In the Kingdom of Colchis

I never really studied the geography of Greek mythology in depth. I recall trying to figure out where some of the ancient wars of mythology were supposedly fought, and when Xena: Warrior Princess was popular a lot of us Xenites read up on Amazon history and mythology.

Greek mythology is closely tied to the Black Sea region, whereas Greek history expands beyond that area into the wider world. There is a very clear and definite historical pattern in Greek mythology, however. Ancient Greeks studied that history, accepted it as faithfully as we accept the history lessons we are taught about the past 1000-1500 years, and they analyzed that history and used it to provide context for many contemporary anecdotes and histories.

Today we mine Greek mythology for inspiration in literature and other forms of entertainment. We draw upon the nomenclature and symbology of ancient Greek ideas for business and even for science. But we don't have much science that explores Greek mythology beyond the requisite archaeological inquiries into the city of Troy.

This past weekend SyFy ran the 2000 mini-series "Jason and the Argonauts", and while watching the show I decided to look up the Kingdom of Colchis, which (like many other lands mentioned in Greek mythology) was a real land. In fact, Colchis still exists today -- we call it the nation of Georgia.

Situated on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea, Georgia extends eastward about 2/3 of the way to the Caspian Sea. Colchis lay along the seashore. In the 2nd Millennium BCE it was apparently a rich land, powerful and ancient. Archaeology has confirmed that people have lived in the area (which is home to the Caucausus mountains) for thousands upon thousands of years.

In fact, archaeologists recently announced that 34,000 year-old fibers from Georgia show that people living in that region were weaving and sewing cloth.

Herodotus, called the father of history, opened his book with an account of wrongs between peoples of the east and west, which includes a very much reduced version of the Jason story:

Those of the Persians who have knowledge of history declare that the Phenicians first began the quarrel. These, they say, came from that which is called the Erythraian Sea to this of ours; and having settled in the land where they continue even now to dwell, set themselves forthwith to make long voyages by sea. And conveying merchandise of Egypt and of Assyria they arrived at other places and also at Argos; now Argos was at that time in all points the first of the States within that land which is now called Hellas;--the Phenicians arrived then at this land of Argos, and began to dispose of their ship's cargo: and on the fifth or sixth day after they had arrived, when their goods had been almost all sold, there came down to the sea a great company of women, and among them the daughter of the king; and her name, as the Hellenes also agree, was Io the daughter of Inachos. These standing near to the stern of the ship were buying of the wares such as pleased them most, when of a sudden the Phenicians, passing the word from one to another, made a rush upon them; and the greater part of the women escaped by flight, but Io and certain others were carried off. So they put them on board their ship, and forthwith departed, sailing away to Egypt. 2. In this manner the Persians report that Io came to Egypt, not agreeing therein with the Hellenes,[3] and this they say was the first beginning of wrongs. Then after this, they say, certain Hellenes (but the name of the people they are not able to report) put in to the city of Tyre in Phenicia and carried off the king's daughter Europa;--these would doubtless be Cretans;--and so they were quits for the former injury. After this however the Hellenes, they say, were the authors of the second wrong; for they sailed in to Aia of Colchis and to the river Phasis with a ship of war, and from thence, after they had done the other business for which they came, they carried off the king's daughter Medea: and the king of Colchis sent a herald to the land of Hellas and demanded satisfaction for the rape[4] and to have his daughter back; but they answered that, as the Barbarians had given them no satisfaction for the rape of Io the Argive, so neither would they give satisfaction to the Barbarians for this.

Source: Project Gutenberg eText of Herodotus' History

Of course, Herodotus cannot prove the tales he relates. He is only repeating what he has been told by local people (or travelers, or other sources). Still, he goes on to draw together some interesting threads about Colchis and Egypt:

For the people of Colchis are evidently Egyptian, and this I perceived for myself before I heard it from others. So when I had come to consider the matter I asked them both; and the Colchians had remembrance of the Egyptians more than the Egyptians of the Colchians; but the Egyptians said they believed that the Colchians were a portion of the army of Sesostris. That this was so I conjectured myself not only because they are dark-skinned and have curly hair (this of itself amounts to nothing, for there are other races which are so), but also still more because the Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians alone of all the races of men have practised circumcision from the first. The Phenicians and the Syrians[88] who dwell in Palestine confess themselves that they have learnt it from the Egyptians, and the Syrians[89] about the river Thermodon and the river Parthenios, and the Macronians, who are their neighbours, say that they have learnt it lately from the Colchians. These are the only races of men who practise circumcision, and these evidently practise it in the same manner as the Egyptians. Of the Egyptians themselves however and the Ethiopians, I am not able to say which learnt from the other, for undoubtedly it is a most ancient custom; but that the other nations learnt it by intercourse with the Egyptians, this among others is to me a strong proof, namely that those of the Phenicians who have intercourse with Hellas cease to follow the example of the Egyptians in this matter, and do not circumcise their children. 105. Now let me tell another thing about the Colchians to show how they resemble the Egyptians:--they alone work flax in the same fashion as the Egyptians,[90] and the two nations are like one another in their whole manner of living and also in their language: now the linen of Colchis is called by the Hellenes Sardonic, whereas that from Egypt is called Egyptian. 106. The pillars which Sesostris of Egypt set up in the various countries are for the most part no longer to be seen extant; but in Syria Palestine I myself saw them existing with the inscription upon them which I have mentioned and the emblem. Moreover in Ionia there are two figures of this man carved upon rocks, one on the road by which one goes from the land of Ephesos to Phocaia, and the other on the road from Sardis to Smyrna. In each place there is a figure of a man cut in the rock, of four cubits and a span in height, holding in his right hand a spear and in his left a bow and arrows, and the other equipment which he has is similar to this, for it is both Egyptian and Ethiopian: and from the one shoulder to the other across the breast runs an inscription carved in sacred Egyptian characters, saying thus, "This land with my shoulders I won for myself." But who he is and from whence, he does not declare in these places, though in other places he has declared this. Some of those who have seen these carvings conjecture that the figure is that of Memnon, but herein they are very far from the truth.

