Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: katana

Bahh!!!

The Romans incorporated the Celts into their political and military system.

Even the much maligned Julius Caesar recruited an entire legion, the Legio V Alaudae “The Larks”, entirely from the Gauls. The Romans were conquerors - they beat up people who opposed them and welcomed and incorporated those who did not or who were conquered and survived. It was part of the strength of the Empire - making the conquered into Romans and then incorpating them to spread the Empire. This is very unlike the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, etc. who never really made any attempt to assimilate conquered people into their political, economic, social and military systems and share power with them.


24 posted on 06/21/2012 5:54:50 AM PDT by ZULU (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=D9vQt6IXXaM&hd)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies ]


To: ZULU
Of course they did. Very much like the Scots were incorporated into and eventually became the heart and soul of the British Army not so many years after 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Culloden. And they did the same thing with other surrounding barbarian peoples. No argument there.

But if by "Bahh!" you mean that the process of having one's culture, religion, language and ages old social order crushed under a Roman boot heel was a welcome or enjoyable experience, then we do have a disagreement. The fruits were roads, cities, running water, a unified and generally just code of laws, and ultimately Europe and to a certain extent America as we know them. I'm just stating that all of those benefits were paid for beforehand in the blood and enslavement of millions.

Oh, and the Greeks and Persians most certainly accommodated their conquered people while allowing them to retain their own cultural and religious identities. In the former case their cultures became "Hellenized", as in Ptolemaic Egypt and Judea at the time of Christ. And the Persians were a multi-cultural empire a few thousand years before the phrase was invented. The Romans tended more to stomp their conquests into proper shape before allowing them full entry and "citizenship" in the Empire. And they had a particular ax to grind with the Gauls or any other sort of Celts (sack of Rome - 390 BC) who dared to stand up to them. The Assyrians and Babylonians were a different and more brutal sort again.

29 posted on 06/21/2012 8:35:36 AM PDT by katana (Just my opinions)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies ]

To: ZULU

The Assyrians, yes, but the Persians incorporated all subjects into their armies. Herodotus describes the composition of the Persian invading force in great detail, information he got from the Persians themselves. The Asian Greeks served the Persians, and worked as mercenaries for Egyptian pharaohs. The Babylonians relied on their Scythian and Median allies to sack Nineveh and smash the Assyrian empire.


42 posted on 06/23/2012 2:32:37 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson