05-15-2009, 10:25 PM
Hey,
Yeah couldn't agree more, it's probably not so much about who did it first... But who had the means to write it down first, so you are looking at the sumerian and egyptian languages as Matt said.
The word "draft" is quite meaningless in my way of seeing it; in the tribal days one could argue that all fit men would be called upon to protect the tribe just as with any other mammal pack animal(it's the main duty of the males..). From this perspective the word does not make sense until we have settled down and built up societies where specialised roles became so important that some would be relieved of military duty. So essentially "draft" would be associated with the ability of agriculture to support the development of cities and city states. I suspect that many militarily minded nomads in much later times such as Atila or Djenghis would frown at the word
The romans first census, where the military duties are put on "paper" is the servilian reforms traditionally ascribed to the legendary king Servius Tullius in the 6th century long after the downfall of sumerian culture and the old egyptian dynasty again as Matt said.
Yeah couldn't agree more, it's probably not so much about who did it first... But who had the means to write it down first, so you are looking at the sumerian and egyptian languages as Matt said.
The word "draft" is quite meaningless in my way of seeing it; in the tribal days one could argue that all fit men would be called upon to protect the tribe just as with any other mammal pack animal(it's the main duty of the males..). From this perspective the word does not make sense until we have settled down and built up societies where specialised roles became so important that some would be relieved of military duty. So essentially "draft" would be associated with the ability of agriculture to support the development of cities and city states. I suspect that many militarily minded nomads in much later times such as Atila or Djenghis would frown at the word
The romans first census, where the military duties are put on "paper" is the servilian reforms traditionally ascribed to the legendary king Servius Tullius in the 6th century long after the downfall of sumerian culture and the old egyptian dynasty again as Matt said.
Cheers,
Jesper
Jesper
