Historically Speaking
Every civilisation or geographically identified people go through certain phases of civilizational evolution.
- There needs to be an old history of being nomadic. A few nomads settle and become tribes. Tribes fight for control over geography and resources. A few stable or remaining tribes become political entities of some kind for structural leadership and later evolve to be small governed entities and communities. Then they go through the Iron Age, Bronze Age, and begin to identify geographically.
- Evolution happens with advancements in technology, agriculture, and societal values (unified morals, ethics, etc.) since agriculture allowed for more stable living conditions, leading to population growth and slow or maybe infinitesimal but a constant technological advancement (e.g. writing, metallurgy, architecture, art, martial art) laid the cornerstones for more complex governance systems. We're not going deep into an anthropological discussion, but hear me out. At certain points, this evolution happens, and in a certain geographical area with different governments, there always comes a unifying force.
- A unifier wages war against every single small and big regional power to enforce the geographical area into a single geographical identity with either single or multiple cultural factors. The unifier rules with an iron fist, diplomacy, and political surrender. Rules could span generations or only last until the period of the unifier's death. The unifier could be an individual or a political, religious, or cultural identity. It's a banner under which everything happens and it consolidates any smaller entity or identity. It's a necessary step to become a large-scale civilization.
- Then, after the unifier, there comes a great power vacuum which is almost never filled instantaneously. There is always a struggle, but eventually, one prevails over others. Using or learning from the resources, techniques, and technology of the unifier, the successor initiates a period of prosperous rule called the Golden Age of the civilisation.
- This Golden Age is of social, political, cultural, economical, literary, artistic, architectural, and religious prosperity, reaching the pinnacle relevant to contemporary available technology. From that point, we judge the heights of the said civilisation even in modern times. Reaching the top is not hard, but maintaining oneself at that level is a tedious task. Internal and external conflicts in any of the above or below steps never cease to exist or take a breath, often arriving with a strong projection of strength if suppressed, depending upon the method incorporated by the ruler.
- Now, from this point, the fall of the civilisation begins. The Golden Age brought by the successor is reduced if the vacuum is not filled by the new successor with the same intensity. The Golden Age 2.0 continues if it is, but if not, the constant inevitable fall begins, leading to the Dark Age. Subjugation of specific communities, religious groups, or castes (in the case of India) or geographical peoples begins in accordance with who is in power. Conflict rises, trade either plummets or, if not, does not prosper. Conflict, division, and the fragmentation of once unified societies.
- From that point onward, invasions begin. There could be many unprecedented invasions or just one to deliver the final blow. If the invasion brings stability, then it's time for a new empire. If not, then the process of downfall and invasion continues until a strong invader establishes an empire. This outsider brings a cultural and identity shift to the natives of the location.
- To be a longer stable empire, rulers need the hand and support of the natives. Often, the new rulers do not replace the bureaucratic competence; they hire the previous ones to train their own and govern, making cultural mixing more plausible. They share not only the culture of food, art, and literature but also incorporate social and hierarchical tendencies into each other. This cultural exchange adopts elements of native culture and vice-versa, leading to cultural exchange or syncretism.
- After perceived stability, the renaissance of the native comes in the form of cultural, ideological, and economic revival, and political too. Struggles happen, and with the scientific renaissance, the age of modernisation begins. In seeking prosperity, resources, and need, the adventure begins. War for expansion and control happens. Then come the age of reforms and revolutions (political, ideological, moral, ethical, racial, economic, and caste-related, if they exist), which lead us to modern times.
- So, in a nutshell, a visual map can be created as:
Nomadic Origins → Technological, Agricultural, and Societal Evolution → The Unifier → Power Vacuum and Golden Age → Decline and Dark Age → Invasions and New Empires → Cultural and Identity Shift → Renaissance and Age of Modernisation → Reforms and Revolutions
Image Credit : Meta AI©
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These steps, though, are a very simple over generalisation of the cyclic model of civilisation's progression. The exact sequence is not the case because it is not an ideal model. However, one way or another, they must go through it. Some will face a prolonged period of time in one stage; others may find themselves stuck in another, not necessarily in the sequence and some may just skip one or couple of steps but rarely.
Lets just consider one long example of the Roman civilisation:
Romans began as a small tribe. Rome was founded by Romulus, the same person from the story of Romulus and Remus (sons of Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, King of Alba Longa) in Roman mythology. He is called the first king of Rome, but now he always reminds me of the 2024 Science fiction thriller "Alien: Romulus" (my spine still shivers thinking about that offspring). For the sake of understanding our cyclic nature of civilization progression, let's consider the couple of centuries as their nomadic phase. Technological and agricultural advancements helped Rome grow. Then iron tools were introduced, they developed advanced techniques of farming practices. Since they are more stable now, there is a surplus of food and a steady growth in population. Population growth means development of infrastructure—roads, different types of water reservoirs and aqueducts. With all of this development, inevitably there is not only economic but also military expansion.
