Romans and Other Dead Empires
Nov. 15, 2005
I can't remember when I started fantasizing about going back in time to conquer the Roman Empire. The rules of the game are somewhat restrictive: you cannot bring any items with you, however you are allowed time to learn Latin before you go. What would then be the best strategy, as a lone person armed only with the knowledge you stored in your 21st century brain, to bend the greatest empire of the ancient world to your will?
On the one hand, it seems an impossible task. The Roman Empire was ruled by a series of shrewd, powerful emperors, whose well-placed paranoia allowed them to quickly eliminate threats to their reign. The Romans commanded a massive force of well-trained and disciplined fighting men. Sure, they were short and undernourished by today's standards, but they certainly could handle a sword and shield better than me. In addition, I'm ignorant of many things the Romans would have considered essential in their time. I'm untrained in the art of oratory, and any Latin I could learn before my temporal shift would certainly be poor compared to the learned rhetoricians of the past. Who would listen to a tall (from their perspective), pale-skinned, Celtic-looking stranger with a poor grasp of Roman speech?
On the other hand, Roman ignorance of the fundamental concepts of our world would seem to be a great advantage. Everyone knows that Romans lacked the concept of zero, but I'm not sure how that lack could be turned toward practical interests. However, Romans also lacked the ability to forge steel, and while I've never tried it myself, I know that enough carbon pounded into a hot enough iron bar will give you a passable steel blade. If I could teach this concept to some skilled metalsmiths, I could equip any army I managed to raise with far superior weaponry. In fact, I can think of one tiny innovation I could add that would make my troops nearly unstoppable: the stirrup. This tiny strap of leather attached to a saddle was not known in Europe until after 600 AD. It stabilizes a rider on the back of a horse so that they can fight with a sword of even carry and pierce with a lance with much less training than would be required without it. The stirrup, combined with my steel weaponry and armor, would allow my army to easily demolish any Roman legion, even with less training and discipline. It takes more courage to stand in front of a charging 1000 pound horse covered in metal than it does to ride on the back of one. The best part of this is that if my enemies adopt my strategies, I can also switch to the perfect counter-technology, at least until I begin to need precision milling tools to create rifles. For example, when my opponents begin creating steel and heavy cavalry, I begin equipping my own troops with pikes and longbows. When they begin using pikes, I adopt cannons, and so forth. Because I come pre-equipped with an amateur's knowledge of military history, I'll be able to answer any threat the Romans can devise.
Of course, my technological innovations would not stop there. While an internal combustion engine would be beyond my technical skills to create, I could probably cobble together a working steam engine in a few weeks. The Romans actually knew of a steam-powered device: the aeolipile, but they considered it only an interesting toy. I could use the power generated by my own for a number of purposes, including driving steam-powered tanks, a printing press, an automated forge, or a mining pump (to help extract all the iron ore I'll need).
So, provided I could overcome the cultural and language barriers and at least find a few people to follow and support by wild schemes, it seems that a single 21st century person could possibly conquer all of Rome. What a society we must be, if even one of us is a match for that great empire!
The amount of thought I've devoted to this issue, and others like it, is largely the cause of Sid Meier's Civilization series of games. They taught me to think of history not just as a story of long-past events, but as something malleable, to be changed and interacted with. The latest incarnation of the Civ series, Civ 4, arrived in my house a few weeks ago, and with it a renewed interest in all things historical. The new game is a worthy successor to the greatness of Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri, and it fixes the issues I had with Civ 3. So far in playing it, I've led the Romans into the stars as Gaius Julius Caesar, conquered the ancient world as a young Alexander, and built many great cultural wonders as Qin Shi Huang.
Religion now plays an important role, granting the holy city of a new religion to the person who first discovered a prerequisite technology. This leads to many sweet historical perversions such as war-mongering Buddhist Aztecs, crusading Confucionist Persians, and peaceful Spanish Taoists.
The world is prettier than ever, but it is the sound that soars. The music is beautiful, and the sound effects are all view-dependent. As you zoom in on some cows that you have just domesticated, you can hear their moos for freedom. If you examine a city which is favorably disposed to their great leader, you can hear the cheers of excitement and parades in the streets. Waterwheels creak and gurgle, sawmills hiss and scratch.
Finally, Civ 4 comes with the most complete modding system I've ever seen in a game, even surpassing the unending Neverwinter Nights. This allows me to rewrite history on an even grander scale than with the basic game alone. If you like turn-based strategy and haven't picked this one up yet, you owe it to yourself. Find me online and I'll pit my Tokugawa against yours in the multiplayer.