Double plus bonus thoughts
In light of my last post, it makes me wonder, again, how history might have unfolded without Islamic conquests. The continuity of Classical civilization, without the interruption of the Dark Ages; the Eastern Roman Empire not reduced to a nub and finally destroyed by the Turks; North Africa, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, Anatolia - all would have been Christian, and speaking Greek or Latin. Persia likely would have eventually become Christianized, rather than converted to Islam. The Crusades never would have happened, for sure, but without having to claw back up from next to nothing, Europe would have been further along by the turn of the millenium.
The European discovery of the New World, and their exploration efforts in general might have been delayed by centuries, since Christians would have controlled access to the Red and Black Seas, and thus trade with the Orient.
Very different, indeed.
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I read that - I particularly…
I read that - I particularly enjoyed the part where a resurgent Latin Rome takes over from the Greeks.
I think that the world would have been a better place had young Mohammed been run over by a gas truck.
There was a story in Robert Silverberg's "Roma Eterna" where a smart Roman official (the Empire had not fallen) meets a young Mohammed.
Recognizing the danger such a zealous and persuasive man represented to the Empire, the Roman has Mohammed assassinated - thus preserving the Empire for centuries.