• TranscendentalEmpire
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    2 months ago

    Obfuscated self-interest" was specified.

    Right, But you also claimed that other societies at the time didn’t do the same…

    My point was that all societies thinly veil their self interest.

    justification for the illegal invasion of Iraq wasn’t to ‘spread freedom’, it was a (false) allegation of violation of international law regarding possession of WMDs.

    Lol, a bit of a pedantic argument. It and Afghanistan were obviously marketed as a stand for “freedom” at the time.

    What self-interest was fulfilled by invading Iraq? Ideology was a bigger factor there than any conception of national self-interest.

    You’re asking what self interest the Bush administration had for invading Iraq…? How much time do you have?

    Because the Greeks and the Persians wrote of their own motivations in largely the same way - largely sans justification.

    First of all, Persians and Greek often justified their conquest via the gods, or nationalism.

    Secondly Motivation and justifications can be the same thing depending on the social mores of the society.

    Lastly, you are utilizing examples of societies where the only people who were writing within the historical context were part of the ruling structure. Thats akin to getting acess to the email of Dick Cheney’s actual motivations for invading Iraq vs the story they told the media.

    What evidence would you accept? How much should I fetch for you?

    Any would be a good start?

    What

    During the year of 4 emperors Cremona was occupied by vitellian troops, they battled an army outside Cremona led by Antonius and lost. Cremona immediately surrendered and was subsequently raped and pillaged for no good reason.

    “Antonius then attacked Cremona, which surrendered. Cremona was sacked and then burned by the victorious troops over four days; many residents were raped, murdered and robbed.[3] Antonius was embarrassed by the episode and forbade the keeping of Cremonans as slaves, resulting in many being murdered by their captors to evade punishment.[4]”

    Edit: accidentally skipped your first claim

    believing that we’re culturally similar to ancient peoples is an incredibly dangerous and distorting way to view the past.

    This is kinda ridiculous considering that our legal and political bodies are highly influenced specifically by the Romans, who were in turn highly influenced by the Greek and Persians.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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      2 months ago

      Right, But you also claimed that other societies at the time didn’t do the same…

      My point was that all societies thinly veil their self interest.

      How many quotes will it take from societies not veiling their self-interest and, in fact, taking great pride in their naked self-interest, would it take to change your mind? Or is that a lost cause?

      Lol, a bit of a pedantic argument. It and Afghanistan were obviously marketed as a stand for “freedom” at the time.

      Jesus Christ.

      You’re asking what self interest the Bush administration had for invading Iraq…? How much time do you have?

      Enough time to easily show that ideological concerns were major, and national interest was minimal, despite the claims peddled.

      First of all, Persians and Greek often justified their conquest via the gods, or nationalism.

      Holy shit. We’re really just applying the casus belli of much later periods to antiquity, because it ‘feels right’, huh?

      Secondly Motivation and justifications can be the same thing depending on the social mores of the society.

      That’s an excellent way of saying nothing useful at all.

      Lastly, you are utilizing examples of societies where the only people who were writing within the historical context were part of the ruling structure. Thats akin to getting acess to the email of Dick Cheney’s actual motivations for invading Iraq vs the story they told the media.

      Oh, okay, so we’re changing our argument from “It was only the Romans who wrote about the matter!” to “All pre-modern writing is untrustworthy!”, cool cool cool.

      Any would be a good start?

      Why would I fetch anything without criteria for what would be regarded as a valid counterargument? I’ve done this stupid fucking dance with too many fucking people to count - people who come in with bizarre preconceptions about the past and have no interest in re-examining them, who freely dismiss any evidence given and delight in pissing away time and effort.

      Tell me what you’ll accept as valid, or there’s no point in me playing dumb games for you to move the goalposts like you did with the judgement of written sources in general already.

      During the year of 4 emperors Cremona was occupied by vitellian troops, they battled an army outside Cremona led by Antonius and lost. Cremona immediately surrendered and was subsequently raped and pillaged for no good reason.

      “A city during the first civil war in almost 100 years was looted by out-of-control troops hailing from the other side of the Empire against their commander’s orders and was roundly condemned by the histories”, clearly, you have proven that the Romans loved looting their own cities for no reason.

      This is kinda ridiculous considering that our legal and political bodies are highly influenced specifically by the Romans, who were in turn highly influenced by the Greek and Persians.

      I can trace Roman legal influence in the West through some 1500 years, and let me fucking tell you, that’s a very far cry from being culturally similar to the fucking Romans at any point, much less the diverse sources Western influence of some 500 years of Roman law drew from.

