With regards to using the concept...hell, go ahead. All I contributed was the name, and that only due to my sense of symmetry...and fondness for references. =)
It should be noted that the Athens was primarily a naval power, compared to Sparta's land-based military...whether or not that makes a difference, I dunno. Otherwise, having an ATHENIAN project be a mass-production armour seems logical.
Athens was a democracy, after all. Granted, Greek democracy only applied if you weren't a woman or a slave, but still. =) There's other comparisons, of course...military training for the Spartans was a lifetime, for the Athenians it was just a couple years... and so on.
Of course, Athens ultimately lost the conflict with Sparta, but that's not necessarily because Athens sucked...there were other factors, and it wasn't simply a clash of two city-states. They had allies. Anyway, there was lots of politics, and a really, really bad plague that struck Athens, so on.
With regards to the MANTICORs...
Rhodes seems well-adjusted, but he's still got a bit of sensitivity over being called a 'killing machine'. Obviously that's a sore point with him. How do the rest of the subjects handle it? I mean, a SPARTAN is heavily cyborged...renforced skeleton and wire implants...but they're still flesh and blood for the most part. But that's NOTHING compared to the level of body replacement you're talking about. What about the possible psychological trauma?
Of course, considering a failed SPARTAN could end up disabled, getting a robot body might be considered an improvement in terms of quality of life. Still...
Hm. Does a truncated digestive system and less body tissue...mean a MANTICOR can't hold his alcohol?![[Image: wink.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif)
Less body weight to get drunk.
(Well, I'm sure they have filters for that sorta thing, meaning, perhaps, they can't get intoxicated...because even mild intoxication would be a terribly dangerous thing in someone so physically powerful. Still, it's a funny thought.)
The thing about eating, though...
While you might, personally, enjoy the idea of not eating...you do realise that ain't universal? Hell, something simple as that, being unable to consume food normally, unable to enjoy a regular meal cycle, that might contribute to the psychological problems I was talking about.
I mean...I, myself, I can go for over a day without food, if I'm just too busy to eat. I don't need regular meals. If time is a concern, I can eat fast...damn fast. Army training just sped me up in that regard. =)
But...if I have the time and leisure, I like to eat. To savour things simply for flavour. I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard.
So is sleep, for that matter.
How do the MANTICORs cope with that?
-- Acyl
It should be noted that the Athens was primarily a naval power, compared to Sparta's land-based military...whether or not that makes a difference, I dunno. Otherwise, having an ATHENIAN project be a mass-production armour seems logical.
Athens was a democracy, after all. Granted, Greek democracy only applied if you weren't a woman or a slave, but still. =) There's other comparisons, of course...military training for the Spartans was a lifetime, for the Athenians it was just a couple years... and so on.
Of course, Athens ultimately lost the conflict with Sparta, but that's not necessarily because Athens sucked...there were other factors, and it wasn't simply a clash of two city-states. They had allies. Anyway, there was lots of politics, and a really, really bad plague that struck Athens, so on.
With regards to the MANTICORs...
Rhodes seems well-adjusted, but he's still got a bit of sensitivity over being called a 'killing machine'. Obviously that's a sore point with him. How do the rest of the subjects handle it? I mean, a SPARTAN is heavily cyborged...renforced skeleton and wire implants...but they're still flesh and blood for the most part. But that's NOTHING compared to the level of body replacement you're talking about. What about the possible psychological trauma?
Of course, considering a failed SPARTAN could end up disabled, getting a robot body might be considered an improvement in terms of quality of life. Still...
Hm. Does a truncated digestive system and less body tissue...mean a MANTICOR can't hold his alcohol?
Less body weight to get drunk. (Well, I'm sure they have filters for that sorta thing, meaning, perhaps, they can't get intoxicated...because even mild intoxication would be a terribly dangerous thing in someone so physically powerful. Still, it's a funny thought.)
The thing about eating, though...
While you might, personally, enjoy the idea of not eating...you do realise that ain't universal? Hell, something simple as that, being unable to consume food normally, unable to enjoy a regular meal cycle, that might contribute to the psychological problems I was talking about.
I mean...I, myself, I can go for over a day without food, if I'm just too busy to eat. I don't need regular meals. If time is a concern, I can eat fast...damn fast. Army training just sped me up in that regard. =)
But...if I have the time and leisure, I like to eat. To savour things simply for flavour. I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard.
So is sleep, for that matter.
How do the MANTICORs cope with that?
-- Acyl