Arab conquests

How did a bunch of pastoralist tribes go from sheep herders to empire builders?

Islam

Allah (swt)

Tribals have always come into civilizations on horseback and blown them the fuck out. It happens over and over again. Gauls, Germanics, Mongols, Huns, and Turks are other examples.

All they need is leadership. Islamic cult created the proper leadership and drive to expand.

Good timing

This is proof that the domesticated (civilized) man is inferior

>How did a bunch of pastoralist tribes

Eh, not really. They were always banditos, and tribes were constantly kicking each other's asses since time immemorial. It was fertile ground for a religion based on conquest.

Islam gave them a banner to unite around, so they could organize and realign their preexisting warlike tendencies.

Blame persians and romans as their expensive wars exhausted their empires.

/thread

cults amass followers. sometimes a lot of followers.

It's true.

I'm not a fan of subversion.
Also the PS4 kernel is a retarded rump kernel which is barely useful for the freebsd developers. Sony don't really trust bsd code, so they want minimise the attack surface while using the necessary part for whatever reason.

Blame persian king for losing his shit and stretching his armies past logistical limitations in the final byzantine persian war. Had he just demanded massive tribute and maybe annexed a few border cities the Arabs would probably have been BTFO

imagine 2 heavy weight MMA fighters.
they have been fighting each other for 3 days straight.
then they both pull out shivs and stab each other.
they are lying on the mat, bleeding and losing conciousness.
then a 90 lb teen jumps into the ring.
stabs them both in the neck.

All these people are right, in fact this is how most "new" empires start. Charlemagne? Roman Empire had left a big vacuum. Genghis Khan and the Mongols? Song Dynasty China and the Abassid Caliphate were in shambles.

How come both the romans and the persians fielded more soldiers and still lost then?

Having more soldiers often doesn't matter as much when your political and social systems are in disarray. Does having twice the number in a battle matter when most will desert or their general will sell out to the enemy and defect?

Religion is a hell of a drug.

Can anyone recommend books about this very subject? Books of animal herders or epic heroes?

Competent generals for the Arabs and significant weakness within the Eastern Roman Empire and Sassanid Empire. Had it not been for Khalid ibn al-Walid odds are the Islamic expansion would have been much more limited. Likewise had the Eastern Roman and Sassanid Empires not bled themselves out in a war recently it is unlikely that Islam would have spread very far.

>most will desert or their general will sell out to the enemy and defect

Did the Persians and Byzantines do that?

At Yarmouk its clear the dedication of the byzantine army was lacking. That battle was like a shounen anime where a side wins from just having more willpower.

Nah dude, you think a bunch of goatherders armed with sticks on donkeyback are gonna take out New York?

Assuming they’re as many as the domesticated New Yorker wimps and with equal weapon tech, yes.