      • TranscendentalEmpire
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        2 months ago

        How many quotes will it take from societies not veiling their self-interest and, in fact, taking great pride in their naked self-interest, would it take to change your mind? Or is that a lost cause?

        Well you haven’t give men any quotes, even if you had isolated quotes aren’t exactly enough to even make a reductionist claim that the Romans were the only people justifying their conquest.

        Enough time to easily show that ideological concerns were major

        What ideological shift occurred between the time of the first and second gulf war? You are honestly claiming that the bush administration wasn’t motivated by things as simple as consolidating power under the administration, or even things like halliburton getting tens of billions of dollars?

        Holy shit. We’re really just applying the casus belli of much later periods to antiquity, because it ‘feels right’, huh?

        Lol, you’re saying going to war over a God’s will only happened after the Romans? You do know some of the earliest recordings of wars occured in ancient mesopotamia utilizing capturing the idols of gods as a pretext.

        okay, so we’re changing our argument from “It was only the Romans who wrote about the matter!” to “All pre-modern writing is untrustworthy!”, cool cool cool.

        I never claimed that it was only the Romans…that’s your argument which I am rebutting.

        I am saying that sources need to be examined within their historical context.

        Why would I fetch anything without criteria for what would be regarded as a valid counterargument? I’ve done this stupid fucking dance with too many fucking people to count

        Ahh yes, everyone else is the problem…not me, the only common denominator.

        bizarre preconceptions about the past and have no interest in re-examining them, who freely dismiss any evidence given and delight in pissing away time and effort.

        You’ve literally not given any evidence. I’m the only person in this particular argument who’s used sourced material.

        A city during the first civil war in almost 100 years was looted by out-of-control troops hailing from the other side of the Empire against their commander’s orders and was roundly condemned by the histories", clearly, you have proven that the Romans loved looting their own cities for no reason.

        Lol, so salty that I provided a source despite your baffled “What?”

        There are plenty of examples of similar events throughout the history of Rome.

        Roman legal influence in the West through some 1500 years, and let me fucking tell you, that’s a very far cry from being culturally similar

        I forgot I was talking to the dictator of cultures… I so glad you could make that opinion of your official.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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          2 months ago

          What ideological shift occurred between the time of the first and second gulf war?

          … do you think the First Gulf War wasn’t waged on ideological grounds…?

          Lol, you’re saying going to war over a God’s will only happened after the Romans? You do know some of the earliest recordings of wars occured in ancient mesopotamia utilizing capturing the idols of gods as a pretext.

          I would say it’s astounding that you’re so goddamn close to the point yet missing it, but it’s really not. Do I have to outline why stealing idols is different from religiously justified wars, or is naked theft a justification in your mind?

          I never claimed that it was only the Romans…that’s your argument which I am rebutting.

          This you?

          How exactly are we determining this? Thats probably what the Romans thought of the Germanic tribes and the Gauls, but we don’t exactly have a lot of primary sources from the people we’re talking about. Of course the empire is going to boil down their enemies motives while guiding their own.

          I am saying that sources need to be examined within their historical context.

          This you?

          Lastly, you are utilizing examples of societies where the only people who were writing within the historical context were part of the ruling structure. Thats akin to getting acess to the email of Dick Cheney’s actual motivations for invading Iraq vs the story they told the media.

          Ahh yes, everyone else is the problem…not me, the only common denominator.

          Me: “Give me your criteria for valid sources and I’ll gladly provide them.”

          Wow, yes, clearly I am the one being unreasonable. Excuse me while I go fetch a dozen quotes so you can say something brilliant like “Well, those were the ELITES, of COURSE they would say that” or “Well, that’s a ROMAN source, of COURSE they would say that” or “It’s just one/two/ten/twenty quotes, you can’t just extrapolate from that!” You know, things you’ve already fucking said. Things I’ve literally quoted you fucking saying.

          Excuse me for not being a fucking moron without pattern recognition skills for how people with no fucking foundation on a topic argue for their ‘intuitive’ preconceptions.

          Lol, so salty that I provided a source despite your baffled “What?”

          Salty is when I outline why the incident doesn’t say what you think it does and you have no actual response to that. Okay. Fantastic.

          There are plenty of examples of similar events throughout the history of Rome.

          Holy shit, are you really sitting here saying “War without cause is when there’s a revolt or civil war, and the more revolt or civil war there is, the less justification is used for it”?

