Nations and their size.

> Tony Wilkinson wrote:

> although Cal-Tex might be expanding very rapidly.

        Uh-Oh, I smell shades of "manifest destiny" and the Monroe
Doctrine.

Recently John Atkinson and myself were discussing how to base a GZG Universe
nation on the 10th century Byzatine empire. This upset some of you I know but
there are wider implications for all those using the GZG background that have
been missed. John said that the Nea Rhomanoi Empire had 47 worlds. Problem.
From the background so far we have only the size of three nations, New
Israel, the Salfeed Caliphate and Free Cal-Tex. We also know the names
of 45 planets. Now if New Israel and the Caliphate are minor powers then
having 1 or 2 worlds seems ok. Free Cal-Tex however also has only 2
worlds and is yet rated as a major power due to it's economy. You can see the
implications if the Rhomanoi have 47 worlds. I have no problems with the
Rhomanoi having an empire of 47 continents
because taking Earth as an average this would mean the empire is 4-6
worlds. Even a place like Mars can be divided up into continents due to its
rift valleys and mountain ranges even though it is no longer tectonically
active. Also a size of 4 to 6 worlds would mean that the Rhomanoi were a minor
power and thus would not upset the background. But what does this mean for the
other nations? Well if we say that a minor power has up to 6 worlds under it's
control, PAU and LLAR being slightly larger say 12 worlds but under developed
mostly. Major powers might then have a dozen to 15 worlds in their domains but
far more developed than
those of the PAU and LLAR, Cal-Tex being very highly developed
economically and thus smaller, perhaps Austin and New Pasadena have multiple
moons or thick asteroid belts that are economically valuable, besides having
industry on a moon means that you dont have to worry about pollution. For the
super power I think we are looking at 20 to 30 worlds each with the ESU
perhaps being slightly larger. I am making the assumtion that by world we do
mean a realatively Earth like planet that has been heavily settled and
industrially developed and that these worlds would make the major
contributions to the economy. This still leaves open the possiblity of mining
operations, start up colonies and military bases on planets or moons that are
not settled. Obviously the super powers would have more of these, probably
proportional to the number
of worlds controled although Cal-Tex might be expanding very rapidly.
Just some ideas and thoughts.

> You wrote:

> I know but there are wider implications for all those using the GZG

Note that this was entirely arbitrary, based on number of Themes extant in
1025...

> 45 planets. Now if New Israel and the Caliphate are minor powers then

Of course, the implications are that the Rhomaioi are a major power in my
background...

> I have no problems with the Rhomanoi having an empire of 47

Hrmmmm... Quite possible. I'll have to play with the numbers a bit.
Will probably work out to 4 or 5 major planets, with a half-dozen minor
colonies (probably all contested by Islamic Federation in order to make border
raiding a problem...)

> You wrote:

> I think you have a similar situation with the Rhomanoi - sure they

I think I'm going to shrink it down (Themes go from planets to major
subdivisions thereof) rather than have this sort of inefficiency. The Rhomaioi
were incredibly sophisticated and efficient, especially in comparision to the
illiterate and unwashed barbarians which populated the domains of the Rex
Francia[1].

> Note that this was entirely arbitrary, based on number of Themes extant

> in 1025. . .

John, I gathered that you meant to have the Rhomaioi as a major power it just
got me thinking about the rest of the background. Everyone has differet ideas
about it and the countries in it. Even us Ozzies have different ideas about
how big the OU is supposed to be. Its all food for thought.

> At 23:52 1/05/98 -0600, you wrote:

Well theyr'e either Texans or Califorinians so what else do you expect.