Agricultural Early Turn-On Late Turn-Off Application Form: Fill & Download for Free

If you go around and ask a bunch of people what “paganism” is, chances are, most people will tell you something like “nature worship.” It is true that some contemporary Neopagans do indeed worship nature, albeit in various forms and in various ways. Even many Neopagans who do not literally worship nature still hold nature in very high regard. This conception of “paganism” as “nature worship,” however, is, for the most part, not applicable to the ancient world.The term “paganism” is problematic in a historical context for all kinds of reasons, but it is most often applied to the various polytheistic religions that were practiced in the greater Mediterranean region (i.e., the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe) in ancient times before Christianity. When we look at these religions, we actually find a rather startling absence of nature-worshippers.For most people in the ancient Mediterranean world, nature was a frightening and dangerous thing that could never really be trusted. Most of the deities worshipped in ancient times by so-called “pagans” were not seen as personifications of nature or natural forces, but rather as supernatural beings governing certain areas of human endeavor. Some deities were associated with aspects of the natural world, but the deities themselves were almost always clearly distinguished from the phenomena with which they were associated. Furthermore, even those deities associated with natural phenomena were usually associated with cultural phenomena as well.A review of the idea of “pagans” worshipping natureMany modern Neopagans have certainly embraced the idea that paganism is all about worshipping nature. The website All about Spirituality defines pagan beliefs as follows:“History records that worship of many gods, goddesses, and deities was viewed by people as important in worship. It was thought that everything had a spirit and was polytheistic, so people had gods and goddesses of the forest, sea, and all aspects of nature.”[. . .]“Today, Paganism (neo-paganism) celebrates the Earth, living creatures, nature, and so on. Most modern-day pagans believe in more than one god, while others are atheistic.”It is possible to find examples of actual Neopagans expressing their love of nature publicly. For instance, here is a video of a live performance of the song “Hymn to Pan” by the German Neopagan folk band Faun at Castlefest in the Netherlands in 2014. In the middle of the song, the singer breaks off to make an announcement that I suspect many contemporary Neopagans would agree with:“We strongly believe that it is time to wake up. Time to recognize who we are and what we are. Time to recognize that we’re proud of nature, that is very much alive and that was always waiting for us with the arms wide open. And all we have to do is just let yourselves fall, fall into these arms. So let yourselves fall, maybe this summer, maybe this week, maybe tonight. Let yourselves fall.”It’s fine if modern Neopagans want to “fall into the arms” of nature. I’m still not quite sure what exactly that’s supposed to mean, but, if they want to do it, that’s their choice.This worldview centered around the idea of nature as a caregiver into whose arms people can choose to fall, however, is very much a modern one. In fact, this whole idea of “falling into the arms” of nature would be almost completely out of place in the ancient world.ABOVE: Screenshot from this YouTube video of the singer from Faun proclaiming the need for modern people to “wake up” and “fall into the arms” of natureA comment about terminologyFirst of all, the term “pagan” itself is a deeply problematic one when it comes to history because, up until the rise of Neopaganism in modern times, no one ever thought of themself as a “pagan” in the religious sense. Prior to the rise of Christianity, there were various peoples in the ancient Mediterranean world who worshipped various deities in various ways. These various “pagan” peoples had absolutely no sense of collective identity as “pagans”; instead, they simply thought of themselves as people worshipping the same deities their ancestors had worshipped.With the rise of Christianity in late antiquity, Christians in the western Roman Empire where Latin was the spoken language began lumping all people who weren’t Christians together as pagani, which basically means “ignorant yokels” in Latin. In lumping all these peoples together under one derogatory label, Christians ignored the tremendous level of diversity that existed among so-called “pagan” peoples.” Indeed, many so-called “pagans” had more in common with Christians than they did with other so-called “pagans.”The entire concept of “paganism” is ultimately very much a Christian invention. It has only been in the past couple centuries that Neopagans have sought to reclaim the word “pagan,” which was originally used as an insult. Because the concept of “paganism” is a Christian invention, however, it is problematic to think of ancient religions as “pagan” at all, because the use of this term obscures the very real religious diversity that existed in the ancient world.Despite all their very real differences, however, the religions of the ancient world did have some things in common. Most notably for our purposes, the vast majority of these religions were not focused on worshipping nature.ABOVE: Eastern Orthodox Christian icon of the bishops at the First Council of Nikaia holding the text of the Nicene Creed in Greek. The concept of “paganism” is very much an invention of early Christianity.What ancient “pagans” really thought about their deitiesPeople in the ancient world worshipped all kinds of different deities, but most of the deities they worshipped were not generally seen as personifications of natural phenomena. Instead, most deities worshipped in ancient pre-Christian cultures were seen as literal supernatural beings who governed specific areas of human endeavor. These deities could be expected to offer help and protection to certain groups of people under certain circumstances, but only if they were properly invoked and presented with the proper offerings.Ancient pre-Christian peoples did not generally think of their deities as loving. Instead, they saw deities as dangerous, capricious, and unpredictable. They believed that, if the deities were properly worshipped and the proper sacrifices and invocations were made, they could be helpful. On the other hand, if the deities were not treated with the proper care and attention, they could just as easily be vengeful and destructive.Ancient peoples knew that they could never fully trust their deities. A deity might like someone one moment, but turn on them the next. Likewise, one deity might like someone, but another deity might hate them. For instance, throughout most of the Odyssey, an ancient Greek epic poem composed in around the late seventh or early sixth century BC, the hero Odysseus is helped by the goddess Athena but hindered by the god Poseidon.Likewise, in Euripides’s tragedy Hippolytos Stephanophoros, which was first performed in Athens at the City Dionysia in 428 BC, the hero Hippolytos is favored by the goddess Artemis, but cursed by the goddess Aphrodite. Ultimately, Artemis fails to save Hippolytos from Aphrodite’s wrath and he suffers a gruesome and horrible death at Aphrodite’s hand. Central to the play is the idea that one deity’s favor cannot necessarily protect someone from the wrath of another deity.ABOVE: The Death of Hippolytus, painted in 1860 by the English Academic painter Sir Lawrence Alma-TademaMost polytheistic peoples in the ancient world worshipped the deities not because they believed that deities were naturally deserving of praise and adoration, but rather because they were genuinely afraid that, if they didn’t worship the deities, the deities might unleash their terrible vengeance upon them. It is because of this that sacrifices—usually animal sacrifices—were absolutely central to nearly all ancient pre-Christian religions of the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.The almost complete absence of animal sacrifice from modern Neopaganism is perhaps the single most significant difference between genuine ancient religious practice and modern Neopagan religious practice. Virtually every ancient people in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe practiced some form of animal sacrifice. Most of these peoples regarded animal sacrifice as absolutely essential for appeasing the deities.Ritual sacrifice in the ancient Mediterranean world generally operated on the principle of do ut des, which means “I give so that you may give” in Latin. First, a person would appeal to a deity or group of deities and ask for something they wanted, promising to give the deities a sacrifice in return. Then, they would either perform the sacrifice right away or wait until they got what they wanted from the deity and then perform the sacrifice.It was believed that the effectiveness of a sacrifice directly correlated with how valuable the animal being sacrificed was and that a larger request from a deity demanded a larger sacrifice in return. Thus, a person might sacrifice a small animal like a rooster if they were only making a small request. If they were making a larger request, they might sacrifice a pig, a goat, or a lamb. If they were making a really big request, then they might sacrifice a bull or an ox.In some ancient cultures, whole-burnt offerings were the most common form of sacrifice, meaning that, after a person sacrificed an animal, they would burn it whole as an offering to the deities without eating any of it. In other ancient cultures, people occasionally made whole-burnt offerings for specific reasons, but these were not the normal kind of sacrifice.Notably, in ancient Greece and Rome, after ritually slaughtering the animal, the person performing the sacrifice would usually divide the parts of the animal that were edible from the parts that were not edible. They would then cook and eat the parts that were edible and burn the parts that were not edible as an offering to the deities.ABOVE: Tondo from an Attic red-figure kylix dating to c. 510 – c. 500 BC, depicting two men ritually sacrificing a pig to DemeterAs I discuss in this article I published in November 2019, nearly every ancient culture practiced human sacrifice in some form or another at some point in their history. Human sacrifice was extremely rare in ancient Greece and Rome, but it does seem to have occasionally been practiced during the very early periods of Greek and Roman history.Notably, the Greek writer Ploutarchos of Chaironeia (lived c. 46 – c. 120 AD) records a story in The Life of Themistokles 13.2-3 that, supposedly, in 480 BC, the Athenian general Themistokles ritually executed three Achaemenid prisoners of war as a human sacrifice for the god Dionysos right before the Battle of Salamis.The incident described by Ploutarchos is one of the very few known instances of the historical Greeks performing human sacrifice. By the end of the fifth century BC, human sacrifice seems to have died out in the Greek world. Other ancient cultures, however, such the Celts, seem to have continued to practice human sacrifice until much later in their history.Roman authors record Celtic peoples performing human sacrifices to appease their deities as late as the first century BC and, although the Romans may have exaggerated how common human sacrifice was among Celtic peoples, it is unlikely that they completely made up the practice out whole cloth.ABOVE: Attic black-figure amphora dating between c. 570 and c. 550 BC, depicting the mythological scene of the sacrifice of the Trojan princess PolyxenaA case study in Greek religionTo test the popular idea that ancient “pagans” thought of their gods as personifications of natural phenomena, let’s do a little case study. The most important deities worshipped in ancient Greece were the members of the group known as the δωδεκάθεον (dōdekátheon), or “Twelve Gods.” Here is a list of all the deities who made up the Twelve Gods, along with their most important associations:Zeús, the son of Kronos and Rhea, the king of the deities, and “Father of Deities and Men”; associated with the sky, lightning, storms, law, justice, and kingshipHḗra, the wife and sister of Zeus; associated with marriage, women, childbirth, and familyDēmḗtēr, the sister of Zeus; associated with agriculture and agricultural fertilityPoseidôn, the brother of Zeus and ruler of the seas; associated with the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horsesAthēnâ, the daughter of Zeus; associated with the city, wisdom, warfare, military strategy, and various handicrafts, especially weaving and metalworkingAphrodítē, either the daughter of Zeus and Dione or the daughter of Ouranos; associated with sexual desire, sex, fertility, beauty, the sea, and—in some local forms—warfareApóllōn, the son of Zeus and Leto, twin brother of Artemis; associated with plagues, diseases, healing, medicine, archery, music, poetry, dance, oracles, and prophecyÁrtemis, the daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollon, and patron goddess of hunters; associated with hunting, wild animals, and virginityHermês, the son of Zeus and the nymph Maia, the messenger of the gods, and psychopomp of the deceased; associated with roads and boundaries, the patron and protector of messengers, doctors, merchants, thieves, travelers, and shepherdsDiónysos, the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Semele; associated with wine, grapes, sexual and agricultural fertility, religious ecstasy, the theater, and actingHḗphaistos, the son of Zeus and Hera; the patron god of metalworkers, carpenters, sculptors, and other craftsmenÁrēs, the son of Zeus and Hera; associated with warfare, violence, raging bloodlust, carnage, and devastationAs you can plainly see, most of these deities really don’t fit well with the idea that most “pagan” deities were natural personifications. In fact, some of these deities (e.g. Hera, Athena, Hephaistos, Hermes, and Ares) have almost no associations with nature whatsoever. All of these deities, however, are closely tied to specific areas of human endeavor. This is very typical of how deities were generally thought of in ancient pre-Christian cultures of the Mediterranean world.People in ancient pre-Christian cultures generally did not tend to think of deities as personifications of natural phenomena; instead, they most often thought of deities as supernatural beings who could be appealed to for aid in certain situations. As we shall see in moment, the idea that deities were personifications of natural phenomena did exist in ancient times, but it was an idea that circulated mainly in philosophical circles and was not at all popular with the masses.ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of the Athena Giustiniani, a Roman marble copy of an ancient Greek statue of the goddess Athena, who had almost no association with nature and was primarily associated with wisdom, warfare, and various handicraftsGenuine ancient Greek deities closely associated with aspects of natureSome major Greek deities certainly were associated with aspects of nature in various ways. Zeus was associated with lightning and storms. Poseidon was associated with the sea, storms, and earthquakes. Artemis was associated with wild animals. All of these deities, though, were also associated with cultural phenomena as well as natural phenomena.If you want Greek deities that were mostly only associated with nature, you’ll have to look at some of the less prominent deities. For instance, the god Pan, who was not a member of the Twelve Gods, was closely associated with nature, especially with wild places such as forests, pastures, and mountains. He was seen as the patron and protector of shepherds and their flocks.It was believed that Pan had the horns and legs of a goat, but the head and upper body of a man. He was originally a local deity associated with the region of Arkadia in the central Peloponnesos, but he eventually came to be worshipped throughout all of Greece. Most Greek deities were worshipped in temples, but Pan was unusual because he was most often worshipped in caves and other wild places.The ancient Greeks also believed in the existence of a wide variety of nature spirits. For instance, they believed in satyrs, which were male nature spirits said to haunt woodland clearings, pastures, and mountains. In works of Greek art from the Archaic Period (lasted c. 800 – c. 510 BC) and Classical Period (lasted c. 510 – c. 323 BC), satyrs are represented as comically hideous nude men with the ears and tails of horses and enormous, permanent erections. From the Hellenistic Period (lasted c. 323 – c. 31 BC) onwards, satyrs are usually portrayed with the legs and horns of goats.The ancient Greeks also believed in female nature spirits known as nymphs, who looked like beautiful women and were said to inhabit specific trees, mountains, and bodies of water. In most early depictions, nymphs are shown fully clothed, but, in depictions from the fourth century BC onwards, they are often portrayed nude.Despite all of this, it is absolutely critical to emphasize that, even when a deity was associated with natural phenomena, the ancient Greeks clearly distinguished the deity itself from the natural phenomenon the deity was associated with. Generally, the Greeks believed that natural phenomena were caused by deities; it was very uncommon for people to believe that the deity actually was the natural phenomenon itself.Thus, when the ancient Greeks saw lightning, they did not usually think that the lightning itself was Zeus, but rather that the lightning had been sent by Zeus. This same reasoning also applied to nymphs; the Greeks believed that nymphs might inhabit certain trees, but they viewed nymphs as supernatural beings inhabiting the trees—not as personifications of the trees themselves.ABOVE: Attic red-figure plate from the Etruscan city of Vulci dating to between c. 520 and c. 500 BC, depicting a hideous nude satyr with horse-like ears, a horse-like tail, and an enormous erectionNature in Greek mythology: a dangerous, untrustworthy, and frightening thingFurthermore, the ancient Greeks did not think that these deities and spirits associated with nature were always friendly. Indeed, it was quite the opposite; Pan, satyrs, and nymphs were all terrifying, otherworldly beings that needed to be carefully appeased and avoided if necessary.Pan may have been the protector of shepherds, but he was also dangerous. The very sight of him was said to have been utterly terrifying. The Greek historian Herodotos of Halikarnassos (lived c. 484 – c. 425 BC) records a legend in his Histories 6.105 that, supposedly, at the Battle of Marathon in 480 BC, Pan appeared on the battlefield and scattered the Persian forces, sending them running in sheer terror. It is from Pan’s name that we get our English word panic.In the second-century AD Greek novel Daphnis and Chloë by Longos of Lesbos, which I will talk about more later in this article, the character Chloë warns her lover Daphnis in book two, chapter thirty-nine, section two:“θεὸς ὁ Πὰν ἐρωτικός ἐστι καὶ ἄπιστος.”This means:“Pan is an amorous god and an untrustworthy one.”Later in the novel, there is a vivid, terrifying description of Pan unleashing his wrath upon a group of pirates that honestly sounds like something straight out of horror movie. Longos says that, as the pirates were celebrating, the sea all around them went aflame and they heard oars approaching as though they were under attack. They heard sounds of battle and saw corpses appear on the deck of their ship, but no enemy ships appeared.When the next day came, the goats they had stolen became magically crowned with ivy and the sheep they had stolen began howling like wolves. A crown of pine appeared on the head of the girl Chloë, whom they had abducted. When they tried to lift their anchors, they found they were stuck to the seabed and, when they tried to row, their oars broke off in the water.Dolphins arose out of the water to attack the ship, causing the planks along the sides of the ship to come loose. The sound of the syrinx echoed over the water. As the pirates were quaking in fear, Pan himself appeared to the captain, threatening the pirates with annihilation if they did not give back Chloë and the livestock they had taken. No matter what else you think, you’ve got to admit that, if this really happened, it would be very terrifying.ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of the face of Pan, as depicted on a Greek bronze situla, dated to between c. 340 and c. 320 BCSatyrs could also be quite terrifying. They were said to have uncontrollable sexual appetites and they had a reputation for abducting and raping human women. Nymphs were genuinely frightening creatures as well. It was believed that nymphs would seduce or even outright abduct young men and trap them in their lairs. Most famously, the Greek bucolic poet Theokritos (lived c. 300 – after c. 260 BC) tells the story in his Idylls 13 of how the nymphs lusted madly after Hylas, a young companion of Herakles, so they abducted him.Theokritos says that the nymphs suddenly grabbed Hylas by the arm when he wasn’t expecting it and pulled him into the water, dragging him down into the murky depths where no one could hear his screams. Herakles came searching for his companion. Hylas heard him calling his name. He tried to answer, but Herakles couldn’t hear him because his voice was muffled under the water. Eventually, Herakles gave up and left, leaving Hylas trapped with the nymphs forever, utterly cut off from everyone he’d ever known. If that’s not a terrifying story, I don’t know what is.Quite frankly, the ancient Greeks were more terrified of nature than in awe of it. The natural world as it is portrayed in Greek mythology is a world absolutely chock full of horrors and perils. It is a world in which no one is ever safe, in which even a strong young men like Hylas could be seized by capricious supernatural beings with unknown motives at any moment for no understandable reason.ABOVE: Third-century AD mosaic from Roman Gaul depicting the nymphs forcibly dragging Hylas down into the murky depthsGreek deities who were commonly thought of as personificationsTo be very clear, the ancient Greeks did regard some deities as personifications. These deities, however, are generally personifications of abstract concepts, such as Nike (“Victory”), Kratos (“Authority”), Bia (“Violence”), Dike (“Justice”), Eris (“Strife”), Nemesis (“Retribution”), and so forth. Only a small handful of deities were widely thought to personify concepts that we today would generally think of as aspects of “nature.” Arguably, these deities might include Eros (“Desire”), Thanatos (“Death”), Hypnos (“Sleep”), Gaia (“Earth”), and Ouranos (“Sky”).Here, though, we face a problem, which is that all the deities who were commonly thought of as personifications were relatively minor figures in the Greek pantheon. In fact, for the vast majority of them, we have very little or no evidence that they were even worshipped as deities at all.Most of these deities appear occasionally in various mythological and allegorical contexts, but they are never invoked as deities in religious contexts and almost no one ever seems to have actually worshipped them. For instance, as I discuss in this article from March 2020, we have literally no evidence that anyone in ancient Greece ever worshipped Kratos or Bia under any circumstances. Heck, as far as we have evidence, no one ever even made statues of them!Even the handful of divine personifications who we know were actually worshipped seem to have mainly been worshipped in association with the cults of other deities who were not generally seen as personifications; they did not have independent cults of their own.For instance, Nike is perhaps the most prominent of all the deities who were seen as personifications. She is widely depicted in art and was widely worshipped in association with other deities such as Zeus and Athena. Nonetheless, only a handful of small sanctuaries dedicated to her alone are known to have existed.ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a stone relief carving of Nike from the ancient Greek city of Ephesos, located on the west coast of Asia MinorGaia: a special caseThe one deity who is most often cited by proponents of the idea that the Greeks and Romans worshipped nature is Gaia, the divine personification of the earth, who appears prominently in the Theogonia, a long narrative poem about the origins of the cosmos composed by a poet named Hesiodos in around the eighth century BC. She also appears in a few other works of literature.Despite her prominence in some literary sources, however, Gaia had very little independent cult to speak of. The travel writer Pausanias (lived c. 110 – c. 180 AD) mentions a few altars and sanctuaries to Gaia scattered across Greece in his book The Guide to Greece, but it’s clear that the Greeks didn’t build any colossal temples to Gaia, hold major festivals in her honor, or compose lengthy poems praising her like they did for other deities who were generally seen as more important. Moreover, even when Greek people did worship Gaia, it was usually in association with other deities, especially Demeter.In addition to being a relatively minor figure in the ancient Greek pantheon, Gaia also didn’t represent the same things for the ancient Greeks that she represents for many modern Neopagans. Many modern Neopagans see Gaia as “Mother Nature” and believe that she represents all the living things that exist on the planet earth, including all the plants, animals, fungi, and single-celled organisms.For the ancient Greeks, however, Gaia represented none of these things; instead, she represented the literal dirt itself. In fact, Gaia’s name itself is nothing more than the poetic form of the Greek word γῆ (gê), meaning “dirt” or “soil.” The ancient Greeks didn’t think of living things as being “part of” Gaia and they only associated plants with Gaia to the extent that plants grow from the dirt.ABOVE: Depiction of Gaia from an Attic red-figure kalyx-krater dated to between c. 410 and c. 400 BCAncient Greeks seeing deities as personifications of natural phenomenaTo be clear, although most ancient Greeks certainly thought of the major deities in their pantheon as personal supernatural beings, the idea that these deities might simply be personifications of natural phenomena was not totally absent from ancient Greek thought.Starting in around the late fifth century BC, some radical thinkers and intellectuals began to consider the possibility that the deities might be personifications of the things with which they were associated. For instance, the Sophist Prodikos of Keos (lived c. 465 – c. 395 BC) writes in fragment D-K B5:“πάντα τὰ ὠφελοῦντα τὸν βίον ἡμῶν οἱ παλαιοὶ θεοὺς ἐνόμισαν διὰ τὴν ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὠφέλειαν… καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν μὲν ἄρτον Δήμητραν νομισθῆναι, τὸν δὲ οἶνον Διόνυσον…”This means (in my own translation):“Ancient people regarded all things that benefit our life as deities on account of their benefit … and, on account of this, they regarded bread as Demeter and wine as Dionysos.”Thinkers like Prodikos, however, were far outside the realm of mainstream Greek religious thought. Indeed, on account of his arguments, Prodikos was widely accused of being an ἄθεος (átheos), which, as I discuss in my article from September 2019 about the evidence for atheism in ancient Greece, literally means “a godless person.”The Athenian comic playwright Aristophanes (lived c. 446 – c. 386 BC) ruthlessly mocked the idea of deities as personifications of natural phenomena in his comedy The Clouds, which was originally performed at the City Dionysia in Athens in 423 BC. In this play, Aristophanes portrays the philosopher Socrates as teaching that Zeus has been replaced by “the Whirlwind.” This is clearly a parody of the sorts of ideas that people like Prodikos were floating around at the time.It is quite possible that some philosopher in the late fifth century BC may have argued that “Zeus” was actually embodied in natural phenomena, such as the whirlwind. The fact that Aristophanes portrays this notion as absolutely absurd, though, illustrates just how strange and unusual this idea seemed to the majority of Athenians in the late fifth century BC.In other words, there were some individuals in ancient Greece who did think that all or most of the deities were personifications of natural phenomena. Such individuals, however, were generally quite rare and their opinions were not at all popular with the masses, who continued to see most of the deities in the traditional sense, as intelligent supernatural beings who governed specific areas of human endeavor.ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a whirlwind in Ramadi, Iraq in July 2007. Aristophanes intentionally absurdly portrays Socrates as claiming that Zeus had been replaced by “the Whirlwind.”A look at another ancient, pre-Christian cultureNow, I’m sure some people are already insisting that my analysis here is not valid because so far I have only talked about the ancient Greeks and not any other ancient, pre-Christian cultures. People will surely be insisting that the Greeks were super humanistic and that they must have been an exception to the overall trend and that most other ancient “pagan” peoples surely must have been primarily nature-worshippers.Well, let’s take a look at some of the most prominent deities that were worshipped in another ancient culture. In fact, to make sure we get as ancient and primitive as possible, let’s examine the major deities worshipped in ancient Sumer, the earliest known literate civilization. The ancient Sumerians believed that there were seven deities who reigned supreme over all other deities. These seven deities were known as the “seven deities who decree.” Here is the list:An, the divine personification of the sky, the oldest and most exalted of all the deities, patron god of the city of Uruk; associated with kingship and political powerEnlil, the son of An, ruler of all the deities, and patron god of the city of Nippur; associated with wind, air, storms, agriculture, and kingshipInanna, the “Queen of Heaven” and patron goddess of the city of Uruk; associated with a wide array of domains, including love, sexual desire, sexuality, sexual and agricultural fertility, warfare, military might, law, justice, chaos, kingship, and political powerEnki, the brother of Enlil and patron god of the city of Eridu; associated with water, cunning, fertility, various handicrafts, and kingshipUtu, the god of the sun, twin brother of Inanna, and protector of the kings of Uruk; associated with morality, truth, justice, wisdom, knowledge, and kingshipNanna, the son of Enlil, god of the moon, and patron god of the city of Ur; associated with wisdom, the occult, and kingshipNinḫursaĝ, mother goddess associated with mountains, agricultural fertility, and kingshipHere we do admittedly see a lot more associations with nature than we saw among the Greek deities. For instance, An at least counts as a genuine personification of an aspect of nature (i.e. the sky), although he was certainly seen as a deity in the traditional anthropomorphic sense as well. Meanwhile, nearly every single one of these deities was associated with some form of fertility.On the other hand, we still see a lot of associations that don’t work well with the conception of paganism as “nature worship.” Notably, literally every single one of these deities was associated in some way with politics. Likewise, nearly every single one of these deities was the patron of a particular city. Ancient Sumerian religion was at least as much about law and politics as it was about nature.ABOVE: Impression from an ancient Akkadian cylinder seal dating to between c. 2334 and c. 2154 BC, depicting the Sumerian goddess Inanna wielding a weapon while resting her foot on the back of a roaring lion, which she holds on a leash. An attendant pays obeisance before her.How nature is portrayed in Sumerian mythologyAdditionally, we also find that, throughout Sumerian mythology, nature isn’t really portrayed as something to be admired and worshipped. Instead, it is portrayed as something dangerous and terrible that heroes and deities must dominate and force into submission. In the poem Inanna and Ebih, which was written in Sumerian in around the twenty-third century BC by the Akkadian poetess Enheduanna, the goddess Inanna is portrayed as vindictively destroying a mountain that refused to acknowledge her supremacy.In the poem Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, Inanna is portrayed as raising a huluppu tree with the intention to chop it down and carve it into a throne once it is big enough. Instead, though, natural forces take over; the serpent “who knows no charm” takes up residence at the base of the tree, the demoness Lilitu takes up residence in the trunk of the tree, and the terrible Anzû-bird makes its nest in the branches of the tree.Inanna calls upon her brother Gilgamesh to slay the horrible creatures that have taken up residence in her tree and chop it down. Gilgamesh slays the serpent “who knows no charm,” causing the Lilitu and the Anzû-bird to flee in terror. Then Gilgamesh and his companions chop down the tree and use the wood to make a throne and bed for Inanna. Thus, the forces of nature are fended off and the tree is chopped down so its wood can be put to a useful purpose.In the Sumerian poem Gilgamesh and Huwawa, Gilgamesh and his companions go to the Cedar Forest to chop down trees. The forest, however, is guarded by a terrible ogre named Huwawa, whom the heroes are forced to fight. In the end, Gilgamesh triumphs over the terrible giant and succeeds in his quest to chop down trees in the Cedar Forest.In all of these myths, there is a very clear message about nature: that it is a wild, dangerous thing in need of being tamed. I’m sure that some Sumerians did find some things worth appreciating about nature, but, on the whole, they were about as far from nature-worshippers as it is possible for anyone to be and, in this regard, they are typical of most ancient peoples. People in the ancient world honestly did not have much of a concept of admiring nature just for nature’s own sake.ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of an ancient Babylonian terra-cotta plaque depicting the terrible ogre Huwawa, the guardian of the Cedar Forest fought by Gilgamesh and his companions in Gilgamesh and HuwawaWhy do we even think ancient “pagans” worshipped nature?Now, at this point you may be wondering why on Earth everyone seems to think that people in ancient pre-Christian cultures worshipped nature. The answer is that the reason why we all think this is because our modern conception of “paganism” has been deeply and irrevocably shaped by a romantic view of “paganism” that has developed ever since antiquity.This romantic conception of paganism is, to an extent, a literary creation of pagan authors themselves. The ancient romance novel Daphnis and Chloë was written in Greek by a Greek author named Longos of Lesbos in around the late second century AD at a time when Greece was ruled by the Roman Empire. At the time when the novel was written, most people in the ancient Mediterranean world still practiced some form of traditional religion.Despite this, Daphnis and Chloë conjures up a very romanticized, nostalgic view of what ancient religion was like. The novel begins with a prologue in which the author describes how, when he was hunting on the island of Lesbos, he accidentally stumbled across an ancient shrine to the nymphs that was in ruins. The shrine was decorated, he says, with a faded painting of immense age depicting the story that he is about to relate.The author goes on to tell a lovely story about Daphnis, a young boy, and Chloë, a young girl, growing up in remote antiquity in the idyllic paradise that he imagines the island of Lesbos once was. A recurring theme throughout the novel is the importance of worshipping the spirits of nature, namely the nymphs and Pan. Daphnis and Chloë honor the nymphs and Pan and, in return, they offer them protection.The idyllic world that Longos conjures up in the novel is neither his own world of the second century AD nor the real world of classical Greece in the fifth century BC, but rather a fantasy world that he imagines might once have existed in a long ago, ancient time when people honored the deities the right way and the deities did their part to protect those who honored them. It is a very sentimental vision.ABOVE: Daphnis and Chloë, painted c. 1850 by the Swiss-French painter Marc Gabriel Charles Gleyre, depicting how he imagined the central characters in the ancient Greek romance novel Daphnis and Chloë, written in around the late second century AD by Longos of LesbosThe Romantic movementIn his novel, Longos of Lesbos clearly portrays Daphnis and Chloë as worshipping deities associated with nature, not nature itself. Much later generations, however, failed to grasp this crucial distinction. In western Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries there was a major literary and artistic movement known as “Romanticism.”Western European Romantic authors and artists of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were particularly interested in the relationship between human beings and nature. At the time, classical Greek and Roman literature was widely studied in elite intellectual circles. Naturally, the Romantics drew heavily on classical mythology in their works. They especially tended to focus on aspects of classical mythology that were associated with nature, such as fauns, nymphs, satyrs, the god Pan, and so forth.The Romantic authors of the modern era were mostly at least nominally Christians, although a few of them were irreligious. (Most notably, the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was an avowed atheist; he even published an anonymous pamphlet in 1811 titled “The Necessity of Atheism” in which he argued that there was no God.)In any case, none of the Romantics actually believed in any of the ancient Greek or Roman deities. Thus, when the Romantics wrote about the Greek and Roman deities, they saw them as merely symbols rather than as capricious supernatural beings who demanded sacrifices. Naturally, then, they came to see classical deities as personifications of natural phenomena and classical religion as a form of nature worship.Probably the ultimate expression of the Romantic conception of paganism can be found in the poem “The World Is Too Much with Us,” written in around 1802 by the English poet William Wordsworth (lived 1770 – 1850). The poem was first published in Wordsworth’s collection Poems, in Two Volumes in 1807. It is a meditation on humans’ relationship with nature. In the poem, Wordsworth imagines modern people living in early industrial England as being out of touch with nature. He contrasts people of his own time with ancient “pagans,” whom he imagines as being more in touch with nature. Wordsworth writes:“The world is too much with us; late and soon,Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—Little we see in Nature that is ours;We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;The winds that will be howling at all hours,And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;For this, for everything, we are out of tune;It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather beA Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.”This association of classical religion with nature also occurred in art. Paintings of nymphs, fauns, and Pan became wildly popular in the nineteenth century, as well as woodland and pastoral scenes set in classical antiquity.The Greek region of Arkadia, located in the central Peloponnesos, was widely portrayed as a beautiful, rural paradise in which people lived in perpetual peace and harmony with the gods and nature. Many artists produced paintings of offerings being performed to the pagan gods in Arkadia.These offerings are always portrayed as bloodless and as being performed in beautiful woodland clearings, even though we know that most sacrifices in ancient Greece were actually extremely bloody animal sacrifices that were performed at altars outside large temples in large urban centers. Historical facts have never gotten in the way of romanticism.ABOVE: Arkadian Landscape, painted between 1680 and 1726 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Glauber, depicting ancient goatherds in the Greek region of Arkadia making offerings to a deity in a woodland clearing, surrounded by the beauty of natureABOVE: Satyr and Nymphs, painted in 1873 by the French Academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau, depicting a satyr with nude nymphs trying to force him into the water in the woods to take a bathABOVE: Opfer römischer Jungfrauen, a German engraving from 1887 showing a Romantic imagining of a “pagan” offeringABOVE: Sacrifice in Arcadia, painted by the German artist Friedrich August von Kaulbach (lived 1850 – 1920)ConclusionThis heavily romanticized nineteenth-century view of what ancient “paganism” was like eventually gave rise to the modern Neopagan movement. Thus, the idea that most people today have in mind when they hear the word “pagan” is one that has been irrevocably shaped by the Romantic movement and by contemporary Neopaganism. This idea, however, is not generally an accurate reflection of what ancient pre-Christian religions were like.Most deities worshipped by ancient pre-Christian peoples were not seen as personifications of natural phenomena, but rather as supernatural beings governing specific areas of human endeavor. Furthermore, ancient pre-Christian peoples saw the deities as dangerous, capricious, and untrustworthy.Deities that were particularly closely associated with nature were often seen as especially frightening and unpredictable. Entities like Pan, satyrs, and nymphs were seen as frightening and potentially dangerous. They could never quite be trusted and people sought not to make friends with them, but rather to appease and avoid them whenever possible.The idea that ancient pre-Christian peoples worshipped nature is, for the most part, an invention of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century western European Romantic movement and is, for the most part, not a very accurate reflection of historical reality.(NOTE: I have also published a version of this article on my website titled “Sorry, Ancient Pagans Didn’t Really Worship Nature.” Here is a link to the version of the article on my website.)

