
>
>2) The Byzantine Empire had many peculiarities I read as incompatible with
>the Red Goddess' One:

No one is suggesting the Lunar Empire is a *direct* analogue of the Byzantine Empire. It is, however, a fine place to draw inspiration from. Straight translations from RW to Glorantha are pointless (why not just play in RQ3's "Alternate Earth/Fantasy Europe"?), and ultimately rather prosaic, even dull. Writing for Glorantha is fun, 'cos you can pick and choose all the groovy bits.

If you delve into the wealth of fan-written material about the Lunar Empire (ie. TotRM, Life of Moonson), I think you'll see a wide range of RW resonances, including Soviet Russia and even the modern-day United States! - - take a good look at Dario's pic of "The King" in the Rough Guide to Glamour's "Jaxarte and the Emperor" story.

I don't agree with all Gian's statements about the Byzantines, but I now see that Joerg has already responded with many of things I was going to say. Emperors from Heraclius to Alexius Comnenus would dispute that their mighty "Roman Empire" wasn't expansionistic, and if the Byzantines weren't paricularly tolerant of other religions, well, I'm sure countless Orlanthi and White Moonies could say the same about the Lunar Empire. And like the Byzantines, the Lunars too are very keen on converting their "barbarian" neighbours. Also like the BE, the LE has a purpose-built capital that outshines its more venerable rivals; but Byz cities such as Antioch, Alexandria and (later) Thessalonika were still important centres like the Tripolis, and had their own senates too. And...

Cheers,

MOB



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