I think you may have touched on this topic in "The King in Orange" or perhaps some other book, but Spengler´s perspective made me understand one thing that always baffled me. Why didn´t the Romans reach America? I´m sure the Romans could have reached America if they wanted to. Same with the Greeks and the Phoenicians. The Polynesians reached Easter Island and Hawaii with less "sophisticated" boats, didn´t they?
The reason could be that they didn´t have the Faustian impulse of infinite expansion in space. Progress to the Romans meant that the Roman Empire dominates most of the *known* world, presumably forever after, and that´s that. They simply didn´t have the weird idea that they have to cross the ocean "because the ocean´s there".
While there were material reasons for the overseas expansion of Europe during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, this doesn´t really disprove the Faustian impulse. Maybe it´s ultimately material. Or maybe they work in tandem.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
Romans
Date: 2021-11-20 02:58 pm (UTC)The reason could be that they didn´t have the Faustian impulse of infinite expansion in space. Progress to the Romans meant that the Roman Empire dominates most of the *known* world, presumably forever after, and that´s that. They simply didn´t have the weird idea that they have to cross the ocean "because the ocean´s there".
While there were material reasons for the overseas expansion of Europe during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, this doesn´t really disprove the Faustian impulse. Maybe it´s ultimately material. Or maybe they work in tandem.
Tidlösa, Sweden