Make peace with Dorne.Give the Mountain and Amory Lorch to the Martells to punish.Travel to Dorne myself; return the bodies of Elia and her two children with the sincerest of apologies and renounce their murders as unjustifiable. I’d offer to bury them in Dragonstone as befits a Targaryen princess consort, a princess, and a prince. However, Doran has the option of burying his sister, niece, and nephew in their own family crypts.Invite a Dornishman to the Small Council.Ask Doran to supply a noble Dornishman or Dornishwoman from his own council to serve in the Small Council.The prudent Doran will not probably not send Oberyn; Just to be sure, I asked for an existing member of his council.Marry Renly to Arianne Martell in a few years when their outrage against me is lessened to serve as prince consort in Dorne.1. Limits Renly’s potential influence.2. Publicly validates Dorne’s importance to the throne3. Weakens Doran’s secret plan to marry Arianne to Viserys and Quentyn to Daenerys.Doran has no excuse to refuse such an excellent marriage deal for his heir, so his refusal would insult the crown and raise questions about his true motives (two things he does NOT want to do). We know that Viserys will die and Dany will get dragons, but Doran doesn’t. If the only position Quentyn can hold is husband to the sister of the future king (whose prospect of even winning the throne is shaky at best)…. that is much less appealing than crowning his own daughter as queen.4. Arianne (who is unaware of her engagement to Viserys) would be thrilled with Renly as a husband.After all, she’d tried to seduce him when he’d visited Dorne, much to his bemusement. Although Renly is gay, he would at least consummate the marriage to cement its legitimacy and provide heirs, which is what Arianne really cares about. Since Dorne is a very sex-positive, gay-positive place, I’m sure Renly will also have a pretty good time.In any case, Arianne would be much more amenable to the crown when she rules Dorne.Doran and Oberyn (as well as his Sand Snakes) wouldn’t be satisfied until they kill Tywin. The Sand Snakes want to kill Cersei, Jaime, and their children and preferably the entire Lannister line. However, these gestures of good faith will halt the hands of the more prudent Doran for the time being. Oberyn cannot act out without Doran’s approval. Despite their reputation, the Sand Snakes are still only bastards and can’t wage war alone. And Arianne and Quentyn could care less about an aunt and cousins who died long ago. In a generation, the rift between the crown and Dorne will be mostly healed.2. Marry CerseiI’ve tried to come up with alternatives as we know that Cersei will invariably cheat on me and try to kill me. However, there is no viable option at the time. Both Tully girls are promised to Ned Stark and Jon Arryn respectively. Arianne Martell is only 5 years old and I need to ensure heirs quickly to stabilize the realm. Margaery is the only viable alternative, but she is an infant and I need to sire heirs quickly. Some have suggested marrying Daenerys when she comes of age, but that would fuel Targaryen loyalists and she is much too young and offers nothing (no gold, no swords, no resources) except for her name. Marrying a girl from a powerful secondary house is risky, as it leaves the Lannisters free to make outside alliances and form a bloc against the throne. The last monarchy fell because powerful families formed a bloc against them; I can’t let it happen again.Lord Tywin is much too powerful to oppose quite yet. His army is huge and is still at full strength, as he remained neutral til the Sack. I need him on my side for at least a few years.Now, seeing as how Cersei uses sex as a weapon or entertainment almost indiscriminately, in a wide range from her brother to Osmond to Taena, it is difficult to ensure her fidelity.However, separate her from Jaime, the most likely candidate (detailed later). I’m sure Jaime can’t visit too often even if it is to see his beloved sister, but when he does I will be sure to welcome my dear brother-in-law and not let him out of my sight the entire day, in case they sneak off to have sex. Jaime would be very frustrated, but I’d insist on taking him hunting and holding a public feast for him, ensuring he is always in the public eye.Treat her as a loving wife and don’t cheat on her for at least 5 years. In the beginning, she was infatuated with me (much as she was with Rhaegar) so take advantage of this short-lived affection on her part to create HEIRS! If she doesn’t abort my children, she is fertile enough to produce 4 or 5 children in quick succession. Despite her unpleasant personality and sociopathic tendencies, Cersei was an incredibly beautiful 18-year-old blonde. I’d fawn over her and treat her as my one and only to maintain the “honeymoon” period. I also wouldn’t cheat on her during this period: Cersei slept with Jaime at Estermont and produced Joffrey as a direct result of Robert having sex with his cousin. Robert’s cheating on her insulted her, as she believed she was the most beautiful woman in all 7 Kingdoms, and she hated that her husband would seek other women.Plant loyal and well-paid ladies-in-waiting to Cersei to follow her everywhere and limit her access to men. Offer them triple the money that anyone else does and promise excellent marriages and dowries for them to second or third sons of powerful houses when they leave her service.Cersei might become bored and start sleeping with randos (as Jaime is out of the picture). Her cheating on me is fine, but she might pass her dislike of me onto my children. She might have children with the stableman and try to pass them off as Baratheons and kill my real children. Extreme scenario, but I really don’t trust her. If Cersei gives birth to children who aren’t black-haired, kill them quietly in their sleep and blame it on the high infant mortality rate. Immediately kill her as well, blaming it on childbed fever, which kills peasants and queens alike.By the time my loyal lady-in-waiting reports her interest in the butcher or the guard, I’ll slip Tears of Lys into her water to kill her without any symptoms.I will mourn for the rest of my life and never remarry, despite being only 30 or 35 when my wife tragically dies. I do not need a succession crisis a la Dance of the Dragons, and I have plenty of true heirs by now. I won’t even sleep with any highborn women, because then I’ll be forced to acknowledge my bastards who can try to usurp my lawful children in times of crisis a la Daemon Blackfyre. However, I can visit as many prostitutes or tavern wenches as I want, although I’ll try to be extremely discreet like Tywin so I don’t have such a lecherous reputation.3. Give Storm’s End to StannisMany people do not quite realize how much Stannis loved Robert. Stannis, who was more dutiful than perhaps even Ned Stark, went against his king to whom he owes fealty in order to support his brother. If Robert lost the war, Stannis’ head would be spiked next to his. If Stannis did not participate, no harm would come his way from King Rhaegar (presumably, after Mad King committed mass suicide with all of King’s Landing).This is his birthright as I now rule King’s Landing.Renly was really quite useless and disloyal throughout his life and doesn’t deserve this honor. Also, the fealty of the houses in the domain of Storm’s End is dangerous for such an irresponsible person who only thinks for himself and his own glory. If Stannis had the loyalty of the houses Storm’s End commands in the War of Five Kings, he could have crushed the faithless Lannisters and pieced together the realm.Appoint Stannis as Master of Ships and give him a chair on the council. Even if he refuses due to his duties as Lord of Storm’s End, I think he would appreciate the gesture. If he cannot attend the meetings, I’d ask him to appoint someone from the Stormlands he trusts.This ensures that there is one person who is completely and fiercely loyal to me in a position of power. God knows I have few enough of those.4. Marry Stannis to Janna Tyrell.Selyse is a terrible match. The Florents are a noble House with an excellent pedigree, but Selyse has trouble conceiving, and it’s an insult to give a bitter mustachioed woman to Stannis (which is what Robert intended).Ties Tyrell to our side without allowing them the room to access the throne. Marrying a lord paramount of the Stormlands is definitely prestigious. It’s close to the throne but not close enough that the Tyrells are incentivized to kill their way to it.In the current timeline, they only had to kill Joffrey to make Tommen king and match him with Margaery.If they seek to make Stannis queen and Janna his queen, they’d have to kill me and all of my sons, which leaves them open to close investigation and a chance of being found guilty.Because I intend to betroth my eldest son to Stannis and Janna’s eldest daughter, the Tyrells would have to kill Janna’s daughter and her children to end my bloodline, something the Tyrells would be extremely reluctant to do.Adding on to that, Mace would be exceedingly proud that his niece will be queen. In fact, he would send Margaery to the Red Keep be her cousin’s lady-in-waiting. Perhaps more importantly, Olenna is the true powerbroker in the family. If her granddaughter (through Janna) will already be queen, why would she expend energy and gold trying to promote another granddaughter (through Mace) to be queen?Janna does not have any children yet, but she will likely be more fertile than Selyse. Stannis would have a clear successor unlike his single daughter in Shireen. If Stannis had sons, Renly would be discouraged from trying to jump the line of succession for the position of lord paramount of the Stormalnds. To advance, he’d have to murder his nephews and stain his reputation as a kinslayer; When Prince Aemond killed his nephew Lucerys, he was branded a faithless, godless kinslayer for the rest of his days.Granted, Stannis hates the Tyrells for openly feasting in front of Storm’s End as he ate rats and boot leather, but it’s important to bring the Tyrells into the fold and Stannis has no real love for any woman.*** I’d originally chosen Mina Tyrell, but she was already married to Paxter and had three children by him by the start of Robert’s Rebellion. I have no idea how old Janna is, but she is one of Margaery’s ladies-in-waiting, and she wears flowers in her hair, which makes me think she’s still fairly young. I’ve run some calculations. Mace was born in 256, so he was 27 when Robert became king. Let’s say Olenna had her three children in consecutive years, so Mace in 256, Mina in 257, and Janna in 258 (Very unlikely; In reality, there was probably two years between each child, at least). Then, Janna would be 25 at most by the time Robert becomes king (More likely late teens or early 20s). She probably has not been married to Jon Fossoway for so long, since they haven’t any children yet; In fact, Jon Fossoway isn’t noted as the lord or heir to New Barrel, which makes me think that she had to “settle,” since she didn’t receive a lot of marriage offers for whatever reason; Her brother Mace married a Hightower girl, and her sister Mina married Lord Redwyne. Therefore, she is single and still young.5. Fill my court with my supporters.Send Pycelle to the Wall under the excuse that he served the Mad King. He only truly served the Lannisters. Given that I won’t drink and put myself in such dangerous positions, the Lannisters might push Pycelle to poison my food.Don’t allow any lesser Lannister cousins at my side in a place where they could murder me.Do not appoint Tywin as my hand— although he is more than an able administrator, his wealth gives him too much of an edge over me as it is. I will appoint Jon Arryn as my hand.Appoint Lord Wyman Manderly as my Master of Coin. He is a 100% Stark loyalist, very intelligent, and good with money. He is naturally ambitious and would be grateful to me personally for granting him such an honor. He would probably wheedle me for certain privileges for White Harbor, which I will happily grant.Don’t borrow too much gold from the Lannisters.Kill VarysIn the books, his endgame was always to crown fAegon no matter how good a ruler I may be. Chop chop.This also limits the possibility that Illyrio can manage to raise fAegon on his own as a contestant without an insider like Varys smoothing the way.Kill LittlefingerHe can’t tempt Lysa to murder my boy Jon Arryn.He can’t skim off the top and embezzle from the crown.Admittedly, he is very good at rubbing two gold coins and making another. It will be difficult but not impossible to find his replacement.Balance the Kingsguard with my supporters. In the real timeline, it was filled with Cersei-loyalists and weak idiots who lowered the prestige of the institution.Barristan Selmy is my Lord Commander. He is wishy-washy, but he will fiercely protect whomever is king.Richard Horpe is one of Stannis’ most loyal men, who desperately wanted the white cloak. He is loyal to the stormlands, and he will fiercely protect me.Marlon Manderly is a towering and terrifying warrior. He is honorable and will be loyal to me. Furthermore, this ties the North closer to the crown.Rolland Storm is a bastard, but he is a fierce and compassionate warrior.Cortnay Penrose is an incredibly honorable man and a seasoned battle commander. He is a second son, so I’m not depriving him of a lordship.Addam Marbrand is a westerman and Jaime Lannister’s best friend. However, I need to let at least one person loyal to the Lannisters on the Kingsguard. Also, he is Lord Marbrand’s heir, so I am depriving the Westerlands of an extremely fierce and intelligent future lord while seemingly doing them a favor. He has a reputation for being honest, so I doubt he’d assist in assassination plots like the weak-willed Lancel.Lyle Crakehall is also a westerman, but he is not overly close to the Lannisters; In fact, Cersei thinks he is an oaf and isn’t likely to use him as a catspaw. He is a middle son. He is extremely large and powerful. He is honorable; He promised to protect Amerei Frey from “Sandor,” the lowborn Pia from rape, and he was outraged by the ill-treated dead.