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"The Warrior Race" is a 8000-word short story by L. Sprague de Camp, about a future Earth that has been conquered by human colonists from Alpha Centauri. The story was first published in the October, 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

Years earlier, humans colonized Alpha Centauri. Now the descendants of those colonists have returned and conquered Earth. The Centauris are stern, Spartan, and incorruptible. Some students meet with a favorite professor shortly after the takeover and discuss it with him. Later, they meet at a ten year reunion, where we learn that they are accomodating themselves to the occupation, and the occupiers are getting used to Earth as well. They manage to enlist a local Centauri official in a stock scheme they have hatched. Years later, we learn that the Centauris cracked down and banned smoking in public places, only to be confronted with massive protests. By then, though, the Centauris had become so corrupt that they were unable to fight back effectively, and lost control of much of the Earth.

Additional Notes

This story has been reprinted in, among other places, Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 2 (1940). It is loosely based on the history of the ancient Greek city-state Sparta. The Spartans were great warriors, but were unsuited to governing the territories they conquered.