Unification happened from monarchy of small kings to the republic in 509 BC. Now there is a more stable and structured political system, elected officials, consuls, and senate. This was a gradual process since they were able to defeat Samnites, Etruscans and dissolved them into the larger Roman entity. The pinnacle was achieved at the time of Julius Caesar (literally no relation with Caesar salad made by an Italian chef Caesar Cardini in 1924). Julius Caesar had a great history with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra since she was 21 and he was about 52. It was a very complex romantic but more political relationship because she snuck into Caesar's tent wrapped in a carpet to convince him to support her against her brother.
So in 44 BCE, Caesar was assassinated and there was a power vacuum filled by none other than Caesar’s grandnephew and adopted son, Octavian (also known as Augustus). He was swift and in a short span defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra and other rivals to become the first emperor of Rome in 27 BCE.
This was the initiation of the Golden Age, or academically considered as Pax Romana (Roman Peace) of 200 years. Administration, military, economy, art, literature (works of Virgil, Ovid, Horace), infrastructure (construction of the Pantheon), agriculture, law (foundation of the legal system), foreign policy, scholarship and intellectual prowess, philosophy, and natural science—all fields saw significant achievements. Trade with the Indian subcontinent made this prosperity more potent. The Mauryans had fallen; the last king Brihadratha was overthrown by Pushyamitra Shunga (Shunga Dynasty). The great Satavahanas dynasty ruled the Deccan (modern Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and some parts of Karnataka) and controlled significant trade ports vital for Roman trade of spices and textiles. This endeavor brought riches to the subcontinent. The Kushan Empire (modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northern India) was a very important key factor in this trade because they controlled the vital trade routes connecting Central Asia, China, and the Roman Empire. The Chola dynasty ruling Kerala and modern Andhra Pradesh was not a significant power yet."
And then came the decline of the great Romans, a process lasting several centuries. The economy was the first to go down the drain; the military overreach and commitments sucked the diminishing resources, creating a strain. Political corruption was rampant and external invasions were the final nail in the coffin. There is a time period literally called 'The Crisis of the Third Century' filled with civil war, economic failures, invasion by Germanic tribes and Persians too. The empire was divided into the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. The Western Empire fell because of the persistent invasion by Visigoths, and in the end, the last emperor Romulus Augustulus of the Western Empire was toppled by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer, marking the traditional end of the Western Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire continued.
The West fell, the East survived but not for long. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire rose from the ashes and thus began the Dark Age of Europe. Constant war, rebellion, invasion, economic crisis, scarcity of resources, cultural stagnation, literature was selectively purged or published, urban life extinct and harsh and even inhumane decisions were taken by the authority to preserve the way of living and Nordic culture. While on the other side, the Eastern Roman Empire (now known as the Byzantine Empire) survived until the fall of Constantinople to the strong Ottoman Empire in 1453, a cultural and religious syncretism happened. In the Byzantine Empire, for example, Roman heritage was maintained, albeit modified by Greek and Christian influences.
Even the Holy Roman Empire sheltered the long-adored Roman cultural and legal traditions and preserved them with crucial roles played by the Catholic church. A true amalgamation of culture, food, art, law, architecture, administration and even social and religious practices.
The European Renaissance begins after the 14th century, a period of rebirth influenced by rediscovery of classical Roman art, literature and philosophy. Reforms happened in every field, religious persecutions were banned, inquisitors who once had the authority to even burn intellectuals like Giordano Bruno were obsolete. The Enlightenment era initiated scientific revolution—Galileo, Da Vinci, Copernicus, Newton, Gauss, Bernoulli, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, Simone de Beauvoir, Marx, Darwin and a whole new era of science and philosophy. Expansion from Europe to American continents, Africa, Japan and India were fruitful. Political renaissance happened, civil wars, rebellions and even Napoleon happened. Untamed ambitions and newfound power wreaked havoc on the world through both World Wars. Modern empires fell and sovereign nations rose. Democracies were in order and wars were now no longer hot but rather cold. Geopolitics shifted power dynamics and even the land of the free found themselves stuck into the failed military campaign of Southeast Asia and later Home of the Brave survived on the mountains of Tora-Bora. Which leads us to the present.
This theory can be applied to Indus, Mayan, Chinese, Egyptian, Inca, Middle Eastern, and Japanese history too. So, eventually, this is the first read of a two-part article. Now that you have understood the not-so-linear yet cyclic nature of the rise and fall of a civilisation, let's meet in the Trinity."
-m.Dinesh
Note: There can be cycles within a cycle. Some have a prologue period of the golden age or more than one reunification attempt. Some have periods of stagnation and renewal, while others have fragmentation of these cycles.
Image Credit : Meta AI©
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M.दिनेश©
-Dinesh Mandora
Dinesh Mandora All rights reserved ©
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