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Notes -
This is a reasonable explanation, although I think it buries the lede just a little - the real premise being covered over is the “free men.” Their implicit ability to join or foil any particular military action is reigned in their explicit vote. And for some reason that legal fiction persists under the extreme authority of the paterfamilias! Why would the vote not be delegated to him? In an abstract sense, it seems very practical, but apparently it was not in the running.
On the flip side, the Japanese had military service as a sort of corvee labor in the distant past, for suppressing the natives still on the islands. But at a much later point, during the warring states period, the increasing militarism of the region percolated down to the farm level and generated a system of “farmer samurai” (or really, petty barons) who would mobilize independent of lords. That could have been a turning point for the vote, as the prerequisites are in place, but the warlord Toyotomi established a rule forbidding farmers from owning swords or sword-owners from farming. But the question there is: why was he able to make that rule? Only because it did not particularly offend anyone’s sensibilities - because for the most of them, they didn’t particularly want autonomy and the vote it would imply.
Culture is a hell of a thing. Probably you’re right that something akin to the free association of warriors was central to the old Indo-Europeans, maybe as an expression of the liberty and power of horse-ownership, but the fascinating thing is how powerfully that sentiment has persisted. I have a feeling that culture is the great unexplained, because nebulous and unmeasurable, factor of history, and the genius who finally cracks it open to even elementary analysis will gain superb explanatory power over the past. So far I’ve only read one book which attempts this with any seriousness, but the author admits his own limitations and wisely stops before doing anything too foolish…
What’s the book? It sounds like an interesting read.
The Western World and Japan, George Sansom. At some point I’ll have to write a review on it.
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