The Caliph's objective after all is reaching deep into Europe, stemming from ancient Muslim ambitions in the Iberian Peninsula, once under the crown of Islam during the years of the Umayyad Dynasty.
Arguably, it has not existed so far in human history, yet proposals for a unified global political authority have existed since ancient times in the ambition of kings, popes and emperors, and the dreams of poets and philosophers.
For its coming Shakespeare in the Parking Lot production of "Julius Caesar," the Drilling Company has transplanted that bloody tragedy of politics and ambition from ancient Rome to a contemporary school system that may or may not be in New York City.
It seems motivated not by ancient grudges or thwarted ambition, but by two simple, kamikaze calculations: that under Mr Brown's leadership Labour is destined to defeat at the next general election; and that, by ousting him, it can exchange a certain rout for an outside chance of recovery.
Not surprisingly, the unrest aroused ancient nationalist rivalries and ambitions, threatening the dismemberment of the Soviet economic and political empire.
It was created out of the immediate memory of two European wars, both driven by ancient national hatreds and ambitions.
Tony Blair, George Bush, Lawrence of Arabia, Anthony ("Suez") Eden – all passing foreigners who made far less impact on the ancient flow of alliances, ambitions and hatreds that have watered the cradle of so many civilisations for millennia.
In his famous Japanese travel journal Oku no Hosomichi (Narrow Road to the Deep North) composed of mixed haiku poetry and prose, Matsuo Basho (1644 94) in attempting to describe the eternal in this perishable world is often moved in conscience; for example by a thicket of summer grass being all that remains of the dreams and ambitions of ancient warriors.
In a new promo for the show, Bryan Cranston recites "Ozymandias," Shelley's paean to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II and his tragic ambition in an ancient land.
The blunt Midwesterner with the oversized glasses suggested that the disarray was less about modernity than the ancient flaws of ego and ambition -- "careerists" with a "don't rock the boat" attitude that hampered aggressive investigations.
