Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Parasites and the Rise and Fall of Empires

John Hawks notes the possibility that widespread parasite infestation in a particular region could make it vulnerable to conquest by another group of humans without that infestation.

The quoted passage cites no documented historical examples of this happening, but it is worth putting into the mix of possible causes of the rise and fall of ancient (and not so ancient) empires.

1 comment:

Maju said...

Parasitic infestation by oligarchic bloodsuckers. Yeah, that happens. A lot!