Military escalation

From: D. Pearton <pearton_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 13:10:14 -0700 (PDT)

> Martin:
> What one has to realise is that fortications, as with ALL military
> innovation, are caused by evolution of _threat_. These people had such a
> high threat that it was worth their staggering labour to build a defence that
> would last generations and keep their culture and people safe for many years.
> When I look at the military evolution of a Gloranthan culture, I check out
> its history and the threats it has faced. These are the keys to
> understanding the growth of their military preparedness, not following a RW
> paradigm. This is why I'm opposed to saying that the Imperial are Romans or
> Greeks etc, cos they aren't. Their history, even their geography makes them
> radically different militarily.
>

I think we've had this discussion before, although we might have had a few more beers while doing so... :)

I think what is being missed in this is that societies don't evolve through entirely rational military paths. There are any number of responses or evolutions that a culture makes that don't make much sense when viewed from a purely military (or economic, or social - depending on which angle you look at things) angle, but might be perfectly understandable when viewed from another perspective. There are countless examples where, even when faced by a long-term threat, a society did not develope the most "rational" _military_ response. This might be for example an inherant conservatism in the culture, religious reasons, economics, the desire for the elites not to have anything erode their powerbase, etc. All of these are exacerbated in Glorantha where not behaving like your ancestors, for example, has real and tangible effects!

The danger, therefore, of looking at responses to a particular pressure from only a military (or social, or economic) perspective is that you potentially miss a great deal of other reactions and responses.

I think that, particularly in Glorantha, one must take a more holistic view or cultural evolution.

The Arrolians, for example, seem to have a tendancy toards pacifism, inclusiveness and "equality" that would tend to inhibit the growth of a stratified society and a military/feudal elite. In particular they reject the lunar empire model - highly stratified, militarised and expansive.

Zoria, in particular, is not going to react to the threat of raiders in a classical military fashion or they wouldn't be Zoria anymore...

Cheers!
Yak
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Dave Pearton
pearton_at_u.washington.edu

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      "Its habit of getting up late you'll agree
         That it carries too far, when I say
       That it frequently breakfasts at five-o'clock tea,
         And dines on the following day.

The Hunting of the Snark, Lewis Carroll

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