          I forgot I was talking to the dictator of cultures… I so glad you could make that opinion of your official.

          “Dictatorship is when you say something that contradicts my assertion” - A Very Brilliant Commenter, apparently

          • TranscendentalEmpire
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            2 months ago

            do you think the First Gulf War wasn’t waged on ideological grounds…?

            You’re considering intervening in an invasion of oil rich Kuwait a war fought on ideological grounds?

            Do I have to outline why stealing idols is different from religiously justified wars, or is naked theft a justification in your mind?

            My dude, the gods of mesopotamia were thought to be literally represented by their idol. In their belief, stealing an idol was the same thing as stealing their god.

            This you?

            Yes, I’m still rebutting your wild claims…

            Me: “Give me your criteria for valid sources and I’ll gladly provide them.”

            Lol, you provided a source to begin with, you just claim to have sources that agree with your argument. How about a paper over the topic of your claim?

            Wow, yes, clearly I am the one being unreasonable. Excuse me while I go fetch a dozen quotes so you can say something brilliant like “Well, those were the ELITES, of COURSE they would say that” or “Well, that’s a ROMAN source, of COURSE they would say that” or “It’s just one/two/ten/twenty quotes, you can’t just extrapolate from that!” You know, things you’ve already fucking said. Things I’ve literally quoted you fucking saying.

            How performative, very dramatic. I’m not asking for dozens of quotes, I asked for one. Your interpretation of a few primary sources aren’t enough to draw sweeping conclusions. How about any modern historian covering the topic?

            Primary sources of ancient authors are important, but they require a surrounding body of contextual evidence to support any theory based on them. That’s why historians work with people like archeologists and anthropologists to explain interpretation of historical writings.

            Salty is when I outline why the incident doesn’t say what you think it does and you have no actual response to that. Okay. Fantastic.

            Salty and delusional…what a catch.

            War without cause is when there’s a revolt or civil war, and the more revolt or civil war there is, the less justification is used for it"?

            Lol, I we were talking about justifications, not “war without a cause”.

            Dictatorship is when you say something that contradicts my assertion" - A Very Brilliant Commenter, apparently

            Nope, just when people declare they can determine if cultures are similar or not based on a whim.

            • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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              2 months ago

              Lol, I we were talking about justifications, not “war without a cause”.

              Do you think the civil wars and revolts you linked to occurred… without justification? Because otherwise you were just posting a link of Roman conflicts with utterly no relevance to the conversation at hand, which is about what I’ve come to expect over the course of this conversation.

              How about a paper over the topic of your claim?

              Sure.

              Here’s one briefly covering the very Roman origins of the concept of Just War and the contrast with Greeks and other civilizations of antiquity, as well as covering how the concept of just war primary had a resurgence with the Enlightenment, not as some eternal and intrinsic value held by mankind as you seem to think. Though I could go through considerable dispute with their view on Just War in the medieval period

              Here’s one covering the importance of justifications for war in Roman culture and its origins

              Here’s one covering the abhorrence of Romans at what they saw as an unjust war waged by one of their own

              Here’s one covering the common and brutal amoral realpolitik espoused by Thucydides in examining and explaining the Greek wars of his time, including the attitudes of the actors involved

              Here’s one on the very nakedly self-interested justifications of the Hellenic Macedonians in the conquests of Phillip and Alexander and how utterly unremarkable they were in context of contemporary societies

              Here’s one on Germanic legal and moral thought regarding violence and war in antiquity

              Here’s one on the Germanic ethos of violence for personal gain in late antiquity/early medieval period

              But, you know, fuck all those, they’re reliant on the writing of elites and ethnic authors. What the fuck do they know?

              Fuck’s sake.

              • TranscendentalEmpire
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                2 months ago

                Do you think the civil wars and revolts you linked to occurred… without justification?

                The first example I gave is a scenario where a city was raised without justification. There are plenty of examples on the list I gave you of soldiers destroying cities because they were previously occupied by a rival general. The justification for the civil war isnt the justification used to attack a city who’s crime was only being occupied by an armed force

                Here’s one briefly covering the very Roman origins of the concept of Just War

                The etymology of a phrase isn’t the same as originating the very idea of justifying a war. In the chapter about the ancient world the first sentence runs counter to your summary. It states that the iliad was the first western writing to pose the conflict based on contingency instead of nature.

