Post by carlos on Dec 9, 2016 0:42:19 GMT -5
I probably shouldn't post--or even visit the Pub--as I have sworn off writing, but I thought some of you might be interested in a website I discovered recently--Orbis.Stanford.edu--that calculates the routes (land and sea) the time it would take and the difficulties you would encounter in traveling from place to place in the Roman Empire at different seasons of the year, by oxcart, sailing vessel, marching column, cavalry steed, etc.
Lately I have been thinking of people living at the beginning of the dark ages (as we seem to be today) trying to imagine how they would live, and what they would do (unlike us, they probably didn't know they were living at the beginning of the dark ages.)
An interesting 'science fiction' or fantasy book on the subject is L. Sprague De Camp's "Lest Darkness Fall".
The Stanford program is a somewhat enlightening tangential exploration. I have been playing with it during our early winter days--time that I used to waste trying to think of plots, characters, and conversations to compete with all you actual writers.
The book and the program kind of feed each other, in my mind, and I find them quite fascinating--although I'm not certain that either of them will help me through the next four years.
Lately I have been thinking of people living at the beginning of the dark ages (as we seem to be today) trying to imagine how they would live, and what they would do (unlike us, they probably didn't know they were living at the beginning of the dark ages.)
An interesting 'science fiction' or fantasy book on the subject is L. Sprague De Camp's "Lest Darkness Fall".
The Stanford program is a somewhat enlightening tangential exploration. I have been playing with it during our early winter days--time that I used to waste trying to think of plots, characters, and conversations to compete with all you actual writers.
The book and the program kind of feed each other, in my mind, and I find them quite fascinating--although I'm not certain that either of them will help me through the next four years.
