Have you considered reading a history of the British Empire? The Terran State sounds as if it has a lot in common with the Age of Sail empire. Communication times are similar and the picture of isolated units of territory where the fastest means of communication is the ship is the same. Might be some insights there
The British Empire (pre-radio) is probably teh most evolved example, but other historical polities that grew beyond easy communication limits may be worth a look too. China's history is littered with examples, Greece's Alexander overstretched himself, and even what we'd think of today as single nations like Russia and France and the US during its expansion across North America were straining (and often failing) to retain a central authority at times simply due to communications lag.
Have you considered reading a history of the British Empire? The Terran State sounds as if it has a lot in common with the Age of Sail empire. Communication times are similar and the picture of isolated units of territory where the fastest means of communication is the ship is the same. Might be some insights there
ReplyDeleteThe British Empire (pre-radio) is probably teh most evolved example, but other historical polities that grew beyond easy communication limits may be worth a look too. China's history is littered with examples, Greece's Alexander overstretched himself, and even what we'd think of today as single nations like Russia and France and the US during its expansion across North America were straining (and often failing) to retain a central authority at times simply due to communications lag.
ReplyDeleteOther well known big empires with slow communication were the Roman and the Spanish.
ReplyDelete