Top Ten Most Terrifying Civilizations

[Atheist-Lite]

World stolen from under your feet?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_ne ... 127519.stm

[Svartalf]

What is a "Viking Empire"?

And why isn't the Merkin Empire on that list?

Yeah, I wondered about the Viking "Empire" too. They were never fully unified. I think they should have just referred to it as the Viking civilization.

The Normans I suspect they mean. Its a stretch though.

The Romans win hands down though if not in sheer numbers of dead (the USSR wins there I suspect) but the brutality. Join us or we kill you was the basic strategy and they did a lot of it!

Actually, I think that it's the collective of Denmark, Norway and (to a lesser extent) Iceland before 1000 or 1100 AD... when the Norse were actually doing raids and being a nuisance as barbarians... once they became Xtians, it wasn't the same. and the Normans were thoroughly accultured to mainland civilisation... once Göngu Hrolf became Dux Normannorum, he and his folk stopped being vikings... by the time their descendents invaded England, they were normal Western knights.

[John_fi_Skye]

What is a "Viking Empire"?

And why isn't the Merkin Empire on that list?

Yeah, I wondered about the Viking "Empire" too. They were never fully unified. I think they should have just referred to it as the Viking civilization.

The Celts were completely un-unified too. They spent as much time fighting each other as they did the Romans.

Celts are still the same. Sadly, sadly, Scots Gaelic is going to die out, and in large part that's because so many of its native speakers haven't been able to agree on how to save it.

But, as long as we beat the English we don't mind.

Yep. And the Anglo-Saxon temperament is so much better than the Celtic at working together: did you ever hear of Gaelic-speaking football hooligans? And did you know that even in our most wonderful triumph over our southern neighbours - 3-2 at Wembley in 1967 - our players were falling out? (Law, who wanted to thrash them by as many as possible, was getting really annoyed at Baxter, who just wanted to take the piss.)

[Tyrannical]

Wonder how China (PRC) avoided the list. I think they hold the record for death toll.

[John_fi_Skye]

Dollar Imperialism distresses me.

[Svartalf]

Wonder how China (PRC) avoided the list. I think they hold the record for death toll.

They are subsumed under the combo of NK and USSR

[FBM]

...

And why isn't the Merkin Empire on that list?

It's not "empire-building," it's Coca-colonization.


And wtf about Japan not being on the list? "comfort women" (sex slaves), the rape of Nanjing, brutal experiments on live humans, kamikazes, etc etc... Maybe they just ranked #11. Tough competition...we humans are a fucked up species...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They found ten "scary" groups and threw them into a list. Not even ranked properly.

[FBM]

Need to know the criteria they use. Numbers killed, numbers terrorized, degree of infamy, number of boring plays written about them? Wot, then?

[Coito ergo sum]

I think in terms of "terrifying" civilizations, the ones that I think are the most terrifying are:

The Mongols - if the Mongols showed up, you had two choices (a) surrender and have the men be slaves and forced to be the first-killed-soldiers in the next fight, and the women were used as sex slaves until eventually murdered, or (b) every man, woman and child would be put to the sword.

The Aztecs and the Mayans - with their mass blood sacrifices of humans were quite scary.

And, I imagine Kurgan and later Viking cultures were quite scarily brutal. They were some weird fuckers back then --- just read the Ibn Fadlan's eyewitness account of a Viking funeral: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_fune ... 7s_account - involving human sacrifice, gang rape and other niceties .... add to that their tendency toward mass slaughter -- the possibly accurate, possibly mythological practice of the "Blood Eagle" where they would take a guy's lungs and pull them out his back and leave his guts akimbo like the wings of a great bird....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_eagle

[Coito ergo sum]

Need to know the criteria they use. Numbers killed, numbers terrorized, degree of infamy, number of boring plays written about them? Wot, then?

i don't think they are using any one criteria or metric. I think it's too silly of a question to answer in any conclusive or objective fashio. But, it's fun to think about some of the fucked up "civilizations" that have been out there...

I think that Rum makes a good point with the Romans, but I don't put them as the most terrifying because I could imagine myself living in Rome and it wouldn't be all that scary. Much of Rome was peaceful and they went about their business. They had running water and baths, jobs, order, and lived lives much like we do today. The army was brutal and terrifying, yes. But, life in the Roman Empire was probably among the most attractive prospects in human history, and was probably nicer than in western Europe from 500 to at least 1500 CE....maybe even up to the industrial revolution.

