The planet Satan remains strategically important in Flandry's time.
The weather stations on Vixen in Flandry's time were funded by profits from the Supermetals company founded by Falkayn.
Two More For Flandry
As pointed out in the combox here, another Flandry legacy was the settlement of two rational species from Starkad on Imhotep, thus saving both species from extinction.
During the Long Night, human beings were able to rebuild interstellar alliances. Later, they recivilized isolated planets. Flandry paved the way:
he strengthened some planets so that they would remain civilized despite the loss of interstellar civilization;
he defeated the Merseians so often that their Roidhunate became demoralized and declined and therefore was unable to move into human space after the Terran Empire fell.
4 comments:
There's a historical parallel there. The Roman/Byzantine empire fought Sassanid Persia to an exhausted draw, so that it was too weak to resist the Arab-Muslim attacks of the 7th century.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
The long war between the East Romans and Sassanid Persia in the early 7th century certainly exhausted both powers, but it was not quite a draw. Because Emperor Heraclius defeated Chosroes II's attempt at conquering the Empire.
But, yes, the struggle left both powers exhausted and easy prey for attack by the successors of Mohammed. A pity!
Ad astra! Sean
Interestingly, while the Sassanids were officially Zoroastrian, by the early 600's, there were probably more Christians in the Persian Empire than Zoroastrians. Mesopotamia in particular was mostly Nestorian, and that version of Christianity was spreading strongly eastward.
Without the Islamic "Black Swan Event", the whole of Persia and Central Asia would probably have been gradualized Christianized, eventually spreading to Xinjiang and Mongolia.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I did know the Mesopotamian territories of Sassanid Persia were mostly Christian (largely Nestorians and perhaps some Monophysites). And I did know Nestorianism spread as far east as Sinkiang and Mongolia.
I have wondered what kind of world we might have gotten if Mohammed had never founded Islam. In AGENT OF BYZANTIUM, Harry Turtledove gave us some speculations about that. And I cam imagine large parts of central Asia becoming Christian absent Islam.
Ad astra! Sean
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