I'm surprised that most of the people in this thread would rather do something absolutely horrific to the timeline under the guise of good intentions instead of actually doing something good.
that said, I'd probably find some way to keep the Library of Alexandria from being burned. that was one of the greatest losses of knowledge in history.
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If I were able to change one thing in history, it'd be to successfully kill the person/people who stated that History had to be taught in the classroom. My god was that a boring class. *Sigh*
Granted people would scoff at this and say "History is important": Yes, it may be important, but we had enough boring classes throughout the first 18 years of life...do we REALLY need to keep that one?
For those of you interested in saving the Library of Alexandria, you might also have wished to stop the Sack of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258.
"Survivors said that the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantities of books flung into the river". One historian likens the significance of the destruction of Baghdad to the destruction of the Athens of Pericles and Aristotle by a nuclear bomb.
The Mongols and their invasion were responsible in no small part for the end of the Islamic Golden Age.
that said, I'd probably find some way to keep the Library of Alexandria from being burned. that was one of the greatest losses of knowledge in history.
Realistically that's probably my pick too.
Also tossing my bit in the history education thing, I can't tell you how many times I learned the same cursory bits of american history over and over again, I know I had at least 4 classes cover pretty much the exact same material. It's pretty messed up.
Not that the American education system isn't messed up as a whole though...
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A few scrolls? Greece was the home of some of the greatest thinkers of history! They revolutionnized philosophy and brought up concepts never considered before. These irreplacable vaults of intellectual treasures are worth far more than any number of roads.
Killing Caesar will not stop the sacking of Athens. Athens was raided by Sulla, who did so about half a century before Caesar was assassinated. Likely, if you wanted to stop the sacking of Athens, you'd have to kill the Latins before they founded Rome.
Also, it should be mentioned that Rome revolutionized public transportation, facilitated the spread of ideas, pioneered irrigation, developed steam engines, created concrete which rivals that of today, erected bridges surpassing those built before, and accomplished other endeavors.
Whereas Greece was the home of the thinkers, Rome was the home of the doers: engineers, political visionaries, military pioneers, etc.
(Not to mention literary greats such as Virgil, Juvenal, and Martial)
There were 4 major attacks on the Library of Alexandria. 3 came from roman invasions, only 1 from a muslim force. There isn't even agreement from historians as to how much muslims were involved, from the few historical references.
The one in which Julius Caesar was involved did almost nothing to the library. Sure, thousands of scrolls were accidentally destroyed, but those were not in the library, but near the docks. Mostly sales ledgers, so unless you want to know how many fish C. Marcellus bought, not much was lost. There were a few scrolls in the library lost, but nothing important; the important scrolls are much better protected.
According to most sources, the library was destroyed when it was controlled by the Muslim forces, causing the tremendous loss of information to which you were referring.
If I could change one thing, regardless of difficulty, I would probably eliminate humanity's existence (assuming I could change it back) just to see what things would've been like without us.
If not that, I'd probably mess around with my own past because I'm greedy and evil.
Killing Caesar will not stop the sacking of Athens. Athens was raided by Sulla, who did so about half a century before Caesar was assassinated. Likely, if you wanted to stop the sacking of Athens, you'd have to kill the Latins before they founded Rome.
Also, it should be mentioned that Rome revolutionized public transportation, facilitated the spread of ideas, pioneered irrigation, developed steam engines, created concrete which rivals that of today, erected bridges surpassing those built before, and accomplished other endeavors.
Whereas Greece was the home of the thinkers, Rome was the home of the doers: engineers, political visionaries, military pioneers, etc.
(Not to mention literary greats such as Virgil, Juvenal, and Martial)
The one in which Julius Caesar was involved did almost nothing to the library. Sure, thousands of scrolls were accidentally destroyed, but those were not in the library, but near the docks. Mostly sales ledgers, so unless you want to know how many fish C. Marcellus bought, not much was lost. There were a few scrolls in the library lost, but nothing important; the important scrolls are much better protected.
According to most sources, the library was destroyed when it was controlled by the Muslim forces, causing the tremendous loss of information to which you were referring.
First, you'll notice in my first post I never said "Destroy all Romans!" I just suggested we reduce the growth of the Roman Empire.
