Q. A Long Time Ago, or A Long, Long Time Ago? What’s the Difference?
Chronology is probably the hardest concept to grasp when studying history. The names, kingdoms, and events we learn in history books can sometimes seem distant and unrelated. To help understand, historians have separated periods of time into Ages, mostly based on the tool technology of the time:
Stone knapping was replaced with metal smithing. Bronze, a heavier yet softer material was replaced with Iron, then to Steel. It’s interesting that these epochs are related to weaponry. Warfare, and its repercussions, has shaped human history powerfully.
For fans of this series – The Trojan War takes place at the end of Late Bronze Age. There is a new technology on the horizon, and with it, a compact period of intense war that effects every major empire along the Mediterranean. A mysterious people, known by historians as the “Sea People”, devastate the region and usher in the first Dark Ages (an era of illiteracy and recession of economy and monuments). Exactly who and where these “Sea People” came from is still under debate. They simply destroyed and did not take over their conquered territory. It is an ancient enigma.
Oh, yes… this series will address that question intimately. You’ll have to read and find out.