>>519366368
Yes, prior to Rome, and for centuries after its fall. And your 'white Persians' comment is both racist and factually wrong. The Islamic Golden Age was a multi-ethnic, multi-racial project led by Arabs, Persians, Berbers, Turks, and others. Applying your modern 'white' label to 8th-century Persians is historical illiteracy. While Europe was in the 'Dark Ages,' the Islamic world was the global centre of science, preserving and advancing Greek knowledge that Europeans had forgotten. The 'cold winters make you smart' theory is racist nonsense with no basis in modern genetics. Harsh environments create adaptations for survival, not higher IQ. By that logic, the Inuit should rule the world.
Tropical paradises' is the most ignorant part. You're confusing a tourist's postcard with material reality. Dense rainforests and soils easily depleted by tropical sun are harder to develop intensive agriculture in than Europe's temperate plains. You're blaming the victim for the very geography colonizers exploited.