***If any of them die, Balon Swann, Loras Tyrell, Robar Royce, Michael Redfort, and Guyard Morrigen are younger knights who would be fine replacements.6. Return Jaime Lannister to be Tywin’s heirAlthough there’s no precedent for a Kingsguard’s retirement, too many powerful people (me, Tywin) would support it for anyone to object.This also separates him from Cersei, knocking out the most desirable contestant in her eyes. She has a liking for those arrogant blonds and she has a weird obsession with the idea of twins as one person.Tywin would appreciate it: Although he always planned to get Jaime out of the Kingsguard, it’s a nice gesture and he would be more amenable to me later on.Since all of the big paramount daughters and sisters are off the table now, Tywin would try to marry Jaime to a daughter of a powerful secondary house, like Lynesse Hightower. I first feared that he might match him to Margaery (a Lannister-Tyrell bloc has been proven to be formidable), but now I doubt it: Tywin would want Jaime to marry and have heirs immediately so that I can’t induct him back into the Kingsguard on a whim, so he wouldn’t take the risk of waiting for the infant Margaery to flower.When Tywin dies, Jaime will rule the Rock. By then, Tywin would have pressured him into a marriage so the Lannister line will continue. Tywin was a rare man. After his death, Casterly Rock will be rich and powerful but much less a threat. We saw how quickly the House disintegrated in Feast for Crows. Granted, that was mostly Cersei’s work, but it was bound to decline quite a bit after Tywin died. As Jaime is deeply disinterested in ruling, Kevan would probably do much of the work and be competent.7. Educate my children and prepare them for long-term survival.As much as Cersei fucked up Joffrey’s head, Robert contributed by his indifference and cruelty.I would bring my eldest sons to council meetings to show them real-life application in ruling. I would also bring them to hunts (also ensures Cersei won’t try and murder me during a hunt if our son is with me).I would try to make all my children studious. My sons would be trained by maesters from all over the 7 Kingdoms to give them a balanced worldview, taught in all things from agriculture to warfare to royal conflicts. But above all, they’re taught about the stories of the First Men and the North and the Others, reminding them that this is long-forgotten history, not fantasy. I might even import maesters from the North for this very purpose. I would also make sure that my daughters are taught in history, sums, and warfare as my sons are. Of course, they’d also be taught needlework and singing, but I’d make sure they are not stifled by zealous septas to be overly naive as Sansa was.My sons have to be trained in sword work and horseback riding to competence, not excellence. I’d caution them that jousting and such is secondary to their studies, but it is an activity for them to bond with other young lords. My heir can’t look weak and unmanly if he is to lead the country.I’ll allow my daughters to practice sword fighting and riding if they wish, but they aren’t allowed to compete in tourneys.Keep my children from religion. At least 2 of my children are going to the North. If they are fervent followers of the Seven, their faith might hurt their assimilation into the Northern climate. My eldest son would be anointed by the High Septon for PR purposes, but I don’t want him to over-rely on the Faith for guidance.If my eldest son seems unsuitable—arrogance, cruelty, anger issues— I’ll try to train him myself to become more open-minded and less arrogant. If he’s irredeemable like Joffrey or Aegon IV, I’ll poison him and make my second son my heir.I will limit Cersei’s influence on them for as long as she lives (which will not be overly long). Her narcissism and selfishness must not be allowed to taint them with the entitlement she feels.I’m very wary of sending my children to be fostered elsewhere. Young princes and princesses are invariably used as hostages or as revenge (see the failed assassination on Myrcella’s life and her subsequent disfiguration). However, I might send my eldest daughter to the Starks earlier to become a real Northern lady. Ned would never allow my daughter to be hurt.This might sound overprotective, but due to the propensity of poisoned royalty I would attach handmaidens or hand-boys(?) to each of my children to taste the food for poison before they eat it.I would attach two guards with each child at all times, who are sworn to never harm my children, no matter who issues it. Even if I (for some reason) command them to hurt them, they should refuse and seek to protect them. The Kingsguard openly beat Sansa, their future queen. They stood aside as the Mad King raped Queen Rhaella. I would hire sellswords from outside Westeros so that they are not swayed by inter-House conflicts to turn on my children.8. Make suitable betrothals for my children.*** It is risky to pair royals with paramount level houses; When a king is weak, a conniving and powerful house can infiltrate the government from the inside (Lannisters to Robert, Tyrells to Tommen). The best option, usually, are the children of medium-level secondary houses. However, I am a newly instated king. Secondly, I can trust Stannis and Ned with my life, and those two would never betray me. (In the next generation, Robb is genuinely decent and honorable; Stannis’ son is a blank, but his sister is queen, so he’d likely not rebel.) Thirdly, the battle with the Others is coming, and I need strong connections.My heir should be betrothed to Stannis and Janna’s eldest daughter.Cousin marriages were perfectly in line at the time.This ensures Storm’s End’s continued loyalty after Stannis’ eventual death.Affirms Baratheon ties to the throne.Because Stannis controls the royal fleet, I would ask him to teach my son on warfare, strategy, and ships.This situation is advantageous enough that the Tyrells postpone their dream of making a Tyrell the queen.My eldest daughter should wed Robb Stark.Robb is an intelligent, kind, and honorable young man, and he would never mistreat my daughter.When the Others come, I need the northern lords to work seamlessly with me to ensure we can beat them. The northern lords have grown increasingly disillusioned with the crown (understandably, as two Stark lords were murdered by a southern king). The presence of the beautiful princess would flatter the north on its importance and make them more amenable to cooperating with me.I would ask Ned to betroth Robb to my eldest daughter when they are both babies. Since I’m planning on having my children with Cersei in the immediate 3 or 4 years after I am crowned, my daughter and Robb would be relatively close in age (She will be 2 or 3 years younger).When she turns 13, I’ll send her to be fostered at Winterfell and grow closer to her soon to be in-laws and accustomed to the North. Her sworn swords, of course, follow her. I’d also send several highborn girls to attend to her in Winterfell and make sure she is not lonely, although I’m sure Sansa will adore the princess.On the day of their wedding when she turns 16, I’d have the entire royal family head to Winterfell and throw a great feast and party, currying more favor from the Northern lords. Afterwards, I’d visit various Northern lords’ castles to feast with them and give them gifts.On a less serious note, I’d send her the latest fashionable gowns, jewelry, and various trinkets thrice a year so she doesn’t feel starved for beauty and run away a la Lynesse Hightower.My second son marries Wynafryd Manderly.His marriage is crucial in ensuring that a civil war will not erupt after my death. I need to pick a house that is still powerful and useful, but not to the extent that they can raise his claim against my heir. The Hightowers, for example, were powerful and wealthy enough to push Aegon II’s claim above the heir Rhaenyra. The Tyrells pushed Renly’s claim above Stannis.My second son must never EVER marry Margaery. The Tyrells would probably murder my eldest son to advance him in succession and crown Margaery.The Manderlys have gold, natural resources, and access to a thriving town. However, they are not powerful enough to challenge my eldest son.Placing him in White Harbor removes him from a lot of the action in the capital so he can’t challenge my eldest son, who is not only heir to the throne but has the power of Storm’s End and the royal fleet behind him.My son’s presence in the North advances my agenda of legitimizing the threat against the Others. If the Manderlys support the Watch and send men to the Wall when the Others come, other northern houses might follow. Other regions might get jealous that 2 of my children are marrying into the North, but I need the Northerners’ approval and cooperation.My second daughter marries Dickon Tarly.The Tarlys are influential in the Reach, but not to the extend of the Hightowers, Redwynes, or the Florents.This match connects the crown to the Reach without trapping me with the scheming Tyrells.I’d send a few dozen household guards and a few ladies-in-waiting with her to protect her.She’d probably enjoy the warm climate and the festivals and balls. Because she has access to luxuries and trinkets, I would just give her an allowance of gold every year.I considered matching her to Horas Redwyne, but this might make Mace resentful. If his niece (through Janna) will marry the crown prince, and his nephew (through Mina) will marry a princess, he will feel displeased that his sons and daughter were passed over. Paradoxically, having one relative marry a prince/ss will please him; Having two relatives marry prince/sses will make him jealous.Also, matching her to Horas means that two of my children have Tyrell mother-in-laws, which might mean a much more subtler Tyrell infiltration.If I have more children, I’ll be more lenient in who they marry.I’d still forbid any following sons from marrying Margaery or any woman whose power is comparable to my heir’s bride, but I’d be fine with them marrying into powerful vassal houses, like the Royces or the Swanns. My daughters would similarly marry the heirs of vassal houses.9. Kill Viserys and DaenerysI know it’s unethical, but they’re both potential threats. If Dany can quicken the dragon eggs, I will have a huge problem on my hands.Their chances of survival are low, given that I will kill Varys and he can’t join with Illyrio to marry Dany to Khal Drogo.I’ll hire a few swords (not Faceless Men, I can’t begin to imagine how expensive killing the last two members of a royal line would cost) to track down Willem Darry and kill Dany and Viserys in Braavos.This also makes sure that Dorne can’t brew up secret plans to usurp me and make them more susceptible to tying themselves with the throne.10. Prepare for the war with the Others.Knowing what we do about the Others, I’d send a lot of money to the Wall to fortify its strength.I’d also create a program (that I fully fund) in which each lord recruits the poor children in their domain and train, house, and feed them in return for their service at the Wall. This also helps alleviate the poverty of the smallfolk. The population of rapists and thieves at the Wall is overwhelmingly high and not fit to be the realm’s first line of defense.Send wildfire.I’d also visit every 2 or 3 years, to listen intently to all the brothers have to say and at the slightest murmur about the others I will act.The only way to kill the Others is Valyrian steel, obsidian, and dragonsteel. Seeing as how it’s neigh near impossible to produce Valyrian steel and dragonsteel, I would see to mine much obsidian as I can from Dragonstone and import some from places like Skagos, using my Manderly connection. I would order the crafting of thousands of obsidian swords and send them to the Wall for the brothers to use.When the great war with the undead come, I would order that the wildfire be left far from the wall. When the wights come, the best archers would pierce the casks with flaming arrows and kill the wights. The obsidian I sent would also be fashioned into arrows and kill the Others.When the Others come, I order my son who wed the Manderly and my daughter who wed Robb Stark to back up my claims that the Others exist. They convince their respective spouses to send men and resources and food to the Wall. Given that Jon Snow also corroborates that the Others are here. Given that his wife and brother both urge him to fight the Others, Robb would listen to them.11. Kill Lysa Arryn.Even without Littlefinger, she was dangerously mad from her multiple miscarriages that took a severe toll on her physical and mental health. As she has no love for Jon, she might poison him on a whim or due to another lover. Once Sweetrobin is born, she will be taken care of.We can’t annul the marriage. The Tullys are too powerful to insult so grievously. She provided Jon with a son, so she has done her duty as wife.A council, with input from Jon of course, will review the Eeyrie’s good health until Rob comes of age.Perhaps Jon can remarry the daughter of a Vale bannerman and produce more children, because Robin is so sickly.12. Root out the wildfire and send it to the Wall.I cannot have thousand of caches of explosives under my city.A good comment reminded me that wildfire is a proven weapon against the wights (not the Others, but still). I’m not sure how exactly I would do this as the slightest of jostling or sunlight can set off the more volatile and old casks of wildfire, but I would attempt to move the wildfire very, very carefully to the Wall and store it safe in a bulletproof and protected vault that cannot be accessed by any of the brothers. On my yearly visits to the Wall, I’d examine that they are in good condition, letting only Maester Aemon and Samwell Tarly know about them and give both the king’s rights to use them when they must (that the Lord Commander cannot veto).13. Be more frugalTo address a common misconception, Robert was a fairly decent king. There were no major rebellions under his rule and the smallfolk did relatively well.HOWEVER, the spending on numerous big tourneys and feasts caused the crown to be in debt to the Lannisters and allowed Littlefinger to skim off the top, which I definitely don’t need any more of.As we all know that the unusually long summer will end with a bitter winter, I would order each domain to save 1/4 of their harvest in granaries (obviously not domains which are fruitless).14. Look out for the smallfolkWhen there are some necessary celebrations in the form of my children’s weddings, I will give the leftovers to the poor in the city as some good PR.During unfortunate incidents like sieges, I’d send out spare food to the smallfolk in the name of my heir, Crown Prince _____. Remember how they adored Margaery because the Tyrells were passing out loaves of bread in her honor? Same idea.15. Minimize the power of the religiousWhenever any religious fanatics pop up, I’d kill them immediately if they are small rabble-rousers before they can gain power. Hopefully, there won’t be religious zealots, as they flourish in times of discontent and economic hardships (see #16)The extreme wealth that some of the high religious officers like the High Septon receive is completely ridiculous. I’d announce that 2/3 of their income and donations would be used to go to the poor throughout the kingdom. They can’t refuse out of fear and hypocrisy. And they can’t rebel because they have no army.

