The Reading List Marathon

The Reading List Marathon

MGA BUMASA 190
Mga Boto 34
Mga Parte 7

Ongoing10m

Huling na-publish Sat, Nov 16, 2019

fantasy flashfiction generalfiction practice readinglistmarathon

Many runners might tell this tale: after the outnumbered Greeks beat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, Pheidippides sped from the battlefield to Athens with news of the victory. He died from exhaustion after running over 40 km just to shout "Nike! Nike! Nenikikamen!" That's modern mythology for you, a parcel of truth wound in slim threads of fact -- but it validates commemorating this event with long-distance races and pricey shoes. A few ancient historians might share a different story: some other guy *maybe* did the Marathon run. In the days before the battle's conclusion, when Greek defeat seemed certain, Pheidippides actually ran almost 12 times that distance in only 4 days. He ran 245 km from Athens to Sparta in under 2 days (think 3 modern marathons a day); asked the Spartans for help in the battle; and took a nap. After 150 more miles, a chat with Pan, and a couple more days he arrived back in Athens with news that the Spartans would regrettably be delayed (per their laws) until the full moon. That information guided the Greek strategy and enabled the victory - which some argue steered the course of human events ever after.... Remarkably, he did not die from the effort. I don't know why that seems important to me now, but it does. And I don't know what exactly it has to do with this project except this: the writer/editor Jon Winokur tweeted recently, "You can't control your legacy; it is determined by who survives. All you can control is the work. Make the best thing you know how. The world will do with it what it will." Make the best thing you know how. And in the end we'll say along with some anonymous, long-dead and long-forgotten Greek messenger, "Victory! Victory! Rejoice, we conquer!" The following are my entries for the Short Story Contests @WattpadShortStory for Sep -Dec 2019, aka The Reading List Marathon. They likely have nothing to do with Greek mythology, but you never know. cover art: Panathenaic amphora, 480-460 BCE

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The arms race began in Mesopotamia with the invention of composite bows, light chariots and crossbows. The Persian (Iranian) emperor tried to conquer Athens in 480 BCE but was delayed by the Spartans at Thermopylae while Greek warships destroyed the Persian fleet. The Macedonian ruler, Alexander the Great, completely destroyed the Persian armies by 326 BCE and established the Greek empire. Then, between 600 and 200 BCE, a few hundred Greeks revolutionized science, mathematics, medicine, engineering, history, law and philosophy. Meanwhile, Greeks settlers in Sicily were in conflict with Rome and, by first century BCE, Romans had conquered Greece, Egypt, Carthage and the old Persian empire. Roman traders made large profits using the Silk Road between Rome, China and India and which created higher incomes though out the Roman empire. Roman engineers built more than 80,000 km of roads throughout the empire and 800 km of aqueducts in Rome delivered a million cubic metres of water each day. WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization. Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity. It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas. Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).

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