Second, that's why I mentionned the Empire. Of course killing only Caesar wouldn't accomplish much.
Third, I am very curious to see those sources of yours.
There's ample details on the multiple Roman attacks of the library, but only a few mentions here and there of the Muslim attack.
Keep in mind I don't deny that Muslims did horrible damage to the Library. However that is no reason to dismiss what Romans did before.
On the same page:
Furthermore, in the 4th century, both the pagan historian Ammianus Marcellinus and the Christian historian Orosius wrote that the Bibliotheca Alexandrina had been destroyed by Caesar's fire. The anonymous author of the Alexandrian Wars writes that the fires Caesar's soldiers had set to burn the Egyptian navy in the port of Alexandria went as far as burning a store full of papyri located near the port.[17] However, the geographical study of the location of the historical Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the neighborhood of Bruchion suggests that this store cannot have been the Great Library.[18] It is most probable here that these historians confused the two Greek words bibliothekas, which means “set of books”, with bibliotheka, which means library. As a result, they thought that what had been recorded earlier concerning the burning of some books stored near the port constituted the burning of the famous Alexandrian Library.
...
Theodore Vrettos describes the damage caused by the fire: "The Roman galleys carrying the Thirty-Seventh Legion from Asia Minor had now reached the Egyptian coast, but because of contrary winds, they were unable to proceed toward Alexandria. At anchor in the harbor off Lochias, the Egyptian fleet posed an additional problem for the Roman ships. However, in a surprise attack, Caesar's soldiers set fire to the Egyptian ships, and the flames, spreading rapidly in the driving wind, consumed most of the dockyard, many structures near the palace, and also several thousand books that were housed in one of the buildings. From this incident, historians mistakenly assumed that the Great Library of Alexandria had been destroyed, but the Library was nowhere near the docks... The most immediate damage occurred in the area around the docks, in shipyards, arsenals, and warehouses in which grain and books were stored. Some 40,000 book scrolls were destroyed in the fire. Not at all connected with the Great Library, they were account books and ledgers containing records of Alexandria's export goods bound for Rome and other cities throughout the world."
Julius Caesar had very little to do with the destruction of the Great Library.
I would bring a brain surgeon from the future back to 1990 and have him put my brain in Chris Cornell's body so I could have his voice.
Or I'd give large amounts of military ordnance and smallpox vaccines to the Aztecs right before Cortez showed up.
It's a really tough choice
Actually the Aztecs weren't killed so much by the epidemies as they were for theire rivaling tribes that joined the spaniards to take them down. It would work for other native americans though...
I would have William Wallace invent the desert eagle .50 and rape the English
Scottish nationalism aside, there is some evidence that joining the British empire allowed Scotland to transform itself from a backwater into the leading light of philosophical thought and intellectual pursuits.
I personally wonder what would have happened if Kennedy had not been assassinated or if Watergate would not have happened. Either of those two would be fascinating to watch unfold.
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Even if the author is silenced, the performance is stopped, the story will not end.
Whether it's a comedy or a tragedy, if there is cheering, the story will continue on.
Just like the many lives.
For the us who are still in it and still in the journey, send warm blessings.
- We will continue to walk down this path until eternity.
I would have the computer be invented years ahead of time, propelling us forward years as far as technology if concerned.
If time travel were to be allowed (How could you change history, after all) I would bring back the newest computer that the earliest in the field of computer science could understand, and then repeat the process as needed until we are capable of just about anything.
I would have the computer be invented years ahead of time, propelling us forward years as far as technology if concerned.
If time travel were to be allowed (How could you change history, after all) I would bring back the newest computer that the earliest in the field of computer science could understand, and then repeat the process as needed until we are capable of just about anything.
I think you mean you would teach micro-electronics to the people of the 30s and 40s. Without micro-electronics there wouldnt be the computers of today. I wonder how seriously the people of the 30s and 40s would listen to you. Taking back a computer would probably be seen a fad or trickery. Lets not mention how the military would jump all over micro-electronics and keep it from the masses for a while until they felt they got every thing they feel they could.
If nuclear technology was never developed, what would the world look like? Nuclear progression pushed us way ahead of our time, I'm wondering what "decade" we'd be in without it. The 1970's in terms of technology? Who knows.