Mainly and directly due to the combined efforts of the Qin and Han Dynasties of China (221 BC–220 AD).The Qin acted as the unifier of Chinese civilization, the Han on the other hand meanwhile; as the preserver of the notion of a unified Chinese society. Out of the two dynasties, it would of course be the Han which would end up being more responsible, regarding the popularization and propagation of the notion of national unity, rather than one of disunity.Although the Han were not the first Chinese political entity to have actually promoted the concept of a “One China” policy, it was meanwhile indeed the first one to actually rule in such a way, and for long enough such that all future Chinese dynasties from then on, would likewise seek to reign over a vast singular and prosperous yet unified Chinese Empire, in the exact same fashion: based on the “Han Model”.A statue of Liu Bang, First Emperor of the Han Empire under the title “Gaozu”:It was a phenomenon which was of course greatly intensified by the failures of a divided China under the Warring States Period (476–221 BC), which was popularly regarded at the time to have lacked both prosperity and progress in the areas which mattered most, and was essentially a land filled with death, suffering, poverty and the indiscriminate murder of innocents.Under such dire circumstances, a Chinese “Game of Thrones” essentially took place, with all the various feuding Kingdoms of China desiring unlimited power above all else; a power which could only be obtained directly at the common people’s expense of course.Needless to say thus, nobody under the new regime of the Han Dynasty wanted a return to the old ways, that is to say, the ways of backwardness and misery. And so of course, the Han (clever as they were), used this very fear to their advantage, and responded by ruling in such a way, that is to say, the way of benevolence of course (though initially extreme malevolence), as to directly cement their power over the newly unified nation.Their legitimacy thus, directly owed its stable status to a promise (their promise), that they would never again return to the much feared old ways as long, and only as long as the Imperial Liu Family was in charge. This was a fact which saw the Han Empire last 426 years (exceptionally lengthy for a Chinese dynasty), with only a brief “interruption” of 14 years from 9–23 AD, when the Imperial Throne was stolen by the infamous usurper; Wang Mang.Otherwise, to the power of the Imperial Family, submitted the people of China.And thus also, begun a set of events which would go on to glorify, and turn the nation of China from backwater of the world, into a regional superpower, capable of actually affecting world events even as far as the western end of the Eurasian continent, thus in time leading the future generations and dynasties to believe that only unity, rather than disunity, was the only self-evidently logical choice for Chinese civilization to henceforth take.Warning: Slightly long answer up ahead, though nowhere near as lengthy as my usual answers, it’s only 7,800 words so relax, you should actually read this one.To understand how and why the concept of “One China” would forever be so historically appealing to the Chinese people, we have to examine three consecutive periods of Chinese History.First, we will examine the desolation of China before the Han Dynasty, then we will look at the changes made and advances gained under the rule of the Qin-Han Era, and then at last we shall examine the resultant chaos which occurred once more, after the Fall of the Empire.Chapter I: The Sufferings of a Divided China Under the Warring States PeriodChapter II: The Blessings of a Unified China Under the Han DynastyChapter III: The Horrors of a Re-Divided China Under the Age of Disunity, and the Parallels of HistoryConclusion (and Summary)SourcesFootnotesChapter I: The Sufferings of a Divided China Under the Warring States PeriodThe Warring States was essentially a 254 year long civil war between several different, yet culturally similar Chinese Kingdoms. Though the land throughout which the kingdoms inhabited, was now filled with death and desolation directly as a result of the ongoing civil war, it had actually not always been like this.Formerly, China had once been under the full nominal and de facto control of the Kingdom of Zhou (1046–771 BC), which though had once held complete dominion over the entirety of its kingdom, had now deteriorated to such an extent, that it now held very little true power.The territories of the Zhou Kingdom in the 1st millennium BC:Instead, the King’s powers were taken away from him such, that he now found himself relegated to the lowly status as that of a mere nominal ruler, whose only real duties were to act as a mediator between Heaven and Earth, during religious ceremonies.Real power instead, went to the King’s former subjects; the Dukes and Marquesses of the Kingdom, all formerly powerful individuals who had once promised to defend the King, now instead saw their to chance to seize power, and thus acted on their impulses, especially upon realizing that the last de facto Zhou King was weak, and could thus be easily deposed.King You, the last of the de facto rulers of the Zhou was murdered, and the Nobility instead replaced him with a puppet ruler, which would in their eyes “forever” secure their dominion over all China. And thus, de facto rule henceforth in this way, was to beong only to the Nobility, and not with the King.The Social Hierarchy of the Zhou Kingdom seen below (At this point in time, China was ruled (like Europe and Japan would be all those years later) under the “Feudal System”, where Kings would grant titles to Lords, who would then protect them, and in turn protect the Peasantry also, who were then to reciprocate this obligation by swearing allegiance to the Aristocracy in turn):This treasonous act should have been foreseeable of course, China was already too big even at this stage early in its life. Such a turn of events throughout the centuries of Zhou rule, had forced the King to maintain his authority by greatly decentralizing power from his hands, and redistributing them to the Nobility itself.Thus, it was perhaps inevitable that the Nobility would eventually acquire the means to of course challenge the King’s Royal Authority, as they practically did everything for him already, such a rebellion was of course made possible under both the Feudal System, and the decentralized administrative system, which served to overly empower the Aristocracy to such an extent, as to allow them to dominate the Zhou King.Despite holding real power over the nation however, initially in the beginning it was decided that the wisest course of action was to at least pretend that the King was still in charge; a show for the common people of course, who still believed that true power belonged only with the King. And so thus, the King’s autonomy and power was for the meanwhile, temporarily permitted to be exercised seemingly with free reign.But of course as the centuries went on, further and further, and as the Nobility got bolder and bolder (as each time the King faced an existential crisis, he would have to of course enlist their help as asserted so under the Feudal System) it eventually came to be that such “generous” limits to royal authority could no longer be permitted.And thus, confident in their power, and arrogant beyond belief, in time the Nobility even stopped pretending to rule behind the scenes, and instead openly asserted their treasonous declarations from their respective manors and domains, regarding their supposed “rightful” claims to the Zhou throne.As there could of course only ever be one true king however, thus begun the 254 year long Chinese Civil War known today as the “Warring States of China”, a period of history which eventually saw the territories of the Zhou Kingdom split into 7 major, and often times mutually hostile kingdoms by the late-Warring States Period, pictured here down below :And this, is where the first major divisive period of death and destruction begins, and is thus why no “sane” Chinese person from the times of the Han Empire onwards, would then nor now ever again actively encourage and hope for China to be divided from then on, lest he loses both life and limb himself.Indeed, the Warring States was simply not the best time for China, to put it sharp and shortly. Though it did see extreme rises in the rates of technological adoption, which extended to the invention of the Crossbow, and adoption of the Chariot, this was the final extent to all the good that was done under such a period of disunity.In reality, for the vast majority of China, the effects which became resultant of the seemingly unceasing civil war, were deeply obstructive to the Peasantry especially, in their efforts to create and maintain a harmonious and prosperous life. As the vast majority of the self proclaimed Chinese “Kings” cared not for anyone but themselves (and the acquisition of unlimited power through violence and wars), this would only serve to further exacerbate the poor living standards of the common people.As for the wars themselves, they were of course fought endlessly, however there were exceptions to this norm of course, as sometimes there were several periods here and there where there would be pauses in the fighting, but only so that all the concerned parties could further conscript greater numbers of peasants to use as cannon fodder in their highly destructive campaigns.An artist’s impression of the rounding up of Chinese civilians by the Army of the Qin Kingdom:During the especially violent 150 year long period from 450–300 BC, Historian and former US Marine Samuel B. Griffith has even remarked that, “it would have been extremely unlikely for any Generals to have died in their beds”.To make matters worse, the varied geography of China (which consisted of hills, lakes, swamps and marshes) greatly allowed for the many upon many various bands of brigands and cutthroats to not only raid villages and ransom merchants, but also to kidnap unfortunates who travelled to and fro from other kingdoms in addition.And most notably, these marauders did not just come from nowhere either, but mostly originated directly from the Peasantry itself, with many having had to resort to such illegal activities merely to survive. Deserters, and even Royal Officials could likewise be found in such desperate situations for similar reasons. Such criminal forces became so powerful and numerous in fact, that they often marketed themselves to the various kingdoms as Mercenaries, and were more often than not, hired, no questions asked.The Peasantry meanwhile, which composed of 90% of the population of each Warring Kingdom, could be found to have suffered in the same fashion alike, regardless of which kingdom they belonged to.All were forced to labour endlessly out in the fields, whilst obediently obeying every order from their masters and superiors without question, mouths shut even when the harshest of circumstances came about. Conscription, and by extension imminent death was the fate of most male peasants during this highly chaotic, and dark period of China’s history.An artist’s impression of the inflicted misery of the common people suffered under the despotic regimes of the Warring States:In stark contrast to the Peasantry meanwhile, the various kings lavished luxuriously in their Royal Courts, at any given time always entertained by well-equipped harems, teams of dancing girls, musicians, acrobats, and expert chefs, who all acted in unison to further expand the social gap between ruler and ruled.The Peasantry which was conscripted into the Military, was often used to construct en masse hundreds upon hundreds of private palaces, terraces, parks and towers, all for the sake of the Warring Kings.Even the Legal System of the Chinese Kingdoms at this point in time, was equally as torturous and malevolent as the states over which it was made to “protect”. Several thousand crimes were punishable by death or mutilation. Castration, branding, slicing off the nose, chopping off the toes and feet, cutting leg tendons, or breaking knee caps were just some of the possible, and commonly inflicted punishments.There was no Rule of Law even despite the fact that the punishments were equal for all classes, for the Kings were deemed as above the law, and therefore untouchable. And whensoever for whatever reason one law was particularly distasteful to a Ruler, he would either change it or be rid of it either temporarily or permanently.Regardless, the arbitrary power to change the law, and therefore escape from punishments, was a privilege of the King, deeply highlighting the great inequality of China under the Feudal System, of a highly divisive period.Even the most prestigious occupations were either directly or indirectly connected with martial matters. The “wandering strategist” was one of these said occupations, and was often regarded highly by all the rivalling kingdoms, as “useful intellectuals” especially to rivalling monarchs, who often paid them well for their advice, which usually gave one’s kingdom the edge in battles and or wars.Even their prosperity was limited however, for whenever their advice did not work out as planned, all who failed the patron kings who hired them were condemned to either: death by being sawn in half, death by being boiled, death by being minced or death by being torn into four separate parts by Chariot.A statue of Sun Tzu, one of these many so called “wandering scholars” (we do not really know if he truly existed though) who travelled around from kingdom to kingdom to impart his wisdom onto the various rulers of the Warring States Period:The fact also that there was a perpetual state of war in China at this time, deeply coloured all other aspects of all the Warring States. Now, unlike before, each and every minor socio-political decision and move had to be made with utmost care by all, likened to that of carefully moving a Chess piece, lest they be interpreted wrongly, and the individual with whom it originated, swiftly executed.The state of affairs, was also altered beyond recognition. Diplomacy for example, formerly based on negotiation and compromise, were now defined exclusively instead by bribery, fraud and deceit.During this highly violent period, where might determined who was right, public order became so undesirably traumatic that if officials or generals fled from one kingdom to another, or even led a revolt against his lord in an attempt to claim the throne for himself, nothing would have seemed out of place. Such matters were wholly considered normal during the Warring States Era.An artist’s impression of a Chinese Feudal Era Chariot being used in combat (Chariots were highly utilized by the 7 Kingdoms of China during the Civil War Period):As such, the horrors of life under the Warring States Period, that horrendous era of national disunity, should be self-evident by this point in time. To say that this was not a very good time for the average person to live in, would be a gross misunderstatement indeed. There was little to envy, regarding life for anyone other than the ruler, during the Warring States Period. This should be a fact which speaks for itself.Such a state of affairs however, one which was so destructive to the common man, and obstructive to civilization progress, could not last forever and was perhaps destined to end sooner if not later. This was a fact which eventually saw one kingdom in particular rise above all others.Formerly the weakest of the 7 kingdoms early in the Warring States Period, the Qin State led by King Ying Zheng, fully implemented the brutal ideology of “Legalism” and used it to ensure the imminent rise of his state, at the parallel expense of all other rivalling kingdoms.Legalism was a philosophy which believed that the only way to progress, was to recognise that all human beings were more inclined to do wrong than right because they were motivated entirely by self interest. Rule by law, rather than rule of law (which didn’t exist anyway) was thus to be adopted, and a strong and unwavering autocratic regime was to be sanctioned, as a way to ensure