[Tin-Legions]

Good-good agree that said rights predate MC, however, you deny that "the rights of free men" is a Greek idea also, any casual reading of Greek state philosophers (Aristotle or Plato), or any Greek/Roman writer concerned with the subject will give you this idea. Stating that idea as unique to Germanic tribes is erroneous, at best, unprovable by any archeological finds or writings at worst. But to state that just one idea-shared by Greeks, Latins, Germans, and Celts, outwieghts the vast cultural, governmental, and legal lineage we trace directly from Greece and Rome is, to say it nice as possible, quite preposterous.

Keep it coming. I'm overseas so if I miss a retort or reply, I'm in bed, at PT, or wasting taxpayer dollars at "work".

[Tin-Legions]

Final note for the night: If you can prove that the English Parliment and by extension the US government as proposed by the Constitution (I've just made this quite harder) is a direct decendent of Viking forms of governance as opposed to pre-Canute (@1016 AD) Anglo Saxon forms of governance, with minimal impacts from salvaged Greek and Roman law saved by the Muslim hordes-you've proved your case.

I think that will take a book, you could make a killing just off of all of us that would write counter-argument books.

Some good books to think about: Vikings: Fear and Faith, Paul Cavill-great selection of translated Anglo Saxon works
Viking Art of War, Paddy Griffith-funny and informative
Oxford History of the Vikings-long but covers all the general and some specific topics of the Viking age

[Wonder Warthog]

"Good-good agree that said rights predate MC, however, you deny that "the rights of free men" is a Greek idea also, any casual reading of Greek state philosophers (Aristotle or Plato), or any Greek/Roman writer concerned with the subject will give you this idea."

Whoa! Reading lesson time! I never denied that the Greeks have made a contribution--what I said was that the PLINES' (to use Oztrich Boy's term)contribution was under-appreciated.