Ancient Accidents, Modern Consequences
Listen to "Ancient Accidents, Modern Consequences"
If you ask a historian why the study of history is important, he/she would probably respond with: "to not repeat the mistakes of the past". This is true, history does help us improve from our mistakes. However, we also must keep in mind that trivial events (i.e. accidents) do happen, and they do manage to alter the course of history significantly. Therefore, this statement must be taken with a grain of salt.
For example,
The powerful Persian Empire, and consequently Zoroastrianism, rose as a result of the one bodyguard peering on a Lydian king's wife naked.
The legendary Roman Republic began as a result of one Roman woman getting raped by an Etruscan man.
The infamous Middle East conflict and the continued dispute over control of Jerusalem resulted from one Roman soldier accidentally dropping a torch on the Second Temple.
For more information,
The Histories by Herodotus
The Columbia History of the World
The History of Rome by Livy
War of the Jews by Josephus
Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine
If you ask a historian why the study of history is important, he/she would probably respond with: "to not repeat the mistakes of the past". This is true, history does help us improve from our mistakes. However, we also must keep in mind that trivial events (i.e. accidents) do happen, and they do manage to alter the course of history significantly. Therefore, this statement must be taken with a grain of salt.
For example,
The powerful Persian Empire, and consequently Zoroastrianism, rose as a result of the one bodyguard peering on a Lydian king's wife naked.
The legendary Roman Republic began as a result of one Roman woman getting raped by an Etruscan man.
The infamous Middle East conflict and the continued dispute over control of Jerusalem resulted from one Roman soldier accidentally dropping a torch on the Second Temple.
For more information,
The Histories by Herodotus
The Columbia History of the World
The History of Rome by Livy
War of the Jews by Josephus
Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine
posted by George Hageman at 12:09 PM
6 Comments:
Another example of an accident changing history is the destruction of the USS Maine in Havana. This inceident started the United States on the road to becoming a superpower.
Even if you could say these accidents are the *only* thing that caused whatever changes in history they might have caused (and if they really caused them at all), it's still good to study history to learn to avoid mistakes that are avoidable.
But I'll agree with you that avoiding past mistakes isn't the best reason to study history. I think understanding the present is the best reason to study the past. The more I learn about the past, the more I understand attitudes and actions I see around me today.
I should add: and the more we understand what's going on around us, the more capable we will be to change things for the better.
hi there -
been listening to the podcast for a few weeks now, and it's excellent.
This particular one about accidents changing history was brilliant. keep up the good work.
Sometimes there is more going on behind the scenes than it is easy to see. Take the example of the rape which set the stage for the rise of the Roman Empire. Possibly the people were enraged by this rape and decided then and there to throw out those rude Etruscans. But it is also very possible that anger against the Etruscans had been simmering, and this rape was just an excuse to throw out the Etruscans. The powerful families who allied to get rid of them may have used this as a cover for something they were going to do anyway; without the rape they may have found another excuse, or created one.
After all, if powerful social forces were not already set against the Etruscans, why did this rape in particular set off such a reaction? As you said, one rape is a nearly insignificant event in the face of history (despite the horror of the event to the individual). Given the incidence of rape, a large number of rapes occurred on that very same night. Over a period of months or years there had probably even been several rapes of prominent women like Lucretia. Why did her rape set off these events? Probably because people were already prepared to get rid of the Etruscans.
The idea is that though small mishaps can have large effects - such as the accidental burning of the temple - sometimes there are much greater and stronger forces at play. A small event seems to have set off a great chain of events, but that chain of events was going to occur regardless.
By the way, this podcast is terrific. I especially appreciated this particular episode. You know enough about history that I think a lot of us want to know what you're thinking. Keep up the excellence.
So what I can learn from these history lessons is to . . .
Not look at anybodys wife while shes naked or you might start up some stupid religion. . .
Don't rape anybody or Italians will take over tyhe world. . .
Don't drop torches in temples or you might cause arabs to want to blow up jews. . .
Those examples didnt show anything. The real mover of all history is not trivial accidents, its ideas.
Ideas that individuals believe in are what can make or break a civilization, not wheather or not some guy stole a ham sandwish from some king which starts world war 3.
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