Honestly, I imagine an alternative history where Persia conquered Greece; which means no Alexander the Great, no Greek empire, likely no Roman empire and no Caeser.
The Persians respected the religious views of their people, so Europe would likely still be filled with Celtic and Germanic cultures. Egypt would have remained Egyptian. Jesus might have been deified as a god-king instead of crucified, and then went on the implement socialist reforms throughout the Levant and beyond.
No Umayyad or Abbasid Empires. No Mamluks, Seljuks, or Ottomans. The Mongols would have been welcomed as friendly merchants instead of having their emissaries executed, whipping them into a blind rage which ravaged Eurasia.
The Persians would have had regular contact spanning from the Indus Valley to the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the borders of Egypt, being a source of stability and trade, cultural and intellectual exchange. Buddhism and Christianity could have melded into a truly enlightened and altruistic religion with elements of all the others and tolerance for religious diversity.
I mean there’s no guarantee it would turn out so neatly, but there’s a good chance things would have gone a lot better than they did…
Honestly, I imagine an alternative history where Persia conquered Greece; which means no Alexander the Great, no Greek empire, likely no Roman empire and no Caeser.
The Persians respected the religious views of their people, so Europe would likely still be filled with Celtic and Germanic cultures. Egypt would have remained Egyptian. Jesus might have been deified as a god-king instead of crucified, and then went on the implement socialist reforms throughout the Levant and beyond.
No Umayyad or Abbasid Empires. No Mamluks, Seljuks, or Ottomans. The Mongols would have been welcomed as friendly merchants instead of having their emissaries executed, whipping them into a blind rage which ravaged Eurasia.
The Persians would have had regular contact spanning from the Indus Valley to the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the borders of Egypt, being a source of stability and trade, cultural and intellectual exchange. Buddhism and Christianity could have melded into a truly enlightened and altruistic religion with elements of all the others and tolerance for religious diversity.
I mean there’s no guarantee it would turn out so neatly, but there’s a good chance things would have gone a lot better than they did…