Could Augustus have had a canal built across the Suez? Should he have?

[The Larch]

It was absolutely unnecessary indeed. Trade flew plentifully without it.

[jimmy olsen]

How? Augustus already had 10,000 legionaries in theater. Instead of ordering them to invade Yemen on a shoe string logistical line, order them to dig the Suez. They get paid either way. Same with food and supplies.

Much cheaper to maintain this canal than the canal of the Pharaohs since no locks are involved and you don't have to deal with the floods of the Nile.

You keep saying that rome had the means to do it. If that so, didn't the fact they didn't mean it wasn't economically viable or even necessary?

People throughout history often did not do things that were economically viable and necessary, to their detriment. They either wrongly think they can get by on the cheap or the idea simply didn't occur to them.

[Monoriu]

10,000 workers for the Suez canal in Roman times seem no where near adequate to me.  The Sui dynasty used like five million peasants to build the Grand Canal.  Even if ancient sources exaggerated the real number by ten times, that's still half a million workers. 

[Monoriu]

There was a very interesting canal building story in the Chinese Warring States period.

The Qin was the strongest warring state and it eventually did defeat all others and unify China.  The state of Han was the weakest among the "Warring States Seven".  The two states neighboured each other and Han was in danger of being totally annexed.  So Han came up with a plan to survive.  Han had a canal engineer, and they sent him to Qin to convince the Qin to build a canal in the Qin heartland for farm irrigation.  Because building such a big canal would be very costly, Qin could not spare resources to conquer Han in the next decade.  Qin accepted the proposal. 

Mid-way through the project, the Qin King discovered that the canal engineer was a Han spy.  He confronted the engineer and threatened to behead him.  The engineer admitted that he was a spy and his mission was to ensure Han's survival.  But he also pointed out that the benefits of the canal were real.  The agricultural output of Qin would be greatly increased.  Qin's population would increase, eventually leading to a much bigger Qin army.  The Qin King pardoned him and ordered him to complete the canal.  He did, and his predictions came true. 

So both Han and Qin got what they wanted.  Han survived for a few years more.  Qin eventually unified China. 

What I really want to say is, building a canal is very costly, and requires the strength of an entire state, not just two legions 

[Admiral Yi]

What a cute story.  It read a lot like a parable or a fable.

Is there a particular lesson we're supposed to take away?

[PDH]

What a cute story.  It read a lot like a parable or a fable.

Is there a particular lesson we're supposed to take away?

Don't trust Chinese engineers?

[Monoriu]

What a cute story.  It read a lot like a parable or a fable.

Is there a particular lesson we're supposed to take away?

The original lesson of the story is to think long term, not short term.

I want to convince Tim that two legions isn't enough to build the Suez canal. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_Guo

[Admiral Yi]

The original lesson of the story is to think long term, not short term.

So the protagonist of the story is Qin the Eskimo, since they engaged in long term thinking?

Or the engineer, because he suggested they engage in long term thinking, resulting in the demise of his friends?

[Monoriu]

The original lesson of the story is to think long term, not short term.

So the protagonist of the story is Qin the Eskimo, since they engaged in long term thinking?

Or the engineer, because he suggested they engage in long term thinking, resulting in the demise of his friends?

When we were taught the story, we were supposed to laugh at the stupidity of Han. 

[Admiral Yi]

When we were taught the story, we were supposed to laugh at the stupidity of Han.

Did any of  your classmates question the moral ambiguity of the engineer, and were they paraded through the village square with a dunce cap an sent into the countryside to harvest sweet potatoes in order to help them achieve correct thinking?

[Monoriu]

In Chinese history, Qin is often thought of as the bad guys.  They burned ancient texts, killed Confucius scholars, murdered hundreds of thousands of surrendered enemy troops, caused millions of deaths in grand projects such as the Great Wall of China.  So the Qin dynasty only lasted like two or three decades.  They were eventually defeated by the good guys the Han dynasty (different from the Han Warring State).  So the biggest tribe in China is known as Hans, not Qins. 

[Monoriu]

When we were taught the story, we were supposed to laugh at the stupidity of Han.

Did any of  your classmates question the moral ambiguity of the engineer, and were they paraded through the village square with a dunce cap an sent into the countryside to harvest sweet potatoes in order to help them achieve correct thinking?

We were asked to memorise the story and learn to write it out during the exam.  Asking questions was not encouraged 

[Admiral Yi]

What grade was this in?

[Monoriu]

What grade was this in?

Ok we started learning Chinese history in Secondary one, or grade 7.  We spent five years going from the first dynasties, eventually reaching Mao and the Communists in Secondary five, or grade 11.  Qin would be very early on, so likely Secondary one. 

Also, during the Chinese warring states, there was a lot of personnel movement.  A minister, general or scholar who is disgraced in one state very often sought employment in another.  One reason for Qin's success was they welcomed the reformers and innovators who were rejected by vested interests in the other six states. 

[Admiral Yi]

In which grade, if ever, were you taught to think for yourself?