@DarthHoosier3038

2 weeks ago

Rome is honestly a testament to importance of willpower in humanity. People who say willpower and determination aren’t factors in history just need to look at Rome. Rome often had so much stacked against them, and just didn’t give up. Their incessant determination and grit is truly remarkable, and almost unparalleled in history. It’s absolutely badass they didn’t surrender to Hannibal after Cannae. Any modern day country would’ve fallen in complete despair after losses like that. Rome’s determination is the best of the human spirit in that sense. Hard-nosed people like the Romans are the humans who survived the younger dryas, and gave rise to humanity when so many of our relatives went extinct. It reminds me of when I was reading the Silmarillion, which is the prequel to Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, where the High Elves of the Noldor are at war with Morgoth/Melkor (who is LOTR’s Lucifer). They win at the start and siege Angband for 400 years. In that whole time, they do nothing to finish the war or change the balance of power, and just grow comfortable in their realms and decadent. Meanwhile, Morgoth never gives up. He stays determined even after centuries of losses. And, after all that time, Morgoth crushes the Elves in just 2 battles. 1-The Dagor Bragollach, where he breaks the siege of Angband. And 2-The Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Battle of Innumerable Tears, where the Noldor counterattack. And after that, the Elves basically give up. They present no unified force against Morgoth, and stop fighting him, choosing instead to kill each other for the Silmarils. And Morgoth just picks them off 1 at a time until he conquers them all. In the Silmarillion, unlike in Lord of the Rings, the bad guys win. Morgoth crushes the Elves. And he’s only vanquished when the Elves cry enough to the Valar (the gods of middle earth), that the Valar literally invade and conquer Morgoth’s realm of Dor Daedaelos themselves, banishing him to the void. The Elves just gave up. I don’t think Rome would have. Frankly, it’s fun to imagine what Morgoth would’ve done if he had to deal with Rome. Rome would’ve never surrendered, and just kept hammering him forever. Rome was just on another level, and they could’ve stared Morgoth down with their determination. Insane. I guess that’s actually a key difference between LOTR and the Silmarillion. The Silmarillion was a battle between Morgoth and the Elves, while LOTR was one between Sauron and Men. And Men, unlike the Elves high and mighty as they were, had an inherent fire and will with their gift of mortality that the Elves didn’t have, and they won without having to literally having to ask the gods to bail them out. Rome is the furthest extension of that human spirit. And, if I were forced to choose a society to defend Earth from either an Alien invasion or AI invasion to wipe us out, I’d choose Rome.

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