ManintheField
Banned
So I'm very interested in getting to contributing to the wonderful volume of alternate historical material on this site. It's the primary reason I joined up, it's the primary reason I stick around, and I feel almost like it's a duty for me to do so -- otherwise I'm just wasting everybody's time and bandwidth.
This far it has felt like the most difficult thing in alternate history writing is picking where to start. There's so many choices! Do I want to do something from the World Wars? From the Dark Ages? Maybe about the Vikings? Or about the Islamic Golden Age? The Thirty Years War? Napoleon? Eugene of Savoy? Belisarius? Do I dive into India or China? Do I do something about the American Revolution?
It's so hard to pick and settle on something that I decided I would just go with the first good feeling idea that came to mind.
That ended up being Hellenistic Asia, Africa, and Europe.
I actually don't know incredibly much about the period. It has always been somewhat fascinating to me, although I feel it gets the short straw in Antiquity studies (most of the time it's that space-filler between Classical Greece and the Rise of Rome), but I really don't know enough about it. What I do know is something of the intellectual ferment that it inherited and expanded upon from the Classical Era. That's a big part of what interests me.
I don't have very much yet, little more than an idea and a direction, so I've come looking for more specific guidance. What I'd like to ultimately accomplish is a survival and thriving of the Hellenistic state system. I'm not necessarily interested in preserving any one dynasty, but I'd like to see the era of divided sovereignties in a world descended from and inspired by Classical Greece and the late Near East hold sway until I run out of steam on the timeline.
Exactly how to do this is what I'm a bit outside my depth on. I've already settled on introducing zero as soon as is practicable -- a kind of shot in the arm to Hellenistic science and accounting/finance --, but in terms of period politics I'm a little lost. I don't know much about the economic or cultural basis of society across the Hellenistic world. I'm only familiar with the barest bones of contemporary military equipment, tactics, or organization. In other words, I've got to do a lot of research.
What I'd like to ask to the scholars and gentlemen of this fine forum for is help on that front. Sources I can check out (unfortunately, preferably web-available sources. I'm between jobs right now and it's likely I won't be able to get one that will support a serious book-buying habit AND pay the bills anytime soon. I'll have to find a large enough public library for any recommended books), ideas you might have, really anything you think might contribute to a brain-storming session.
This far it has felt like the most difficult thing in alternate history writing is picking where to start. There's so many choices! Do I want to do something from the World Wars? From the Dark Ages? Maybe about the Vikings? Or about the Islamic Golden Age? The Thirty Years War? Napoleon? Eugene of Savoy? Belisarius? Do I dive into India or China? Do I do something about the American Revolution?
It's so hard to pick and settle on something that I decided I would just go with the first good feeling idea that came to mind.
That ended up being Hellenistic Asia, Africa, and Europe.
I actually don't know incredibly much about the period. It has always been somewhat fascinating to me, although I feel it gets the short straw in Antiquity studies (most of the time it's that space-filler between Classical Greece and the Rise of Rome), but I really don't know enough about it. What I do know is something of the intellectual ferment that it inherited and expanded upon from the Classical Era. That's a big part of what interests me.
I don't have very much yet, little more than an idea and a direction, so I've come looking for more specific guidance. What I'd like to ultimately accomplish is a survival and thriving of the Hellenistic state system. I'm not necessarily interested in preserving any one dynasty, but I'd like to see the era of divided sovereignties in a world descended from and inspired by Classical Greece and the late Near East hold sway until I run out of steam on the timeline.
Exactly how to do this is what I'm a bit outside my depth on. I've already settled on introducing zero as soon as is practicable -- a kind of shot in the arm to Hellenistic science and accounting/finance --, but in terms of period politics I'm a little lost. I don't know much about the economic or cultural basis of society across the Hellenistic world. I'm only familiar with the barest bones of contemporary military equipment, tactics, or organization. In other words, I've got to do a lot of research.
What I'd like to ask to the scholars and gentlemen of this fine forum for is help on that front. Sources I can check out (unfortunately, preferably web-available sources. I'm between jobs right now and it's likely I won't be able to get one that will support a serious book-buying habit AND pay the bills anytime soon. I'll have to find a large enough public library for any recommended books), ideas you might have, really anything you think might contribute to a brain-storming session.