                Here’s one covering the importance of justifications for war in Roman culture and its origins](https://www.jstor.org/stable/43936674?read-now=1&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents)

                Again, this is explaining the origins of what a just war is to the Romans, it’s not saying that justifying wars was unique to or invented by the Romans.

                None of your Citations claim that Romans were the only people justifying their conquest. Nor do they make any arguments claiming that the Romans invented the concept of justifying conflicts.

                The problem with making giant sweeping claims is that it only takes one Example to counter them.

                But, you know, fuck all those, they’re reliant on the writing of elites and ethnic authors. What the fuck do they know?

                Lol, no they’re pretty decent papers, they just don’t make the claims you assume they do.

                I think you’re conflating the codified concept of the Roman “just war” with the concept of justifying wars in general.

                Which is kinda hilarious, because Rome had a far eastern counterpart that was active during the same periods and had very similar problems with “barbaric” neighbors. There are plenty of examples of the Han Empire justifying their own wars for nearly the same exact reasons. I just think you have a extremely eurocentric view of history.

                • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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                  2 months ago

                  The first example I gave is a scenario where a city was raised without justification.

                  And now you’re demonstrating an utter inability to differentiate between the actions of soldiers and the actions of the polity. Wonderful.

                  Again, this is explaining the origins of what a just war is to the Romans, it’s not saying that justifying wars was unique to or invented by the Romans.

                  None of your Citations claim that Romans were the only people justifying their conquest. Nor do they make any arguments claiming that the Romans invented the concept of justifying conflicts.

                  If you’d’ve fucking bothered reading what I’ve been saying, this might look familiar:

                  You have to remember that the pre-modern period was still very much a time of naked self-interest (as opposed to obfuscated self-interest) - it wasn’t so much that the non-Roman peoples thought of themselves as evil (or that the Romans thought of non-Roman peoples as thinking of themselves as evil), but that they saw less need to create elaborate justifications for participating in what was a common behavior of society at the time.

                  Because the Greeks and the Persians wrote of their own motivations in largely the same way - largely sans justification

                  Lol, no they’re pretty decent papers, they just don’t make the claims you assume they do.

                  Me: “Romans had a concept of just war, and placed a relatively high value on that concept for their time and in comparison to their contemporaries.”

                  You: [some long fucking diatribe trying to link the sacking of a city with the idea that the Romans didn’t have an idea of just war, despite the fact that it is not relevant either as a data point or as an assertion of standing policy, along with denying that ancient societies very often operated wars without justification because of some bizarre fucking universalist idea of intrinsic moral ideas being present in all cultures in the past, whilst simultaneously trying to paint the Roman Empire as acting without justification]

                  I can quote you for every part of that characterization of your position, mind you.

                  This is literally the fucking explanation I offered in the very first comment of this fucking thread

                  The Romans placed a relatively high value on the idea of Iustum Bellum - just war. Now, this was certainly not always adhered to - and furthermore, was often very far from ‘just’ as we would recognize it. But the Romans regarded the process of morally justifying their wars as something that made them superior to barbarian polities.

                  Like, Jesus fucking Christ, do I have to fucking spoon-feed you, here?

                  • TranscendentalEmpire
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                    2 months ago

                    And now you’re demonstrating an utter inability to differentiate between the actions of soldiers and the actions of the polity.

                    Lol, by that logic America wasn’t responsible for the My Lai massacre… If soldiers keep doing it and aren’t dissuaded or stopped, then it’s an implicit policy.

                    but that they saw less need to create elaborate justifications for participating in what was a common behavior of society at the time. largely the same way - largely sans justification

                    Ahh, so now we’re creeping away from the claim “very Roman origin of Just War”?

                    Me: “Romans had a concept of just war, and placed a relatively high value on that concept for their time and in comparison to their contemporaries.”

                    Lol, “How many quotes will it take from societies not veiling their self-interest and, in fact, taking great pride in their naked self-interest, would it take to change your mind? Or is that a lost cause?” This you?

                    So now that we’ve confirmed that Romans weren’t unique, the argument is how much more value the Romans placed on this compared to other contemporary societies…?

                    some long fucking diatribe trying to link the sacking of a city with the idea that the Romans didn’t have an idea of just war, despite the fact that it is not relevant either as a data point or as an assertion of standing policy

                    Lol, man that single example has you fuming! It was just an example I provided because of your flabbergasted response of “what”.

                    I see you’re not mentioning the other source that spoke about how the Han, who were contemporaries with the Romans, justified their wars.

                    But hey, being a little drama queen is certainly a way to get your point across, not a good way. But you do you.