on Tangara, the provincial capital, for example, had its electronic defenses and its occasional visitations by imperial ships, with their shuttles, or lighters, descending to the surface, while outside the perimeter Heruls rode, with their slender lances, and Otungs hunted in dark forests. Accountings in the empire had become erratic. Many worlds, marginal and now isolated, continuing to regard themselves as members of the empire, had faded, unbeknownst to themselves, from the records of the imperial administration. Others, rebel worlds, had declared their independence from the empire, several unnoticed by the empire. Over the past ten thousand imperial years, years measured in terms of Telnariaâs orbital periods, borders had contracted. Yet, in many of the inner worlds, life went on much as usual. Frivolous gayety reigned in palaces, mansions, and villas, while, sometimes but streets away, brutes and savages prowled amongst tenements and hovels, claiming domains, ruling their tiny kingdoms of hunger, fear, want, and scarcity. On some worlds, a single Telnarian rifle drew the distinction between king and criminal, between rogue and hero, between tyrant and rightful lord, between noble and base. A dozen women might be exchanged for a handful of charges or cartridges. There is little doubt that, at the time of our story, and doubtless for many years earlier, for such things take time, there had existed, amongst many worlds, fear of, distrust of, and surely resentment of, the empire. For example, consider taxation. It is natural to resent taxes, which deprive one of a portion, considerable or not, of the fruits of oneâs labor, and particularly natural to resent them if one sees little personal benefit consequent upon their exaction, and if they seem to be imposed by a remote, almost anonymous, almost faceless authority, an authority one suspects of corruption and exploitation. In such a situation a spark of disgruntlement, perhaps occasioned by a fresh law, a new confiscation, an unpopular bureaucratic ruling, can ignite a torch of hate which can, in turn, set a continent or planet ablaze. In such a situation there are always beasts who can recognize, encourage, feed upon, and utilize discontent. Masses, ignorant and weighty, properly stimulated and guided, constitute a mighty force. Powerful indeed is he who, by means of golden promises, holds the reins of the masses.
We have noted, earlier, in reporting the observation of Lysis, supply officer of the Narcona , the current pervasiveness of citizenship in the empire. No longer was it prized; no longer, for most, needed it be sought, and obtained, if at all, only by a considerable expenditure of time and effort; now, freely bestowed, it had become meaningless; it had become worthless. The relevance of this sociological development would become obvious. The vast, seething, restless populations of the empire, without identification, without allegiance, like cattle, might be herded with impunity. Once men would die for the empire; now they lived for nothing. Once the empire was the sun of their day and the star of their night; its standards and anthems were now neglected or forgotten; the temples of former gods were unfrequented; altars crumbled; weeds intruded into sacred groves; holy springs ran dry. Coin ruled in precincts where patriotism and love had once held sway. Man, in a great and impersonal world, now deemed himself small, alone, and lost.
It may help to understand certain impending developments if one contrasts the restless populations of unhappy worlds, hitherto referred to, strangers to one another, united by little but a nominal citizenship in a vast, scarcely understood hierarchy of power, with a quite different societal arrangement, that of tribality. Those referred to by the civilized as âbarbariansâ tended, almost universally, to belong to sociological groups which might be, for lack of a better word, called tribes. This is what men were, a
We have noted, earlier, in reporting the observation of Lysis, supply officer of the Narcona , the current pervasiveness of citizenship in the empire. No longer was it prized; no longer, for most, needed it be sought, and obtained, if at all, only by a considerable expenditure of time and effort; now, freely bestowed, it had become meaningless; it had become worthless. The relevance of this sociological development would become obvious. The vast, seething, restless populations of the empire, without identification, without allegiance, like cattle, might be herded with impunity. Once men would die for the empire; now they lived for nothing. Once the empire was the sun of their day and the star of their night; its standards and anthems were now neglected or forgotten; the temples of former gods were unfrequented; altars crumbled; weeds intruded into sacred groves; holy springs ran dry. Coin ruled in precincts where patriotism and love had once held sway. Man, in a great and impersonal world, now deemed himself small, alone, and lost.
It may help to understand certain impending developments if one contrasts the restless populations of unhappy worlds, hitherto referred to, strangers to one another, united by little but a nominal citizenship in a vast, scarcely understood hierarchy of power, with a quite different societal arrangement, that of tribality. Those referred to by the civilized as âbarbariansâ tended, almost universally, to belong to sociological groups which might be, for lack of a better word, called tribes. This is what men were, a
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