If I Had a Time Machine…

I love history. I think most people know that. One of those things I think about is when/where I would go if I had a time machine. I should probably set the time travel ground rules. No traveling to the future (I mean, c’mon, as much as I love the past, I would love to bounce 1000 years in the future, then another 1000, and so on). Also, my cool time machine allows me to travel anywhere on the planet instantly (yep, teleportation). And I can understand any language ever. Now that we have that out of the way, here is my top five.

1. End of the Late Bronze Age–this is the period of time that I had the most fun studying in college. A bunch of the great cities collapse (Troy, Hattusa, Hazor, Ugarit), some of the major empires fell or almost fell (Hittite, Minoan gone, Egyptian and Assyrian almost). No one really knows what happened. There are tons of theories. This is the time of the Sea Peoples attacking a bunch of places. My favorite theory is probably a combination of a few, that an environmental factor (possibly a volcano), caused sea-faring people from the Aegean to leave their area and seek out a new home. There was also a land migration of northern peoples, perhaps they were displaced as well. I would love to find the cause. Love to know where those people came from and what drove them to leave their native lands to just attack everyone.
2. Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul–I would love to know if the Gallic tribes were able to put up the numbers that Caesar claims (historians actually think he may have been telling the truth). I would also love to pop over to Rome and see what the city was like during that time. It is so hard to imagine what the world was like back then or even the people. I want to witness the Roman army doing it’s thing. They could build massive movable fortifications in a day or two. They once built a bridge over the Rhine River, just to prove to the Germanic tribes that they could come for them at any time.
3. The New World–next I would survey the New World. I would want to see the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs at the height of their power. Then maybe head up further north and see the Mississippian people, who may have had the largest civilizations in America prior to 1492. In fact, it is now believed that they may have had bigger cities than previously thought. Unfortunately, Columbus and his peeps brought some nasty diseases that wiped an insane number of indigenous people. I think it would be great to see those peoples and their culture before it was wiped away.
4. The Rise of Man–This one would take some time (haha, I have all the time in the world because I have a time machine). I would want to go to Africa and see the beginnings of the homo genus. Homo habilis, homo erectus, Neanderthals, and all the rest. I want to know what happened to the Neanderthals. What about those hobbits in Indonesia? How did people spread to everywhere? Did Neanderthals have language? So many freakin’ questions!
5. Alexander the Great–meeting one of the greatest conquerors of all time would be amazing. Was he as impressive as the histories claim? I want to witness some of his great battles and see what it was like as he defeated the different peoples on his great trek east. I feel like if he had more time (and probably been able to rotate some troops home), he could have conquered India. He did everything before his 33rd birthday. Makes you feel like you have not accomplished much. Do not worry, you are not alone when you feel that way, as Plutarch says about Caesar who was weeping: “His friends were surprised, and asked him the reason of it. ‘Do you think,’ said he, ‘I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing that is memorable?’”

I need to get to work building this time machine. Once it is completed, where & when would you want to visit?