Now, it seems to me that Georgia is a long way from Egypt, but it is significant that Herodotus mentions their use of flax. Whether there is a true connection between Colchis and Egypt other than flax is a conjecture I cannot really explore. On the other hand, there does appear to be a real historical context for the golden fleece. Apparently, the local town of Svaneti in modern Georgia is closely associated with the practice of capturing gold from local rivers by laying sheepskins in the water.

Despite what I wrote above, archaeological work continues throughout the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean regions. But we mostly hear about archaeology concerned with Biblical, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman cultures. The more ancient, isolated cultures don't receive as much attention as we might wish they could. The picture of our ancient history is very incomplete. It will take a long time to uncover all the surviving pieces and assemble them together in something like a solved puzzle.

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How empires fall

A frequent theme in science fiction and fantasy literature is the fall of a great civilization or empire. Usually there is a young hero involved, someone who helps launch or galvanize a social upheaval against an evil and corrupt leadership and political structure.

In history there are seldom pivotal moments where simple farmers walk away from their former lives and become great war heroes. The ancient Roman general Cincinattus is a rare example of a man who answered the call to duty, performed his duty, and then returned to his former lifestyle.

I recently read an article about the decline of great empires and their militaries but I neglected to bookmark it for future reference. Today I noticed an article on CNN about the United States' increasing dependence upon contractors. I cannot help but think of how the Roman military gradually transformed itself into a non-Roman military organization.

When you think about it, our military is moving away from the classic model of the citizen soldier. We are developing remote-controlled technology to deploy on the battlefield. The CIA and military now regularly use remote-controlled aircraft to attack distant enemies. Soldiers may one day control robots that into battle for them on the ground.

As we combine our use of contractors with technology, we move further into the field of deploying surrogate troops -- which is exactly what the Romans did, although for other reasons.

The British empire went through a similar process. Like the Romans before them, the British built up a huge empire through efficient armed forces that were often outnumbered. But in order to maintain that empire the British relied upon foreign soldiers: Hessian mercenaries who fought against the American rebels, Indian armies that had originally been raised and equipped by the East India Company, and others.

The burden of maintaining vast frontiers becomes too expensive for any empire because frontier lands seldom if ever produce much profit. The Spanish Empire lasted for a couple of hundred years by importing tons of gold and silver from the Americas but eventually the impoverished populations of the Spanish provinces rose up and rebelled.

And now the United States is the last major colonial power on Earth. Our neo-colonialism saps the wealth out of foreign economies and relies upon puppet dictatorships to keep the poor nations under control. Okay, maybe that's how we did it in the 1950s but today we're still paying the price for our colonial policies by having to clean up Iraq and Afghanistan, both nations having once served as U.S. surrogates in foreign wars.

The basic model for imperialism remains the same: a powerful civilization exercises undo influence over its less advanced neighbors, drawing upon their resources for its own benefit and defending those resources against other aggressors. Eventually the imperial power loses the ability to sustain its military and the political will to hang on to the resources.

The United States has yet to achieve anything like a Pax Romana, which lasted about 200 years. During that 200 years people in the Roman Empire knew only relative peace. No major wars burned their fields and villages; their young men grew up, led productive lives, and did not think about the glories of war. The Roman armies gradually became more and more dependent upon foreign soldiers.

But it wasn't all just about the military. The Roman economy also transformed itself. The farmers grew tired of farming and they moved to the cities, where there were few if any jobs. The emperors had to keep the city populations happy so they invested in bread and circuses -- free food and free entertainment for everyone. Roman culture developed the ultimate consumer economy.

Of course, in today's America, we have lost many manufacturing jobs -- and many farm jobs. We still grow enough food for ourselves but we import more and more goods and services (through outsourcing). The self-sufficient America that stood up against the AXIS nations during the second world war no longer exists. Our software -- which we're not allowed to export to many nations -- is often written by people in other countries.

History is repeating itself, and science fiction has already acknowledged that fact with many stories about the decline of the United States (think of James Cameron's Dark Angel, for example). Some people would be quick to say we are already in our decline. But perhaps we are still in our ascendancy. Declines don't happen overnight. Their seeds are firmly embedded in the successes that precede them.

It's something to think about.

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