Theme 1 – Longevity of historic peace treaties and alliances
Users pointed out several agreements that were claimed to last exceptionally long, often invoking a sense of “forever.”
- doebler: “The country of Egypt and the country of Hatti [Hittite Empire] will be forever in a state of peace.” (follow‑up edit: “turns out it lasted until the Hittite empire collapsed 80 years later, so in a sense indeed 'forever'”)
- wahern: “FWIW, the longest peace treaty lasted approximately 700 years, from the 7th to 14th centuries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baqt”
- domh: “The longest alliance still in force is the Anglo-Portuguese alliance which was signed in 1386! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Portuguese_Alliance”
Theme 2 – Why these treaties eventually failed or were strained
Several commenters noted that external pressures, environmental stress, or broader civilizational collapses undermined the agreements.
- pfdietz: “Egypt and the Hittites were now concerned with the rise of Assyria. All would suffer in the late Bronze Age (LBA) collapse, with the Hittite empire collapsing soon after a string of three drought years about half a century after the treaty. Egypt and Assyria, at least, would persist in truncated form, with the latter rising to new heights of power in the Iron Age.”
Theme 3 – Modern popular‑culture connections to ancient treaties
The discussion also showed how these historical pacts surface in today’s media and personal memories.
- Razengan: “Similar: Irving Finkel reads the Pharaoh's private mail (from the -14th century): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MZq_ZQDhJA”
- potatosalad99: “I remember this campaign from Age of Empires”