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> Iron democratized violence compared to the bronze age Could you expand on this? If I have the resources to make an iron sword and you don’t, I can cut your b
by evincarofautumn 12y ago
> Iron democratized violence compared to the bronze age
Could you expand on this? If I have the resources to make an iron sword and you don’t, I can cut your bronze spearhead like butter. That doesn’t seem particularly democratic.
- Perceval 12y agoDuring the Bronze Age, bronze weapons and armor were rarer. It cost more to mine and work bronze, and it cost more to buy a panoply. Therefore the distribution of those possessing the top-of-the-line violence capacity was concentrated in a narrow martial elite. The Iron Age broadened the number of people who could afford a panoply, because iron was easier to mine and cheaper to work (once they figured out how). The distribution of those with the ability to use force was a substantially broader elite, less concentrated than during the Bronze Age. When the ability to wield lethal violence becomes cheaper and available to a wider number of people, it's being "democratized." Samuel Colt's 1873 Single Action Army revolver is a more recent example of the democratization of violence capacity—“God made Men, but Samuel Colt made them all equal.” A similar argument can be made about the widespread availability of the cheap AK-47 following WWII.
- deciplex 12y agoYep, that's why you meant "due to the higher cost of forging bronze weapons".
- Perceval 12y agoThanks, edited.
- evincarofautumn 12y agoThat was the main source of my confusion.
- ricree 12y ago>If I have the resources to make an iron sword and you don’t, I can cut your bronze spearhead like butter Bronze isn't particularly worse than iron, when it comes to making weapons. Its primary drawback is its scarcity, compared to iron.