that right would be done, wheresoever it was due and needed.The Legalist reforms were such, that it allowed the Qin State to successfully ensure its transition from a weak, neglected, feudalistic and highly corrupt kingdom, into a powerful and centralized superstate, led by a competent bureaucracy, a state in which the King’s power could never again be challenged by a rebellious Nobility, as the former Zhou King’s authority was, mainly because of the fact that much of the former power once possessed by the Aristocracy, had now been forcibly removed from them, and transferred instead to the King.A brief summary in three dot points, of the key beliefs of Legalism:Legalism, which favoured rules and brute strength over traditions and “honour”, was used to reform the army. Now, even being late would get one executed, and yet you could also be greatly rewarded beyond your wildest dreams, proportional to your prowess on the battlefield for any random acts of heroism, which thus acted to ensure that a sense of meritocracy was practiced by the Qin Royal Army, increasing the military efficiency of the Army.The Warring States Period code of conduct, which dictated how armies and kingdoms were to behave in what was popularly regarded by all the kingdoms as a “gentleman’s game”, were thus also ignored by the Qin Kingdom. For example, one was not supposed to, “…crush the feeble, nor give the order for attack until the enemy have formed their ranks,” per consensus on how war was to be fought. The Qin however, attacked whenever, and wherever they pleased, allowing them to emerge victorious over their eternal rivals.An artist’s impression of the much feared, highly meritocratic Qin Army:Thus it was that under the banner of Legalism, the Qin Kingdom marched from West to East over a period of 9 years, subjugating their rivals once and for all. First fell the Han Kingdom (unrelated to the Han Dynasty), then subsequently fell the Kingdoms of Zhao, Yan, and Wei. Afterwards collapsed directly resultant of the Qin conquests; the mighty Zhu Kingdom which had long rivalled the Qin State, and then at last fell the Kingdom of Qi near modern day Shandong province, to the Qin.At last, all of China was properly unified for the first time under a singular and centralized Chinese political entity, unified under the control of the Qin Empire (221–206 BC):It would of course remain to this day, one of China’s greatest and earliest civilizational successes thus: the unification of China under a singular political entity.This the Qin were of course able to do, and was certainly by far the right thing to have done. Where they failed immensely however, was that they did not make it immediately obvious to the common people, because of the way they ruled: the differences between a life for a commoner under the Warring States Period, compared with their lives now under a unified, and supposedly “peaceful” and thus “better” society.For the Qin to maintained their rule, they would have had to have immediately made clear, the benefits of living under a unified, rather than disunified China. To this extent, they only saw limited successes at doing so, but for the most part failed miserably.The New Regime was extremely totalitarian and bureaucratic, all who spoke out against the Legalist system were subsequently executed or at least severely punished. The philosophers of Confucianism-an ideology which believed that Human Beings were inherently good-especially criticised the New Regime, and were thus subsequently buried alive, or enslaved.The Qin under the First Emperor Shi Huangdi (formerly King Ying Zheng of Qin, unifier of China), resorted to the burning of books en masse, as it was the Emperor’s belief that knowledge and education were useless, instead only considering manuscripts focused on topics such as Medicine and Agriculture to be useful.The Warring States Era Legal System was not only kept meanwhile, but was further intensified, all crimes against the state henceforth were now punished via forced labour in service to the State. Executions only by the most gruelling ends, via death by boiling, chariots, mutilation and or castration, were further used to punish even the most minor of crimes.The only good, the only good and therefore improvement which came under the rule of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, were his efforts to promote the idea of National Unity and moved quickly to promote the concept of there only being one China, and one people all united under the banner of cultural singularity.To this extent, he moved to create and standardize the national language, in order to make it easier for his people to communicate with each other. In addition to the standardization of language, the Qin also built roads and canals through the unified states en masse, supported with the application also of a single currency, to further stress the idea of unity and solidarity.The famous Great Wall of China was also fully constructed during his rule for the first time in China’s History, not only in order to defend the newly unified state against the presence of the aggressive neighboring nomadic Xiongnu Empire, but it also symbolically acknowledged that China was now one country, thus implying that the one wall existed to protect them all, and not just the individual areas of the former kingdoms.An artist’s impression of the brutal, forced labour construction of the Qin Great Wall:However, even all these great efforts to improve the lives of the people were in vain, as they were constructed using slave labour, labour which was made up of political prisoners, who had in some way, shape or form supposedly committed crimes against the state. To this extent, 400,000 people were said to have perished in the forced construction of the Qin Great Wall, and were subsequently buried within the Wall itself.Thus it was, that before long, a National Revolution was in full bloom throughout the entire country once more, directly due to the tyranny of the Qin, who the people claimed had not actually improved the lives of the people, despite unifying the country but was merely a continuation of what had once been before; the chaos and tyranny under the Old Regimes of the Warring States Period.And thus it was also, that from the chaos of the Revolution arose a very particular peasant by the name of Liu Bang, the future First Emperor of the Han Dynasty.As a smart and intelligent individual, Liu quickly rose to prominence as one of the many prominent figures in the Revolt against the Qin Empire. Over a period of a couple months, Liu not only overthrew the Qin Regime, but also moved to defeat the many rivals (formerly allies) he had come to accrue, who he foresaw would sooner rather than later, especially in light of the end of the Qin Empire, become an imminent threat to him.And thus it was, that the Qin Empire fell, and the newly proclaimed Han Empire replaced it, under the rule of Liu Bang, or better know yet as Emperor Gaozu of Han, who would in time move to correct the mistakes of the tyrannical Legalist Regime, and instead promote legitimacy by benevolence, and ensure the state precedent thus, of ruling in such a way, and for long enough, that there would always be this idea, and need from then on, to reunify the nation based on the Han Model.Chapter II: The Blessings of a Unified China Under the Han DynastyBy this point in time, China was ruined. Ruined firstly by the Warring States Period, then further torn apart by the tyranny of the Qin Empire, then at last broken by the Revolution, all of China was now worse off than it had ever been before. Dissatisfaction was at an all time high, a dissatisfaction that was so painfully obvious that it looked as though there was already going to be another imminent incoming revolution.Because of his early origins as a Peasant, the new Han Emperor mirrored the First Qin Emperor in that he hated education and knowledge, and therefore looked down upon it. Because of this, he neglected the study of history, refusing to learn from the past, and therefore thought that if he just treated the Chinese people horribly enough, and to such an extent like was so under the Qin Empire, he could break their spirit and force them to submit to him.But such, was not to be the case for long. A couple of years into the Emperor’s reign, he was intercepted by a Han Government Official by the name of Lu Gu, who disagreed with the way in which the Emperor was ruling. As a keen student of Confucianism, he despised the one sided totalitarianism which Liu was using to rule over China.Using logic and reason, Lu presented his dissatisfaction to the Emperor Gaozu.The Emperor famously responded in return:“I do all my conquering from the back of my horse, what use have I for books and poetry?”To which Lu replied:“Once my lord is done with the conquering, does he also intend to do all his ruling from the back of his horse?”A statue of Confucius (the founder of Confucianism) in Modern China today:The Emperor was shocked, admitting that his humble subject had finally defeated him, he subsequently requested that Lu compose for him a book, of historical examples outlining why the Qin had lost the support of China, and how the Emperor himself could not only gain but also retain the support of the people forever.As a result, Lu personally wrote a 12-volume book titled “Words of Renewal” (新语) for the Emperor just as he had requested, reading them all aloud to him when each one was completed.Lu insisted that the reason the Qin had fallen, was because they were too totalitarian, and lacked legitimacy. They showed no mercy to their enemies, mistreated and betrayed their own allies and adopted Legalism, a system which believed that all Humans were inherently evil, and motivated only by self-interest.Instead, he insisted that the Emperor should reject the Qin Philosophy of Legalism, and instead replace it with a new Imperial ideology by the name of Confucianism.Confucianism was the polar opposite of Legalism. Instead of stressing rule by law, and the inherent evilness of mankind, it taught that all Humans were inherently good and could be improved with a little effort, and that rule by law was not effective, and instead made clear the benefits that could arise from ruling by “moral virtue” instead.The Emperor was impressed, and did all that the government official Lu had suggested to him. He implemented and personally supported and sponsored the Philosophy of Confucianism at an academic level, and was determined to rule China with benevolence from then on, thus increasing the legitimacy of the Han Government, and winning the people over who would then submit to the Liu Family out of love rather than fear.To this extent, he moved to dismantle much of the last remnants of the Old Regimes of the Warring States Period, and the Qin Empire, and instead reform it in such a way as to make the newly unified nation of China prosperous. And yet, this historically, was no small feat either.For if he had not done this, exactly what was to stop the Chinese nation from splitting up again as had been the case for hundreds of years prior? No, it was directly because of the efforts of Emperor Gaozu, that the newly unified Chinese nation managed to against all odds, keep itself in one piece, rather than fracturing yet again. In this way, eventually over time, the concept of there only being one, and not one hundred Chinese entities, was finally cemented in Chinese culture forever. China was to remain unified now, and unified forever.The territories of the Han Dynasty at its greatest extent in 100 AD:In contrast to the armies of the Qin and Warring States, which had forced people against their will to serve in the army, the first step of the Emperor Gaozu, saw him move to disband the veteran armies which had helped him seize power, and allowed them to return home, exempting them from taxes for 6 years, going so far as provide food for each individual and his family in addition for an entire year.The Legal System meanwhile, inherited from the Warring States and Qin Era, were reformed in such a way, as to reduce both the scope and severity of punishable crimes, and consequential punishments to be meted out respectively.As for the majority of the Han people, who were part of the Peasantry meanwhile, which was always consistently placed at the bottom of Social Hierarchy under Feudal China, now enjoyed a higher status under the New Regime, as Gaozu promoted the Agriculture Industry, as China’s most important source for the acquisition of the State’s Tax Revenue.Gaozu’s reforms regarding the Peasantry were particularly beneficial to the majority, which saw taxes regarding their livelihoods, reduced to 1/15 portions on Agricultural Production per family unit. Land was meanwhile directly taken from the rich, and redistributed instead to the Peasantry, giving the vast majority of the Han citizenry, a fighting chance to prosper; a chance they were once actively denied under the tyranny of Feudal China.It was hoped that because they saw that all their efforts were now directly benefiting them, rather than the the Nobility who had once exploited them as during was the case during the Feudal Era, the Peasants would farm harder to such an extent, as to finally allow China to recover regarding its Economy.To this extent, Gaozu was ultimately successful, the state’s prioritization on Agriculture over time saw the social status of the Peasant, be promoted to 2nd place out of the “Four Occupations”.Under the new system of the Four Occupations, the Peasant enjoyed a status unprecedented before in the History of China:Peasants in China, unlike anywhere else in the world at the time, or since those times in Human History, were no longer at the bottom of the Social Hierarchy (as they once were during the Warring States), but were now second only to the Han “Mandarin” Government Official, even higher than the Skilled Artisan, or the Merchant Class.This was a fact which put the Peasantry at ease, as they now knew that their arduous toils were no longer in vain, but would directly benefit the State itself, and by extension all of China. The Nationalizations of the Salt and Iron Industries further served to benefit the Peasantry, as it allowed them to work for the Government in order to pay off their debt, whilst also being socially and economically productive.Science and Technology henceforth were especially used to further benefit and improve the lives of the Peasantry, the invention by China of Cast Iron Tools, the Multi-Tube Seed Drill and the Daitianfa (代田法) “Replacement Field” Method of Farming (inventions that were all made possible under such a long period of peace and prosperity), eventually saw Agricultural Production peak at 16 billion kilograms of grain annually, or 280 kg per