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I prefer the beer theory. Settling down and growing things doesn't seem like a military tactic that pays off in the short term. Quite the opposite actually...
by jlgreco 13y ago
I prefer the beer theory.
Settling down and growing things doesn't seem like a military tactic that pays off in the short term. Quite the opposite actually... that is probably a great way to get slaughtered. However it does make sense if your objective is to get wasted.
- trentmb 13y agoI suppose, if you completely discount fortifications.
- jlgreco 13y agoI do, since I am unaware of ancient fortifications as old as the earliest farming communities. Perhaps they did exist, but it seems to me that a farm is a prerequisite for fortifications since fortifications require you to stay in one place for an extended period of time. (Staying in one place requires you to stop following around the herd of whatever you eat. Farms however are much easier to bootstrap. You can plant a field then abandon it, only to come back later). Basically, my understanding is that city walls tended to be built after cities.
- Ma8ee 13y agoThe palisade around the village probably came after people had settled there, but I can imagine someone building a wall to have somewhere to go whenever you are attacked, and that place eventually also became the place where people went to trade, thus wall before city.
- trentmb 13y agoFortifications don't have to be man-made.