Editing Dune (novel) (section)

===Declining empires===
The Imperium in ''Dune'' contains features of various empires in Europe and the [[Near East]], including the [[Roman Empire]], [[Holy Roman Empire]], and [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ower|first=John|date=1974|title=Idea and Imagery in Herbert's ''Dune''|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/extr.1974.15.2.129|journal=Extrapolation|volume=15|issue=2|pages=129–139|doi=10.3828/extr.1974.15.2.129|access-date=September 19, 2021|archive-date=May 31, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531173738/https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/extr.1974.15.2.129|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Rogers|first=Brett M.|title=Brill's Companion to the Reception of Aeschylus|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|year=2018|editor-last=Kennedy|editor-first=Rebecca Futo|chapter='Now Harkonnen Shall Kill Harkonnen': Aeschylus, Dynastic Violence, and Twofold Tragedies in Frank Herbert's ''Dune''}}</ref> Lorenzo DiTommaso compared ''Dune''{{'s}} portrayal of the downfall of a galactic empire to [[Edward Gibbon]]'s ''[[Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]],'' which argues that [[Christianity]] allied with the profligacy of the Roman elite led to the fall of [[Ancient Rome]]. In "The Articulation of Imperial Decadence and Decline in Epic Science Fiction" (2007), DiTommaso outlines similarities between the two works by highlighting the excesses of the Emperor on his home planet of Kaitain and of the Baron Harkonnen in his palace. The Emperor loses his effectiveness as a ruler through an excess of ceremony and pomp. The hairdressers and attendants he brings with him to Arrakis are even referred to as "parasites". The Baron Harkonnen is similarly corrupt and materially indulgent. Gibbon's ''Decline and Fall'' partly blames the fall of Rome on the rise of Christianity. Gibbon claimed that this exotic import from a conquered province weakened the soldiers of Rome and left it open to attack. The Emperor's Sardaukar fighters are little match for the Fremen of Dune not only because of the Sardaukar's overconfidence and the fact that Jessica and Paul have trained the Fremen in their battle tactics, but because of the Fremen's capacity for self-sacrifice. The Fremen put the community before themselves in every instance, while the world outside wallows in luxury at the expense of others.<ref name="DiTommaso">{{Cite journal|last=DiTommaso|first=Lorenzo|date=2007|title=The Articulation of Imperial Decadence and Decline in Epic Science Fiction|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/extr.2007.48.2.5|journal=Extrapolation|volume=48|issue=2|pages=267–291|doi=10.3828/extr.2007.48.2.5|issn=|access-date=September 19, 2021|archive-date=May 31, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531173741/https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/extr.2007.48.2.5|url-status=live}}</ref>

The decline and long peace of the Empire sets the stage for revolution and renewal by [[Genetic admixture|genetic mixing]] of successful and unsuccessful groups through war, a process culminating in the Jihad led by Paul Atreides, described by Frank Herbert as depicting "war as a collective orgasm" (drawing on Norman Walter's 1950 ''The Sexual Cycle of Human Warfare''),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.gwern.net/docs/sociology/1950-walter-thesexualcycleofhumanwarfare.djvu|title=The Sexual Cycle of Human Warfare|date=1950|first=Norman|last=Walter|via=gwern.net|access-date=June 28, 2019|archive-date=April 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412132316/https://www.gwern.net/docs/sociology/1950-walter-thesexualcycleofhumanwarfare.djvu|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.jacurutu.com/viewtopic.php?t=1214#p38497|title=Listening To The Left Hand|first=Frank|last=Herbert|magazine=[[Harper's]]|date=December 1973|via=jacurutu.com|access-date=June 28, 2019|archive-date=June 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616122440/http://www.jacurutu.com/viewtopic.php?t=1214#p38497|url-status=live}}</ref> themes that would reappear in ''[[God Emperor of Dune]]''{{'s}} [[The Scattering (Dune)|Scattering]] and Leto II's all-female [[Fish Speaker]] army.