Economic
The countryside population declines as small farms, ruined by taxes and weak markets, are abandoned or swallowed by plantations. Competent farm workers are either impossible to find or too expensive to hire whereas veteran cavalrymen from the eastern provinces skilled with horses should be easier to come by.
Technological
"'Given the new Asiatic saddles, horsemen are the soldiers of the future. Cataphracts could roll the barbarians back...I expect we'll begin to see more and more cavalry in Gallia, and here I'll be, prepared to export.'" (Roma Mater, p. 51)
Social
"'...rich men everywhere will want fast mounts in case of raiders or uprisings.'" (ibid.)
Some farmers go out of business. Others diversify and, maybe, prosper even out of bad times for the rich.
That will have to be the last post for this month. I will be busy tomorrow and Tuesday and away from home Wednesday till Saturday. And I want a round number: 480 posts for 4 months so far this year. No one can possibly enjoy reading these posts as much as I enjoy writing them. This is the way to appreciate Poul Anderson's works. I learned the economic situation in Britannia by summarizing it in this post. And we see post-Roman Britain in the first Time Patrol story: diversity and unity yet again.
Addendum: However, meanwhile, see here and here.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, the introduction of saddles made cavalry far more practical for military than they had been in the past. But, I have read in one of Poul Anderson's non fictional essays that well trained, steady infantry could still fend off or defeat even armored cavalry. But, that was one of the problems of the Later Roman Empire in the West, the decline in the quality of infantry after about AD 383.
Sean
Sean,
I have added an addendum to this post with a link to a new post on another blog.
Paul.
Two other blogs.
Kaor, Paul!
I noticed, the one about Christianity and Mithraism and the piece you wrote about WAR WORLD: THE BURNING EYE.
The first link puzzles me, however. It didn't seem relevant to what I talked about in my first comment here: the military uses and implications of the saddle and stirrup.
Sean
Sean,
Sorry. Not meant to be relevant. Just my way of publishing more posts without going over my round number of posts for this blog for the 1st 4 months of this year - although I might find time for more later today. Plans keep changing.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Understood! Sometimes I get a bit too "tunnel visioned" (Smiles)
Sean
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