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Author
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Topic: Alternate werld
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Zem
Farting Nudist
Member # 3467
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posted 08-07-2003 05:55 PM
There's this uneducated fellow who is making news in physics because of some ideas about time. As near as I can tell, some physicists read his works and say "I do not understand this, it is crap" and others respond "I do not understand this, it must be brilliant." Either way, it's wacktacular.
But,it reminded me of a thought I'd had a while ago, a fork in time, and I thought it might make for a nice topic.
What would the world be like if Carthage had beaten Rome? Slaughtered or enslaved the populace, salted the fields, all that good stuff. Would they have become the same sort of empire, and we'd simply talk about Charlemagne and the Holy Carthagian Empire? Would their absolute monarch had destroyed other religions? Would they have adopted a legal system similar to Rome, from which we derive so much? Would they have killed off the Greeks, or would they assimilate so much of their culture as the Romans did?
Any thoughts?
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Evil: Statistics, Microsoft, and Telemarketers.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: Jul 2003
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Thomas
Farting Nudist
Member # 3371
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posted 08-07-2003 06:10 PM
We'd lose many classic phrases, such as, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
There'd be less grease in the world.
Registered: May 2003
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cfalcon
OLDNBLD
Member # 19
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posted 08-07-2003 06:22 PM
He's not uneducated, he doesn't have degrees.
His opinion will *never* be accepted by most scientists if it doesn't make some sense.
Even if he's wrong, his ideas aren't bunk.
Anyway, I think if we saw Carthage destroy Rome we would have a very different present, though I don't think it would be because of Carthaginian dominance.
- Christianity: rare or nonexistent
Without the Romans to spread it around, Christianity would have never been much more than a Jewish sect.
- Technology: generally lower
Without the Greek philosophic ideals, the concepts of "reason" and "ration" wouldn't be around, or at least as important- so scientific stuff wouldn't be as forthcoming. It's possible that without Christianity we would have missed out on the Dark Ages, but man, let's be honest- with the average religion, *everything* is the Dark Ages.
Actually, I'm gonna think on that.
Thousands of years is so much time...
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Subject: Ninja and Opensource
From: 39°45' N, 104°52' W | Registered: Feb 2000
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Zem
Farting Nudist
Member # 3467
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posted 08-07-2003 06:34 PM
You made two points but didn't link them the way I would have. If Carthage didn't have the dominance, then the fall of Carthage wouldn't have been a big deal. The fall of Rome introduced the Dark Ages, Christianity only happened to be around at the time and tended to make things a bit worse.
I'd consider it entirely possible we wouldn't have seen the Dark Ages... perhaps science would have advanced at a bit of a more standard pace, rather than die out almost entirely and then come back in leaps and bounds.
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Evil: Statistics, Microsoft, and Telemarketers.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: Jul 2003
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Anthrax
Ultimate Authoritative Power in the Universe
Member # 335
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posted 08-07-2003 06:46 PM
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH
From: Somebody put shit in my pants! | Registered: Apr 2000
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cfalcon
OLDNBLD
Member # 19
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posted 08-07-2003 09:04 PM
also
..
?
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Subject: Ninja and Opensource
From: 39°45' N, 104°52' W | Registered: Feb 2000
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Ferquin
Farting Nudist
Member # 3269
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posted 08-07-2003 10:10 PM
Scooby couldn't say "Rome ris rhere rhe reart ris"?
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Ferquin N.C. Root
The Ferquinarium
From: Renton, WA, USA | Registered: Feb 2003
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Wintermute
My custom title sucks.
Member # 5
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posted 08-08-2003 01:06 AM
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba | Registered: Feb 2000
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Coxy
Hulkamania has run wild over me.
Member # 2297
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posted 08-09-2003 09:54 AM
Once again I am astounded at the wit and wisdom displayed in two panels of a webcomic.
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I love nintendolover, but only in a strictly platonic sense.
From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2001
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