> I think the core problem is the unipolar world that > was shaped during > that time. Lacking an external enemy, the romans > started fighting each > other. Even during the Punic Wars, when Rome was the > single superpower > [all other powers were magnitudes weaker than Rome - > a situation similar > to the current one] there was more inter-roman wars > than wars against > the third world countries.
That's not entirely correct: it was NOT a Unipolar world...it onlyu SEEMS that way because of the Western bias in Roman history. Throughout the Late Republic and all the way up to the end, Rome was continuously challenged by external enemies. We should already be familiar with the Germans, who put increasing pressure on the Northern and Central borders (indeed, during Marcus Aureleus' reign was probably the beginning of the Migration Period in German History). But much more germane to this topic was of course the Parthian and later Sassanid Empires, which at times proved to be a dire threat to Roman interests in the East, and represented an empire nearly as large -- if not AS large, as the Roman one, and an accomplished civilization in itself. Throughout this period, many Romans would look to these Empires as being the most important external threat to their borders. And I don't think calling Rome the "single Superpower" is entirelyu accurate, especially during the Punic Wars (Middle Republic period). Besides Carthage, which on its own represented a serious threat to Roman power (one thing often overlooked during this conflict was the status of the Roman empire at the time...really, not so much an empire as it was a network of colonies, allies, and client states that all worked towards the mutual good -- indeed Hannibal managed to draw some of these allies and clients away from the Roman sphere of influence and recruited them to his side). But beyond that there were the Macedonian Successor kingdoms, which if they weren't quite as militarily accomplished (though that's arguable as Pyrrhus of Epirus gate the Romans a run for their money a few decades before the 1st Punic War) they were far more advanced economically and culturally compared to Rome. Indeed, it was this economic prosperity and robustness that would allow the Eastern portion of the Roman empire to limp along until 1453. Personally, I would liken the Punic Wars period more like the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, complete with proxy states and a desire to spread influence and alliances at the detriment of the other. Damon. ===== ------------------------------------------------------------ Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: Legends Aussie Centurion Mk.5/1 ------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