-Matt
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"I'm your Huckleberry." - Doc Holliday
"You're like the nicest person on the forum!" -Maicol
that said, I'd probably find some way to keep the Library of Alexandria from being burned. that was one of the greatest losses of knowledge in history.
Yes better that we all remain ignorant.
I'm not sure I would change anything.
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"Survivors said that the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantities of books flung into the river". One historian likens the significance of the destruction of Baghdad to the destruction of the Athens of Pericles and Aristotle by a nuclear bomb.
The Mongols and their invasion were responsible in no small part for the end of the Islamic Golden Age.
BRGotta Get or Get GotRB
(Avatar courtesy of Heylookitsamoose)
Also tossing my bit in the history education thing, I can't tell you how many times I learned the same cursory bits of american history over and over again, I know I had at least 4 classes cover pretty much the exact same material. It's pretty messed up.
Not that the American education system isn't messed up as a whole though...
Also, it should be mentioned that Rome revolutionized public transportation, facilitated the spread of ideas, pioneered irrigation, developed steam engines, created concrete which rivals that of today, erected bridges surpassing those built before, and accomplished other endeavors.
Whereas Greece was the home of the thinkers, Rome was the home of the doers: engineers, political visionaries, military pioneers, etc.
(Not to mention literary greats such as Virgil, Juvenal, and Martial)
The one in which Julius Caesar was involved did almost nothing to the library. Sure, thousands of scrolls were accidentally destroyed, but those were not in the library, but near the docks. Mostly sales ledgers, so unless you want to know how many fish C. Marcellus bought, not much was lost. There were a few scrolls in the library lost, but nothing important; the important scrolls are much better protected.
According to most sources, the library was destroyed when it was controlled by the Muslim forces, causing the tremendous loss of information to which you were referring.
If not that, I'd probably mess around with my own past because I'm greedy and evil.
First, you'll notice in my first post I never said "Destroy all Romans!" I just suggested we reduce the growth of the Roman Empire.
Second, that's why I mentionned the Empire. Of course killing only Caesar wouldn't accomplish much.
Third, I am very curious to see those sources of yours.
According to the wiki page on the subject
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria#Arabic_sources_for_the_destruction_of_the_library
There's ample details on the multiple Roman attacks of the library, but only a few mentions here and there of the Muslim attack.
Keep in mind I don't deny that Muslims did horrible damage to the Library. However that is no reason to dismiss what Romans did before.
On the same page:
Julius Caesar had very little to do with the destruction of the Great Library.
For the third time, it's why I mentionned stopping the roman empire too, not just Caesar.
Stopping the Roman Empire would likely cause more bad than good.
Or I'd give large amounts of military ordnance and smallpox vaccines to the Aztecs right before Cortez showed up.
It's a really tough choice
According to this study I should be deaf by now.
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It shouldn't be "dies"
It shouldn't be "is put into the graveyard from the battlefield"
It should be "is put into the graveyard from play"
Actually the Aztecs weren't killed so much by the epidemies as they were for theire rivaling tribes that joined the spaniards to take them down. It would work for other native americans though...
Scottish nationalism aside, there is some evidence that joining the British empire allowed Scotland to transform itself from a backwater into the leading light of philosophical thought and intellectual pursuits.
BRGotta Get or Get GotRB
(Avatar courtesy of Heylookitsamoose)
Whether it's a comedy or a tragedy, if there is cheering, the story will continue on.
Just like the many lives.
For the us who are still in it and still in the journey, send warm blessings.
- We will continue to walk down this path until eternity.
If time travel were to be allowed (How could you change history, after all) I would bring back the newest computer that the earliest in the field of computer science could understand, and then repeat the process as needed until we are capable of just about anything.
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I think you mean you would teach micro-electronics to the people of the 30s and 40s. Without micro-electronics there wouldnt be the computers of today. I wonder how seriously the people of the 30s and 40s would listen to you. Taking back a computer would probably be seen a fad or trickery. Lets not mention how the military would jump all over micro-electronics and keep it from the masses for a while until they felt they got every thing they feel they could.
-Matt
Legacy:
Thanks to SGT Chubbs for the sig