[ExI] what if

[BillK]

On Sat, Dec 15, 2012 at 12:33 AM, Anders Sandberg wrote:
> The problem with the Roman empire was that they were very practical, but
> they did not do much systematic theorizing. The Greeks and Hellenes were
> much better at that. So if the Romans were to go Christian at an early stage
> (I assume Jesus would replace Tiberius and pre-empt Caligula and the rest of
> the sorry end of the Julian dynasty) the Greek inheritance would be even
> more weakened. That suggests even less tech development, but plenty of very
> good craftsmanship.
>
>

You can't really blame the Romans for not theorizing.
Nations concentrate on whatever succeeds. The Roman empire was growing
and expanding by military conquest and appeared unstoppable. So
naturally politics, war, and economics were the fields that attracted
the best brains.
Yes, the Greeks were good at theorizing but the Roman armies trampled
all over them and took the bits they liked. So much for theorizing!

(Any resemblance to current US policy is purely coincidental).

BillK