The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

by David Graeber

But to continue with Scott: barbarian monarchies remained either small-scale or, if they did expand – as was spectacularly the case under figures like Alaric, Attila, Genghis or Tamerlane – the expansion was short-lived. Throughout much of history, grain states and barbarians remained ‘dark twins’, locked together in an unresolvable tension, since neither could break out of their ecological niches. When the states had the upper hand, slaves and mercenaries flowed in one direction; when the barbarians were dominant, tribute flowed to appease the most dangerous warlord; or alternatively, some overlord would manage to organize an effective coalition, sweep in on the cities and either lay waste to them, or more typically, attempt to rule them, and inevitably find himself and his retinue absorbed as a new governing class. As the Mongolian adage went, ‘One can conquer a kingdom on horseback, to rule it one must dismount.’