10-01-2022, 08:11 PM
While you can't hang your hat on a hypothetical coat-hook, it's not the connection to a specific text, which is probably too late for VMs connections, it is about the transmission of an idea.
It seems to me that there would have been a wealth of historical opportunity for this knowledge to exist, for whomever could find and read Polybius *all the way to* Book Ten. It's going to be an exclusive group. So, starting with the fourth Crusade (1204), and the Latin Kingdom of Constantinople tied to Flanders, the trade into the Black Sea by the Genoese and Venetians, how many members of this exclusive group might there be who could access the knowledge of Polybius?
Even after the fall of Constantinople, Trebizond held on till 1461. There were ambassadors from the east in Burgundy at the time. If the ideas of Polybius hadn't transferred by then, perhaps that is too late.
So, back to the map. A number of dots in Italy. Are there some examples from Spain?
What about Venice and Genoa? What types of ciphers did they use? What about Byzantine ciphers? Is there even evidence extant?
It seems to me that there would have been a wealth of historical opportunity for this knowledge to exist, for whomever could find and read Polybius *all the way to* Book Ten. It's going to be an exclusive group. So, starting with the fourth Crusade (1204), and the Latin Kingdom of Constantinople tied to Flanders, the trade into the Black Sea by the Genoese and Venetians, how many members of this exclusive group might there be who could access the knowledge of Polybius?
Even after the fall of Constantinople, Trebizond held on till 1461. There were ambassadors from the east in Burgundy at the time. If the ideas of Polybius hadn't transferred by then, perhaps that is too late.
So, back to the map. A number of dots in Italy. Are there some examples from Spain?
What about Venice and Genoa? What types of ciphers did they use? What about Byzantine ciphers? Is there even evidence extant?