The most common use of the word Apogee is made to refer to the moment of maximum splendor in the development of a certain process. Based on that definition, Apogee can be used in countless situations.
The Apogee of an empire can be spoken of to designate that period of time in which said empire had greater power and extended its influence over a greater number of territories. The peak of an artist's musical career will be that moment when his popularity and sales levels reach a higher degree, and it can also be mentioned that a footballer is at his peak when he reaches his best records over time.
Apart from this more widespread use, the point in an elliptical orbit at which an object is farthest from the center of the Earth is also called an apogee.
Peak and decline of different civilizations
Throughout history, there have been many civilizations that have extended their culture and influence beyond their territory. In this process, a series of common guidelines have been followed, beginning with a desire for expansion, the conquest of new territories, the imposition of its culture, and later, inexorably, its fall.
The Arabs, the Romans, or the Spanish have been peoples who, at a certain moment, have followed this process, reaching its peak after conquering a large number of territories and implanting their customs in them.
But as history shows us, the heyday of a civilization is not very long. Usually it is the greatness of their achievements that ends up causing their downfall. And it is that the apogee concept implies a point in which a descending process begins, a process that, in general, once started has no turning back.
This is a constant that occurs in all cases of dominant civilizations throughout history, and that has the particularity that those who live it are not aware of it. The apogee entails a decline that, in general, is imperceptible to those who star in it, and of which they only become aware when that civilization is overtaken by another that follows exactly the same process.
It is especially curious that contemporaries at the height of a civilization are not only unaware of its decline, but tend to think that the current status quo it will be kept indefinitely.
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