Meanwhile, deep in the Macedonian Empire

[andrewducker]

One of the advantages of having a little perspective and understanding of history is that when people say that they have a right to piece of land X because their ancestors had it you realise that their ancestors had it because they stole it from someone else.

Take a look at this animation, which shows changes in rule of the Middle East (and bits of Europe) over the last 3500 years. It's a tad incomplete, and the supposition at the end seems remarkably unlikely to me - but it gets the general point across.

Comments

[garunya.livejournal.com]

It's a tad incomplete

Yeah, I found it strange that the Mongol Empire wasn't included.

Still, the map makes me wish I still had time to play the Civ games.

[akicif.livejournal.com]

When would that have been?

I notice that they've got the Byzantine empire somewhat wrong, and the Ottomans come in later than they should have....

[garunya.livejournal.com]

They first appeared in the area around 1220 and held a large chunk of the Middle East until the mid-1300s.

[akicif.livejournal.com]

Ah - so between the Byzantines and the Ottomans, then. That makes sense.

[The animation reminds me, ever so slightly, of the historical interludes in Steppe.]

[garunya.livejournal.com]

Hmm... what's Steppe? A google search did not lead me in the right direction.

[akicif.livejournal.com]

A novel by Piers Anthony - but completely unlike his usual sort. A dark-age barbarian wakes in a far future where the events of central asian history are played out as a game. The interludes I referred to have the different tribes appearing as dwarves fissioning off from giants (the previous "empires") and then growing to giant size themselves, while fighting with those surrounding them. It's a lot more fun that it sounds.

[balthial.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the more history I study the more I realize how much of what people believe about history is bullshit.