Re: Government

>Fascinating theory.  Are there any good works you could recommend to a
>lay reader about this "60 day rule"?

Geoffrey Parker's _The Military Revolution_ might have something on it, and
it's fairly common in the more recent (ie past 30 years) mercantilism
studies.  Those are, however, notoriously boring.  During my general exams,
one of my examiners (Dr Parker, actually) wanted to know why I had chosen
Finance/economics as a minor field as it was "monumentaly boring".  The
answer, of course, is that it's also just plain important.  Fortunately
that was what he was looking for:)  You might look at William McNeil _The
Pursuit of Power_, Luttwak's _Strategy_, and Rogers, _The Military
Revolution Debate_. Concerning premodern logistics (an important
consideration regarding any SJ government) Guilmartin's _Gunpowder and
Galleys_ and Engels, _Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the
Macedonian Army_ are must reads.

>Extending this logic, we could expect many Empires which extend over
>every continent on a world, if not the whole world, some Empires which
>extend throughout a sphere, or even a whole sphere, and very few
>Empires which can exert _control_ effectively over several spheres.

This will depend entirely on how many helms they have available, and how
easy you make using helms within an atmosphere.  I try to make it as
difficult as sailing in the same period:)

>If spelljammers can physicly only land at spaceports on large worlds
>then we could expect to see lots of outposts and zones of control around
>those outposts, but large areas of large worlds would be beyond the
>spelljammer nation's influence.  If it requires a specially enchanted
>Reverse Gravity cradle to launch spelljammers from a world, ports will
>be very important centers of economic and military control.

Exactly.

>If spelljammers can land anywhere a WWI biplane could land, then
>basicly 90+% of the arable land can be dominated from above, but
>large forested areas or swamps may still be inaccessible.

"Domination" is a vague word here. Despite the recent illusionary victory
in the Balkans, airpower (or Spelljammerpower) simply cannot win a conflict
alone, so pure military domination will still focus around population
centers. The advantages of trade and law will do more to maintain control
in those regions.  The Roman Empire arose because it was militarily
efficient, but it remained because its law system was expandable to include
non-Romans, and because its law and trade system allowed for greater
prosperity.  The Roman Empire of the 2nd century saw a level of prosperity
in the Mediterranean world that would not return until the 20th century.
The Western half of the Empire fell for many reasons (this is a hotly
debated topic) but it certainly failed to guarentee the large amounts of
prosperity and rule of Law that had existed previously.


>When the Complete Psionics guide came out, I worked out a society
>where the psionicist ruling class was connected by a network of
>Contacts made permanent by psychic surgery.  Each psionicist would
>be connected to at least 3 other psionicists, and could therefore
>get into Contact with hundreds of psionicists throughout the nation
>in a matter of minutes.
>
>With Sight Link and Teleportation they could immediately summon
>reinforcements.
>
>So, the total power of the empire could be brought to bear wherever
>a single member of the psionicist class was physicly present to
>guide them in.

Interesting idea, I've often felt such a psionic "class" could rule an
Empire well. Hmmm......

>Now _that_ would be a nasty surprise for any would be conqueror
>who thinks that spelljammers give him an unbeatable edge versus
>groundlings.  That empire might make a great "Big Menace" as well.
>They might have difficulty projecting their power beyond their
>home sphere at first, but those spelljammer outposts within
>their sphere would be easier prey.

Yes, I've always felt most spelljammers avoid large worlds for the same
reason most Planars avoid Prime worlds, no matter how much more advanced
they feel, they know that large worlds are often home to large, dangerous
menaces:)

>On that subject:
>Imagine a sphere that is conveniently located for a stopover to
>refresh air, food and water supplies on the route between two
>spelljamming active spheres with a lot of trade between them.
>Because the outer worlds are far more important for this purpose,
>the inner worlds are largely ignored in the first dozen years
>or so after this route is discovered.
>
>Perhaps there are even Wayports, life supporting asteroids which
>have been moved near the permanent portals in the sphere, so that
>detours to replentish air, food, water and other supplies add
>mere days to the total travel time.

IMC, this is what makes Bralspace aka Spiralspace such an important sphere.
It's relatively small, has many small worlds, and is located at the
junction of many Flow rivers (without Flow Rivers, IMC, Phlogiston
navigation is almost impossible).  This makes Bralsapce an important
sphere, despite it's lack of large worlds.:)

"We look on the same stars,  the sky is common,  the same world surrounds
us.  What difference does it make by what pains each seeks the truth?  We
can not attain to so great a secret by one road..."
Symmachus,  "Memorial on the Occasion of the Removal of the Altar of
Victory from the Senate House" (392 AD)

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, History, Ohio State
Adjunct Faculty, Humanities Department, Columbus State Community College