In a little blog called The Emperor Julian’s Strategic disaster: are there any modern parallels? (LSS 25 3 26) we drew attention to the case of the Roman Emperor Julian . Whose great mistake was to enter into an unnecessary war of choice with Persia (then as now synonymous with Iran ) in order to boost his own flagging domestic popularity with what looked to be an easy victory.
Generally we try not to blow our own trumpet, as the vulgar phrase would have it. But we did at least draw a comparison which suggested that meddling with Iran/Persia , however disagreeable their regime, was a pretty bad idea unless you knew exactly what you were doing. We also noted that the end result of Julian’s blundering was a strategic backstep for his Empire of incalculable proportions by fatally weakening its offensive capabilities at a time when enemies assailed it on all frontiers. And we challenged readers to think of possible contemporary parallels to our little tale.
No historical parallel is ever perfect: no situation repeats exactly. But Julian was clearly out thought and out fought by an adversary who realised it had only to survive in order to emerge triumphant. So, once again-are there any modern parallels now that June has come?
#persia #iran #history #roman empire #united states #emperor julian
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