A CRIMINAL HISTORY OF MANKIND

As the travellers move west over Persia, it is obvious that this great country is still as powerful as it
was under Darius a thousand years before. Under the Sassanid dynasty - founded by Artaxerxes
(Ardashir) in 226 A.D. - the empire has remained warlike and prosperous. There have been no less
than seven wars with Rome since Artaxerxes came to the throne, and there will be three more. The
Persians have shown themselves a great deal more tolerant than the Christians, and allow Christians
to worship within their empire. But at the moment the country is torn by religious dissension, due
to a high priest named Mazdak, who has gained many converts with his puritanical and
communistic doctrines, and whose followers have caused a civil war with their intolerance.
And so on once more to the Mediterranean, over the mighty city of Constantinople, with its walls
and towers and its superb position looking out over the Bosphorus. In this year 500 A.D.,
Constantinople is being governed peacefully and well by the servant-emperor Anastasius. All these
Mediterranean countries are crossed by Roman roads; the sea is still full of Roman and Byzantine
ships. Yet Rome itself is ruled by a barbarian, Theodoric the Goth, who is much resented by the
Italians. The last Roman emperor - the boy king Romulus - was deposed by Germans nearly a
quarter of a century ago. Theodoric killed the leader of the Germans - Ordovacar - with his own
hands, and ordered a massacre of his troops.
Nothing is more obvious than that this whole area has been under the sway of a mighty empire,
men whose engineering works will last for more than a thousand years. (Of how many modern
constructions can we say the same?) In Spain, in Greece, in North Africa, everything reveals their
presence. Then where are they? They are already in the process of disappearing, like the Vandals,
Huns and the Goths. Like a balloon that has exploded, their fragments now litter the Mediterranean.
The Celts have also virtually disappeared - driven into remote places such as Scotland and Wales
by the barbarians - although one of their last great generals, the British Artorius (later known as
king Arthur) will hold the barbarians at bay in England for another half century. In the rest of
Europe, the barbarians find themselves in possession of the remains of the Roman Empire, and its
sheer size and magnificence makes them feel awkward and uncomfortable.
The scientists would conclude their report:
Our earlier speculations about evolution have undoubtedly been
confirmed. These highly civilised people have become so obsessed
with the external world that they are unable to make proper use of their
inner resources. And yet they are intuitively aware that they ought to
be exploring them, and so find themselves in a permanent state of
dissatisfaction and discomfort. Our investigation has shown that these
Romans succumbed to the problem of the nouveau riche - that is to say
that the moment they became wealthy and comfortable, the moment
external challenges ceased to keep them up to the mark, they became
lazy and corrupt.
Fortunately, Roman materialism has caused a powerful reaction, and
the empire is now dominated by a sect called Christians who are far
more aware of their wasted potentialities. We predict, however, that
their rather simple-minded religion, directed towards a God outside
themselves and a crude system of reward and punishment after death,
will eventually provoke another powerful counter-reaction that will
once again direct attention towards the inner resources...