Michael Mann

“Yet, the advantages of civilization bring their own contradictions, one beginning in a loosely defined "core" the other on the "periphery". These contradictions then tended to break down the geographical distinction between the two. The core contradiction was between the development of more complex, centrally coordinated armies and the conditions that first allowed the civilizations to withstand their foes. Infantry defenses had initially presupposed a cohesive social base, in Sumer provided by similarity of experience and membership in the community. The city-states had either been democracies or relatively benign oligarchies, and this showed in their military tactics. Cohesion and morale, faith in the man next to you, was essential for infantry. Yet an increase in costs, in professionalism, and in diversity of forces, weakened the contribution of the ordinary member of the community. Either the state turned to mercanaries or foreign auxiliaries or it turned to the rich, able to turn out heavily armed soldiers. This weakened social cohesion. The state became less embedded in the military and economic lives of the masses, more differentiated as an authoritarian center, and more associated with steep social stratification between classes. The state was more vulnerable to capture. One swift campaign to capture the capital, and kill the ruler but spare part his staff, and the conquest was complete. The masses did not require pacification for they were not involved in the turn of events. The state was more dependent upon professional soldiers, on both central praetorian guards and on provincial lords-more vulnerable to their ambitions and therefore to endemic civil war.”
― Michael Mann, The Sources of Social Power: Volume 1, A History of Power from the Beginning to AD 1760

“Di tanto in tanto spegneva i fari, come aveva fatto quella sera, guidando con l'eccitazione di poter finire in una cunetta a cento all'ora. Cosa cercava? Da cosa fuggiva? […] Non aveva mai trovato una risposta, perché non esisteva. L'azione di buttare fuori e rincorrere era diventata naturale, per lui. Rincorrere una sequenza di dati ignoti, fino alla sua origine in posti oscuri e selvaggi, o nell'anonimato di cemento dei paesaggi cittadini, era quell'azione che lo motivava.”
― Michael Mann, Heat 2: A Novel