Victor Davis Hanson and Barry Strauss discuss his recent book, The War That Made the Roman Empire, and his friendship and experiences with Victor as classicists and military historians. Don’t miss them on the Roman Empire, reshaping the West, and his fascinating thesis.
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Illuminating to listen to Prof. Hanson conduct this interview. VDH’s review http://www.realclearbooks.com/articles/2022/03/15/a_masterfully_woven_history_of_the_battle_of_actium_821898.html
I’m not a fan of what-if’s, considering the best Roman emperor, Trajan, failed in his campaign to subjugate Parthia. Several legions were lost, including Crassus’ disastrous expedition; and the first Roman emperor captured in battle was against the successors of the Parthians, the Sassanids. One of these legions is theorized to have been taken captive for construction of dams in Mesopotamia, and then transferred to the Han Chinese as a border guard force in central Asia reportedly in “testudo” tortoise formation. The Parthians constricted direct links between the Han and Romans, and later the Byzantines were only able to obtain mulberry orchard silkworms through Christian monks smuggling larvae in their bamboo walking staffs.
Today the Belt & Road initiative similarly cuts off the West from its former colonies, detached due to Communism and the Universal Declaration of Rights of Man, and the much wealthier Middle East, along with the double-Eagle successors of the Byzantines, Russia, waves a sword of Damocles over Europe with its immense oil and gas resources, coveted by the CCP. For now, feuds between Iranians, Sauds, Turks, Israelis, prevent a super Caliphate from attacking Europe outright, where “refugees” decline to assimilate.