Ryan — I really like your summary of the book. I enjoyed the book as well — I think it reads very well next to Colin Imber’s book The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power (European History in Perspective).
Thanks. One of the threads in Baer's book is that the Ottomans saw themselves in unbroken heritage from Rome to Constantinople to themselves. We break them up into different "civilizations" or empires, but they did not see themselves that way. Peoples in the Middle East and Asia frequently referred to Ottomans as the Romans. It's hard to wrap your head around. :)
That comes up occasionally in the podcast. That's fascinating! That was true of the Byzantine too. They just called themselves the Romans. They did not see any discontinuity between themselves and the Roman Empire.
Makes you wonder if centuries hence someone is going to call themselves "President of the United States" long after our way of life has passed. And everyone will agree!
That will definitely happen. I am positive in a thousand years people on this continent will say they are ruled by the constitution, have the bill of rights, have a house and Senate and president, but the reality of those things will look incredibly different from how they look today
Ryan — I really like your summary of the book. I enjoyed the book as well — I think it reads very well next to Colin Imber’s book The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power (European History in Perspective).
This was great! Have been listening to the Byzantine history podcast (which just reached an end) and have always been curious about what came next.
Thanks. One of the threads in Baer's book is that the Ottomans saw themselves in unbroken heritage from Rome to Constantinople to themselves. We break them up into different "civilizations" or empires, but they did not see themselves that way. Peoples in the Middle East and Asia frequently referred to Ottomans as the Romans. It's hard to wrap your head around. :)
That comes up occasionally in the podcast. That's fascinating! That was true of the Byzantine too. They just called themselves the Romans. They did not see any discontinuity between themselves and the Roman Empire.
Makes you wonder if centuries hence someone is going to call themselves "President of the United States" long after our way of life has passed. And everyone will agree!
That will definitely happen. I am positive in a thousand years people on this continent will say they are ruled by the constitution, have the bill of rights, have a house and Senate and president, but the reality of those things will look incredibly different from how they look today