i want to clarify what i mean when i talk about the ancient war between east and west. i get sloppy, but the context is here and clear.

 i consider the dividing line between east and west to be further than most colonial era historians would: the line is the indus river. certainly, persia is an integral aspect of western culture. you can't separate the iranians out into an east the way you can separate the hindu-descended thought systems. if the persians had kept to zoroastrianism, and europe had remained pagan, these lines would be blurrier. and, certainly, the arabs with their perverted judaism and fetish for greek math and babylonian astronomy are firmly in the realm of western civilization. you can't pull anything out of islam that originates in india or china. it's a fully western culture and always was.

but, when i talk of the ancient war, it's not a war between the greeks and the hindus. rather, it's a civil war within the broadest realm of hellenism that you can get your head around.

it is egypt v. mesopotamia, greece v. persia, rome v. persia, catholic v. orthodox, london v moscow, america v russia. centers of power shift and mutate. but, it is a war within the empire, rather than a war between them.

it is not the only war. when the arabs fought the byzantines, it was for control of the east of the empire. when the british fought the franks, usually backed by the pope, it was for control of the west of it. so, capitals shift. but the war carries on.

the ancient war transcends geography. it even transcends ideology, in the sense that it transmutes it. but it is present throughout history.

it would be a remarkable story, should anybody fully understand it enough to narrate it.