person, unprecedented in world history up until then, both by absolute national grain yields, and per capita also.An artist’s impression of the Multi-Tube Seed Drill in action during the Han Dynasty:For reference, in the equally mighty and prosperous Roman Empire at the Western end of the Eurasian Continent, intensive farming had not yet fully emerged.Such a feat in agriculture eventually allowed in time for the growth of the Han Empire regarding population, to 57,671,400 individuals or 1/3 of the world’s population as recorded by the Han Imperial Census in 2 AD, which allowed the vast Chinese Economy to account for 25.4% of the world’s wealth.In fact, China eventually got so unbelievably rich and wealthy, that untold millions of coins had to be casted each and every year as a consequence, reaching a peak of 220 million coins per year from 118 BC to 5 AD, in order to fully accommodate for the population of the Han Empire.The Han Capital of Chang’an meanwhile became the second largest city in the world at 400,000 people , only eclipsed by Rome which had 1 million people at its peak under the Nervan-Antonine Dynasty (96–192 AD).The vast Economy of the Han was of course aided also in addition by State sponsored expeditions to the Western deserts, which allowed the Early Han people to realize that other non-Chinese civilizations indeed did exist, allowing them to expand trade overseas, greatly benefitting the Celestial Empire.This in time led to the creation of the Silk Road, an early physical intercontinental trading network which not only allowed the flow of goods from East to West and vice-versa, but also ideas and inventions also.In this way, not only did Chinese Silk reach the Roman Empire, and Roman Glassware find itself reaching the Han Empire, but Buddhism also from the Indian sub-continent, likewise found its way into the Han Dynasty.A map of the Silk Road during the reign of the Han Dynasty:Most notably, the Silk Road allowed the Han Dynasty to maintain an extremely large positive trading balance, directly resultant of the fact that China had in its possession, a great abundance of goods produced by their Economy, goods which were not available anywhere else in the world, allowing them to prosper greatly as a result.This one sided Han advantage was most evident in the case of the Han-Roman trade. The defining characteristic of this economic relationship saw not only the flow of Chinese goods to the West, but also the flow of Roman raw materials to the East.The consequences of this one sided relationship led to a growing scarcity of precious metals in the Roman Empire (27 BC-476 AD), which in turn lead to the repeated debasement of Roman currency in the 3rd Century AD, ensuring the effective cessation of trade with China, in order to maintain the external stability of the Roman Economy.The early adoption meanwhile of Buddhism, which had originated from the Silk Road, allowed many important Buddhist canons to be translated into Old Chinese during the 2nd century AD, including the Sutra of 42 Chapters, Perfection of Wisdom, Shurangama Sutra, and Pratyutpanna Sutra. China’s first Buddhist Temple, the “White Horse Temple” was even constructed outside the walls of the city of Luoyang meanwhile.Last but not least meanwhile, were the Han inventions of Paper, the Loom, the Seismoscope, the Stirrup, the Wheelbarrow, the Repeating Crossbow, and the Water Powered Armillary Sphere, all made possible under such a great period of peace and prosperity.The Han Invention of the Repeating Crossbow:A similar case applied for Han independent innovations and discoveries in the fields of Astronomy and Mathematics, which saw the discovering of the existence of square roots, cube roots, the Pythagorean Theorem, the Gaussian Elimination and the close (yet slightly clumsy) approximation of Pi as 10^1/2 (3.14159), apart from also the Han invention and introduction to the world of the concept of negative numerals.Scientifically, Han Astronomers meanwhile updated the old Chinese Calendar and re-calculated the tropical year approximating it to 365. 385/1539 days, whilst asserting that the duration of the lunar month was 29. 43/81 days.As should be clearly evident, the Han Dynasty was a very prosperous time in general for Chinese civilization.As such, as time went on further and further under the benevolent rule of the Liu Family; the New Regime, it became self-evidently clear to the people of the Han Empire that, being part of a singular Chinese political entity was infinitely more beneficial than slowly rotting away in a land divided, and torn apart by eternal, and constant infighting, chaos and the plagued also by the omnipresence of death and suffering.It was thus imprinted in Chinese culture from then on, that to be united under one banner was in every way, a lot more desirable than the greatly undesirable alternative.Chapter III: The Horrors of a Re-Divided China Under the Age of Disunity, and the Parallels of HistoryWhat really cemented the Chinese people’s ideal of National Unity however, were the consequences arising from China’s misfortunes in the post-Han world. The prolonged period of division which occurred once more, acted only to make unanimously clear to the Chinese peoples once and for all, that history was cyclical, and what had once happened in the past, could still occur yet again in the future.It was a fact which proved only to be too true, and upon China’s imminent reunification once more under the Sui Dynasty (581–618 AD), served only to make it clear that there was no plausible alternative for Chinese civilization to take, other than under the command of a powerful, highly centralized and unified state.Disunity was simply just not a very beneficial option for China to take, and this was made clear all throughout the infamous Age of Disunity (220–581 AD), which begun with the fall of the mighty Han Dynasty.The reason for this was simple, the fall of the Empire saw the beginnings of a 60 year long civil war known as the Three Kingdoms Period (220–280 AD), which was so deadly and so destructive in the way in which it was fought, that 40 million people, or 2/3 of China’s population were subsequently decimated in the years following the beginning of the civil war.A map of the eponymous Three Kingdoms in question, which included the Kingdom of Cao Wei in north in blue; the strongest of the three, the Kingdom of Eastern Wu lorded over the vast fertile southern lands ruled by the Sun family, and lastly was the Kingdom of Shu Han, commandeered by Liu Bei, a distant relative of the Imperial Liu Family:This was such that the National Census in 280 AD, even recorded the population of China to be merely 16,164,000 people far removed from the peak attained under the Han, of 57.6 million individuals. It must be remembered also, that not all of these individuals perished directly as a result of war, but in addition from mass famine and diseases indirectly resultant of these large scale conflicts also.Under this highly regressive period of division, China became so poor in fact that the Kingdom of Wei had to resort to using grain and silk cloth as the main currency throughout the kingdom, to be used as the medium to exchange goods and services, rather than coins as was formerly the case under the Empire.Decentralization meanwhile, as was the case like with the Warring States Period earlier, was replicated wholly once again during the Three Kingdoms Era, as the popular notion of “every man for himself” was once again upheld. To this extent, a state of quasi-Feudalism returned once more, as great self-sustaining castles and strongholds were built by the aristocracy to protect themselves, at the simultaneous expense of both the nation, and the people.And even when China was briefly re-unified once more under the weak Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD), this was hardly a true unification as the Jin were too powerless to establish a true centralized state, and as a result had to resort to the Warring States tactic of decentralization instead, which acted only to severely weaken their power, and promote infighting. China during this time received no respite, and continued to suffer to an even greater degree than previously.The territories of the Jin Empire at its peak in 280 AD:And soon, despite being nominally unified under one banner, the nation was yet once again in a state of civil infighting, under the turbulent “War of the Eight Princes” (291–306 AD), which saw eight self-proclaimed Emperors fighting for control of the Imperial Throne. As each Prince entered the civil war, the conflict grew larger and larger until at last by the time the war had ended, China was left arguably even weaker than it had once been under the Warring States Period.It was this national weakness resulting from the War of the Eight Princes which in turn eventually led to the highly destructive “Uprising of the Five Barbarians”, which saw the the nomadic northern Steppe tribes of the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Di and Qiang invade the Middle Kingdom itself, where they wrested control of the northern half of the China from the “Han Chinese” peoples, who were instead relegated to merely the Southern half of China instead.And upon the Jin Dynasty’s imminent collapse, to make matters worst than it had ever been before, not only was the nation engulfed in a state of civil war (yet again), but China was now also racially segregated this time around, with the North belonging to the Steppe invaders, and only the vast fertile South belonging to the Han peoples, beginning the highly divisive period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420–589 AD).The trials and tribulations of the Chinese Nation, only ended most fortunately when the Sui Empire, led by Prince Yang Jian of Sui, conquered both the southern and northern halves of China, and once more unified the nation under the Sui Empire, thus returning China to prosperity once more; under the rule of a powerful centralized state.A portrait of Prince Yang Jian, soon to be Emperor Wen of Sui, the great re-unifier of Chinese civilization:The Sui of course, ended up being like the Qin Dynasty; utterly tyrannical and was therefore thus overthrown by the succeeding Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), which then subsequently begun both the “Golden Age of China” and the “Chinese Millennium” (600s–1500s).By the times of the Tang Dynasty (the single greatest period of time in Imperial China’s History) it became extremely apparent to the people of China by this point in time, that History was just merely repeating. The tyrannical Sui Dynasty which had come before to reunify China, was just merely a repeat of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty which had once also unified China.The Sui was in fact, for all intents and purposes, essentially a second Qin Dynasty. Both had after all risen through similar circumstances, and appeared after hundreds of years of disunity and suffering had gone by, to finally then seemingly put an end to this suffering, and unify the nation.The Han Dynasty meanwhile, which had acted and ruled in such a way, as to allow Chinese civilization to stay together as one, without breaking up into tiny pieces, was compared to the Tang Dynasty, which had likewise acted in the same way as to prevent the fall of Chinese civilization in wake of the fall of the tyrannical Sui Empire, much like how the Han did with the malevolent Qin Empire. The Tang Dynasty thus, was essentially therefore a second Han Dynasty.And in making these obvious comparisons and parallels between 4 otherwise unrelated dynasties separated by hundreds of years of history, the Chinese begun to believe that perhaps, history did repeat itself. And if history repeated, then it was possible to learn from the past, and use it to shape and plan for the future.And if the past showed ever so clearly, that disunity was highly tragical for Chinese civilization, and unity meanwhile gave rises to great periods of peace and prosperity, then by the Heavens and Earth, there could only henceforth be one possible path for Chinese civilization to forever take: the path of National Unity.And thus, even to this day, and as recently as far back as 1949, the Chinese Nation, and the Chinese peoples have always desired to reunite, no matter what the cost, no matter how long it took and no matter how impossible it seemed, as unity was, is and shall always be, for the 5,000 year old civilization of China, clearly the best option with no suitable alternatives in sight.Conclusion (and Summary)By the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD), this idea that China was to forever remain as a singular, unified state, was by then so imprinted and readily adopted by Chinese culture and civilization, that even popular works of fiction recognized it as such.One clear example of this recognition was asserted by Ming Era author Luo Guanzhong, in his highly world renowned novel (or at least should be); “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, (published 1522 AD), itself based on the Three Kingdoms Period, that 60 year long civil war after the End of the Han Empire:“The world under heaven, after a long period of division, tends to unite; after a long period of union, tends to divide. This has been so since antiquity.”The first and foremost reason behind why Chinese civilization has always in the last 2,000 years inclined towards unity, rather than disunity, is simply because of the actions of the Qin and Han Dynasty, which invented and preserved respectively, the concept of a unified China, as being the best option for Sino civilization to forever pursue; a belief which has lasted in China even to this day.The reason is of course simple, China has never really benefitted much from being a disunified nation, instead, the norm for those rare occasions saw the Chinese Nation entirely ruined instead.For any given scenario in which China was disunified, whether it be during the Warring States Period (476–221 BC), the Age of Disunity (220–581 AD), the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960 AD) or even as recently as the Warlord Era (1916–1928), one thing remained and has continued to remain absolutely clear still to this day: that a unified and united China, was and will always be better than a divided China, no exceptions.And thus, this is why China remains both impressively large, yet somehow still unified even to this day, and will always remain as such. It would be impossible to imagine a reality which asserted otherwise. That is just the reality of Chinese civilization, regardless of any individual’s personal attitudes for or against it.SourcesGriffith, S.B. (2011). The Art of War: The New Illustrated Edition. London: Watkin’s Publishing.