An interesting post! I think you might enjoy reading 1587, A Year of No Significance (about the Ming, rather than the Song, but with some points of contact here).
Worth noting that, because of a lot of archaeological work since the 1970s, it now seems fairly clear that the Roman Near East was very economically prosperous in the 4th-6th centuries (primarily, but not exclusively an agrarian phenomenon). Things were a bit patchier in the western parts of the Empire, but the idea of uniform economic decline isn't really tenable any more.
"Nor is our economic growth is not stuttering" has one more negation than you intendedThe "meritocratic civil service, once a great source of strength, had let to a situation" let -> led
I'd not come across the Kipling poem before, very apposite! (Though weirdly formatted)
I first properly discovered Kipling's poems from SR in first year; I remember her having a giant compendium of all his poems (which I subsequently got a copy of), which I assume will still be in your house! He wrote a whole series on English history, of which this and Runnymede are (IMV) the best.
An interesting post! I think you might enjoy reading 1587, A Year of No Significance (about the Ming, rather than the Song, but with some points of contact here).
Worth noting that, because of a lot of archaeological work since the 1970s, it now seems fairly clear that the Roman Near East was very economically prosperous in the 4th-6th centuries (primarily, but not exclusively an agrarian phenomenon). Things were a bit patchier in the western parts of the Empire, but the idea of uniform economic decline isn't really tenable any more.
Sounds very interesting - I will add it to me 'to read' list!
There's a precis from one of the finalists of the 2022 Astral Codex Ten book review at https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/your-book-review-1587-a-year-of-no if you want to test drive the book before buying it.
"Nor is our economic growth is not stuttering" has one more negation than you intendedThe "meritocratic civil service, once a great source of strength, had let to a situation" let -> led
I'd not come across the Kipling poem before, very apposite! (Though weirdly formatted)
I first properly discovered Kipling's poems from SR in first year; I remember her having a giant compendium of all his poems (which I subsequently got a copy of), which I assume will still be in your house! He wrote a whole series on English history, of which this and Runnymede are (IMV) the best.