Tanja wrote: <I know what you mean about the flavour of decadence, which is why I chose the Byzantine Empire,>
Mmmm ... yes, quite possible, there's The Secret History (set in Justinian's rule, can't recall the author) in which an impressive amount of backstabbing, political skullduggery etc goes on (I'm not so sure about the immorality and decadence; for all her toy-boy proclivities, Servalan gives the impression in Gambit that she sees herself as Above All That.)
<because during the Julian-Claudian dynasty, Rome actually was still on the rise, not in its decadent stage. Never mind Caligula's mad shenanigans, the infrastructure and the administration were still sound, and the Empire hadn't even reached its largest extension yet.>
Again agreed; when using the term 'Roman' I was actually thinking less of the Federation as a whole and more of simply the elite, the President's court if you like. Compare it to decline of the aristocratic oligarchal elite under the late Roman Republic and early Empire.
<Though... in the year of the Three Emperors, following Nero's suicide, we do have an atmosphere very like the Federation following Servalan's coup d'etat, with general after general going for the throne.>
Interesting that Our Villainess, the one *we* have most interest in, is in fact one of the failures, President for 1-2 years at most, and would probably end up a minor, forgotten footnote in history (Blake, OTOH, will be a legend like Robin Hood or the Charge of the Light Brigade. IMO, he would be irresistable to folk lore, even more so after Gauda Prime).
<However, with Vespasian finally installed, everything stabilised again. So, alternatingly, could it be that the Federation after a final major shake-up becomes even more, not less stable?>
But outside factors are against it. The Federation, as I see it, is still in real trouble even as it expands in the last series; it's stretched its resources almost to breaking point and is heavily, dangerously dependent on one super-weapon (aka the writers thought up this brilliant McGuffin and luckily didn't have to deal with the 5th-series consequences). From Warlord :
MIDA: Resistance means armies, Avon, whatever you say, and we haven't got them.
AVON: Well, neither has the Federation. At least not sufficient to indulge in widespread conventional conquest.
IMO, this larger picture would fit rather well with your later, decaying Empire.
Though... in the year of the Three Emperors, following Nero's suicide, we do have an atmosphere very like the Federation following Servalan's coup d'etat, with general after general going for the throne. However, with Vespasian finally installed, everything stabilised again. So, alternatingly, could it be that the Federation after a final major shake-up becomes even more, not less stable?
Tanja
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Sally Manton wrote, regarding my Byzantine suggestion:
Mmmm ... yes, quite possible, there's The Secret History (set in Justinian's rule, can't recall the author)
Prokopius. He wrote an official chronicles, too, praising Justinian and Theodora, while writing the Secret History on the sidelines. Doesn't mean the Secret History is in all parts correct, btw; Prokopius was Belisarius' secretary, blamed Theodora for each and every ill befalling his hero, and there was the religious factor as well, since he hated the Monosophytes whom she supported. (Religious history in the Byzantine Empire is headache-inducing.) Still, he certainly had the scoop on some things.
in which an impressive amount of
backstabbing, political skullduggery etc goes on (I'm not so sure about the immorality and decadence; for all her toy-boy proclivities, Servalan gives the impression in Gambit that she sees herself as Above All That.)
I think for her, pleasure is pleasure and business is business. An occassional boytoy on the sidelines is one thing, but I think she devoted considerable more times to scheming than she ever did to sex. (Only in the case of Avon could the two agendas meet.)
Interesting that Our Villainess, the one *we* have most interest in, is in fact one of the failures, President for 1-2 years at most, and would probably end up a minor, forgotten footnote in history (Blake, OTOH, will be a legend like Robin Hood or the Charge of the Light Brigade. IMO, he would be irresistable to folk lore, even more so after Gauda Prime).
Of course, there is always the possibility that Servalan manages to do to his postumous reputation what Henry Tudor did to Richard III's, if she, with no more Avon obsession to distract her PGP, manages to get on top again and re-form the Federation. Blake then would, except for a few dedicated Blakians, be regarded as a children-eating monster. (I can just see how Star One would look like in a Servalanic rewrite.)
However, I agree about your point regarding...
But outside factors are against it. The Federation, as I see it, is still in real trouble even as it expands in the last series; it's stretched its resources almost to breaking point and is heavily, dangerously dependent on one super-weapon (aka the writers thought up this brilliant McGuffin and luckily didn't have to deal with the 5th-series consequences).
Agreed. The way it looks like in the 4th series, the next Andromedan invasion would do them in (Andromedans as the equivalent of the invading Goths and Vandals?).
Tanja
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Sally Manton