The technologies which have had the most profound effects on human life are usually simple. A good example of a simple technology with profound historical consequences is hay. Nobody knows who invented hay, the idea of cutting grass in the autumn and storing it in large enough quantities to keep horses and cows alive through the winter. All we know is that the technology of hay was unknown to the Roman Empire but was known to every village of medieval Europe. Like many other crucially important technologies, hay emerged anonymously during the so-called Dark Ages. According to the Hay Theory of History, the invention of hay was the decisive event which moved the center of gravity of urban civilization from the Mediterranean basin to Northern and Western Europe. The Roman Empire did not need hay because in a Mediterranean climate the grass grows well enough in winter for animals to graze. North of the Alps, great cities dependent on horses and oxen for motive power could not exist without hay. So it was hay that allowed populations to grow and civilizations to flourish among the forests of Northern Europe. Hay moved the greatness of Rome to Paris and London, and later to Berlin and Moscow and New York.
This is one of those assertions I want to see some flippin’ background on. I read this this morning, and it has been bugging me all day–I cannot find a definitive answer to prove this assertion utter bullshit, nor can I find anything backing it up.
The Romans appear to have stored fodder of some sort; Columella suggests turnips be grown and stored for winter use with cattle, along with a host of other references. I can’t find anything that specifically supports Dyson’s contention that the Romans did not crop grass for hay; it would be damned odd if they did not, because I swear I’ve read original source documents talking about it–Which I cannot find for the life of me today.
This sounds really “off”, to my ear.
The claim that hay was invented after the Fall of Rome struck me as “off,” too, and it appears that the Romans had a word for hay (faenum), but the use and production of hay may have gone up dramatically later.
Warfare until relatively recently not conducted during winter. No fodder for the horses on the move. Going into winter quarters the only alternative for an army that was engaged in a prolonged conflict. Feed those horses hay.
Nonetheless, we have fought wars in the winter. Romans did it against the Germans, who were over-confident that the Romans would not cross the Rhein to get at them in winter. I forget which Emperor it was that did this, but I believe it was Germanicus who led the legions into Germany.
Lu An Li,
Napoleon.
LOL.