[FBM]

Need to know the criteria they use. Numbers killed, numbers terrorized, degree of infamy, number of boring plays written about them? Wot, then?

i don't think they are using any one criteria or metric. I think it's too silly of a question to answer in any conclusive or objective fashio. But, it's fun to think about some of the fucked up "civilizations" that have been out there...

I think that Rum makes a good point with the Romans, but I don't put them as the most terrifying because I could imagine myself living in Rome and it wouldn't be all that scary. Much of Rome was peaceful and they went about their business. They had running water and baths, jobs, order, and lived lives much like we do today. The army was brutal and terrifying, yes. But, life in the Roman Empire was probably among the most attractive prospects in human history, and was probably nicer than in western Europe from 500 to at least 1500 CE....maybe even up to the industrial revolution.

Fair enough. If I think of the sheer stress and anxiety of day-to-day living for the average citizen of a particular country, my best guess to date would be N. Korea. Am open to new information, of course. But, fuck. N.K. has gotta be way up there.

[Coito ergo sum]

What is a "Viking Empire"?

And why isn't the Merkin Empire on that list?

Yeah, I wondered about the Viking "Empire" too. They were never fully unified. I think they should have just referred to it as the Viking civilization.

The Normans I suspect they mean. Its a stretch though.

The Romans win hands down though if not in sheer numbers of dead (the USSR wins there I suspect) but the brutality. Join us or we kill you was the basic strategy and they did a lot of it!

Actually, I think that it's the collective of Denmark, Norway and (to a lesser extent) Iceland before 1000 or 1100 AD... when the Norse were actually doing raids and being a nuisance as barbarians... once they became Xtians, it wasn't the same. and the Normans were thoroughly accultured to mainland civilisation... once Göngu Hrolf became Dux Normannorum, he and his folk stopped being vikings... by the time their descendents invaded England, they were normal Western knights.

Vikings were Norway, Sweden and Denmark folk. The Swedes mainly headed east, and raided the Baltic areas, and went up the rivers into Russia and Ukraine, and interacted with the eastern Empire. The Norse from Norway settled Iceland, and then later Greenland, and even Newfoundland. The Norwegians also raided the Orkneys, Hebrides, and founded the city of Dublin. Lots of Norse in Ireland and Scotland back in the day. The Danes invaded England, and founded the Danelaw. There was a Great Army of Vikings rambling around England for decades. The Viking Age is sort said to have started with the Norwegian raid on Lindesfarne where they showed up and destroyed a monastery and killed almost all the priests and stole all the wealth. That was in 793AD, I think. And, the Viking Age pretty much came to a dramatic end on Stamford Bridge in 1066 when the famous Norwegian viking Harald Hardrada took an arrow in the throat and the Viking attempt to conquer England failed. From what I read, Harald's army could very possibly have defeated Harold Godwinson at Stamford Bridge, had they had their armor (which had been left on their ships). It was only a month later that the Normans under Gonga-Rolf's (or Rollo) descendant William the Bastard (aka the Conqueror) defeated Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. That was in 1066. From 793 to 1066, the Vikings were all over Europe, raiding French cities, raping and pillaging in England and Scotland and Ireland, and participating as hired mercenaries in wars all over the Mediterranean. They made a big splash.

They had a Klingon like religion, too. reveling in battle and heroism. They raised their kids to fight, and being a warrior was a good thing to aspire to. Death in battle was an honor, and was the only way to be picked by a Valkyrie to go to Valhalla.

[Coito ergo sum]

Fair enough. If I think of the sheer stress and anxiety of day-to-day living for the average citizen of a particular country, my best guess to date would be N. Korea. Am open to new information, of course. But, fuck. N.K. has gotta be way up there.

I think North Korea took Orwell's 1984 as a dare. It is communism done to perfection.

[FBM]

Fair enough. If I think of the sheer stress and anxiety of day-to-day living for the average citizen of a particular country, my best guess to date would be N. Korea. Am open to new information, of course. But, fuck. N.K. has gotta be way up there.

I think North Korea took Orwell's 1984 as a dare. It is communism done to perfection.

To the point that they've deleted the word "communism" from their constitution. They don't really have any idealism except for the superiority of the Korean race, but even that is a smokescreen for the comfort of the latest Dear Leader and his minions.