The Nonlinear and Scaled Growth of the Ottoman and Roman Empires

Abstract

In this work, mathematical models for the growth of the Ottoman and Roman Empires are found. The time interval considered for both cases covers the time from the birth of the empire to the end of the fast expansion period. These empires are assumed to be nonlinearly growing and self-multiplying systems. This approach utilizes the concepts of chaos theory, and scaling. The area governed by the empire is taken as the measure of its growth. It was found that the expansion of each empire on lands, seas, and on both (i.e., lands+seas) can be expressed by power laws. In the Ottoman Empire, the nonlinear growth power of total area is approximately equal to the golden ratio, and the nonlinear growth power of the expansion on lands is approximately equal to the square root of 2. In the case of the Romans, some numbers associated with the golden ratio, or the square root of 2, appear as the power of the nonlinear growth term. The appearance of both the golden ratio and the square root of 2 show that both empires had intention on achieving stability during their growth.