Hello. My name is Daniel, and I have a History Degree (with Honours) from York University. My main areas of interest are history (especially Roman and Ancient), music and sports, mostly hockey and soccer.
My username comes from the name of my former nation on the online game NationStates. My nation is meant to be a "modernized" version of the Roman Empire, although in truth if the Roman Empire really did survive to our time (and I think it did, but that's another debate), it wouldn't be anything like the Rome we've all known (since the State would have lasted another 1500 or so years, which would be too long for a state to survive without changes). My favourite kind of history is a relatively new kind of history, "counterfactual" or "virtual" history, because I always like to ponder "what might have been", especially if some of my favourite historical states didn't fall. Alas, I can't deny their collapse, so I am left in mere wonder of "what could have been".
The Romans, however, are a different case, but theirs is all about perspective. First of all, not one of the purported "conquerors" of Rome ever purported to actually be conquering Rome but merely succeeding the previous Roman Emperor- Sultan Mehmed II actually titled himself "Kaiser-i-Rum", or "Roman Caesar", and invaded Otranto on the basis of "reuniting the Roman Empire". He also based his capital at Constantinople, the old Byzantine capital, and based his state largely on the Byzantine model, creating, in effect, a Turkified Byzantium. Other nations also claimed to be continuing the Roman State- the Franks under Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire, Russia and Germany, just to name a few. At the very least, the "spirit" of Rome never left- it just morphed into different forms. (Yeah, it involves a little bit of denial but I consider it healthy ;) ).
Anyway, some of my favourite historical nations are:
- Rome- The world's most successful Empire.
- Assyria- The world's first nationalists (or at least I think so). Not only can they never admit a loss (*cough*Qarqar*cough*), but they also firmly believe they never lost.
- Ancient Egypt- Hey, the state lasted- with interruptions- for over 2000 years. That has to count for something.
- Hittites- Not as successful, but I'll always love how one king resolved a civil war- he didn't kill the one he usurped, unlike the previous kings. Sometimes, stopping a fight by yourself is the only way to really stop the fight.
- the British Empire- There's just something noble about Britain. Don't know what it is though.
- Judah- The forgotten Israelite Kingdom, and, I'd argue, the more successful one since it lasted longer (and, under Hezekiah, was actually a strong nation). I'm currently studying ancient Israel in a 4th year seminar, where we're attempting to write the history of Israel without using the Bible. It's been fun.
- Parthia, Carthage- Rome's archrivals, but their persistence is what makes them great.
- Achaemenid Empire- The first "real" world Empire- the Persians didn't just take over the old states of Assyria, Babylonia and Egypt, they became an entity that was more than double their size. That has to count for something.
- (More to come)