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avesta
Immortal Guard
Joined: 07-Aug-2005
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Topic: What would have happened to the West? Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 00:03 |
If the greek resistance during the Achaemenid period had been suppressed, what would have become of the Western world? Would it have become a vassal of eastern kingdoms under Persian rule? Would the romans and britons have ever existed?
What would have happened if the battle of Guagamela had gone in favor of the Persians and the greek army was anihilated?
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Maju
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Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 00:39 |
Greek culture wouldn't be as relevant and we might well have lost some
philosophical treasures (though actually the best of Greek philosophy
pre-dates Socrates and is badly known, and also Greek influence in
Italy was already very strong) but Rome would have existed and
conquered Italy with even less problems than they had with the
Hellenistic intervention of Pyrrhus. Still, Carthaginians were kind of
allies of Persia and that could have conditioned the Roman expansion
beyond Italy. It's difficult to say because Persians weren't good
sailors nor had any excellent army either. Also, as the empire of
Alexander, that of Persia might have fragmented.
My guess: much harder Punic Wars, with better chances for the
Carthaginians and the question of how well Persia would have managed to
dominate the Eastern Mediterranean against whichever of the western
powers would have won the Punic wars.
Maybe we would be all now Mazdeists or Mithraists... who knows?
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NO GOD, NO MASTER!
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Menippos
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Posted: 08-Aug-2005 at 07:06 |
Which would actually have been quite nice, compared to all these frictions of the early christianity...
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CARRY NOTHING
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Constantine XI
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Posted: 10-Aug-2005 at 08:10 |
Although Persia and Carthage had their alliance, it was more borne out
of the difficulties they both faced in dealing with the Greeks at
opposite ends of the Mediterannean. With the Greeks out of the way, the
two civilization would be in direct competition for trade, territory
and tributary states.
My theory is that Rome, already having received alot of Greek culture
and beginning to assert itself in Italy, would have played the two
masterfully to Rome's own benefit. Both sides would have attempted to
secure Rome as the valuable ally she undoubtedly was. I personally
doubt the Persian system of satrapy was advanced enough to extend much
further than the southern Balkans, the Scythians had successfully
proved this on land and the Persians were largely reliant on subject
states for sea power. In the end Rome may well have had an easier time
of subjugating Gaul, Spain and the Balkans while Carthage and Persia
slug it out in the Central Mediterannean. Playing the two off against
one another until the moment was right, Rome would then swing south and
take out one of the two before moving on to the other after finding
some pretext. Both Carthage and Persia were vulnerable to Roman
intervention, two empires which comprised large subject populations
always ripe to rebel.
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Vivek Sharma
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Posted: 19-Oct-2006 at 08:23 |
Another alexander could have come at a later period & conquered persia.
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PATTON NAGAR, Brains win over Brawn
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human
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Posted: 19-Oct-2006 at 08:29 |
What if Alexander wouldnt have died and continued his quest to the west?
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You Got to Lose to Know How to Win...
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Vivek Sharma
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Posted: 19-Oct-2006 at 08:49 |
He could have gone & discovered America.
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PATTON NAGAR, Brains win over Brawn
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Gun Powder Ma
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Posted: 19-Oct-2006 at 09:13 |
Originally posted by avesta
If the greek resistance during the Achaemenid period had been suppressed, what would have become of the Western world? Would it have become a vassal of eastern kingdoms under Persian rule? |
All depends on the Romans and their ability to built a world empire. The Persians had no habit of changing the culture of their subjects, although it was exactly under their reign that Mesopotamia began to lose its identity as a distinct civilisation. But Greek culture was clearly on the rise and the best the Persians could have hoped for was political control, but not cultural impact. That means it would have made hardly a difference.
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