537-595 CE (Superpowers)

Emperor Comptus (537-582)
The second emperor elected through the Law of No Succession, Gnaeus Fablius Comptus was a shrewd general who took part in the Graecian Civil War. His stupendous success in the battle to defend Constantinopolis made him a celebrity among the elite of the city, helping him to quickly rise in the ranks within the politics of Rome. He was elected the youngest Quaestor at age 27 in 535 and only two years later, he was chosen by unanimous vote of the Senate as the late Emperor Validian's successor. The reign of Emperor Comptus was marked by large expansions of the Roman army both in its size and its efficiency.

Civil Events
Though the emperor himself knew very little about civil matters, his many advisors and his economic team were competent enough individuals to successfully keep the Empire on track. Taxes were further lowered to stimulate growth and the banks influenced to reduce interest rates by about 2%. The goal they had in mind here was to meet the emperor's demands for change, change of any kind. It was hoped that a reduction in taxes and the cost of borrowing would increase the entrepreneurial spirit of the Empire's people on a whole. Combined with several other reforms of the emperor himself, this process was, for the most part, successful.

In 538, in anticipation of the planned invasion of the Nubian countries, a new facility was added to the Academia Bellica in Carthage. The Center for the Research of Arms and Armor was the first of its kind anywhere, an institute dedicated solely to the development of new weapon designs as well as the improvement of defense technologies of all kinds. Over a hundred mathematicians, engineers (doctores), medics and soldiers were employed there so as to ensure that all angles were being looked at in their research. By its second year in existence, they had already discovered more optimal proportions for the design of a Gladius sword.

The Center's advancements during Comptus' reign would include: a semi-automatic Ballista that continued to fire as long as it was being cranked (549); a Scorpio with twice the tension at very little additional complexity (552); braces to reduce strain on an archer's muscles (570) and several mechanisms for the easier deployment of a Ballista on walls or on the field (544). Unfortunately, on the emperor's death, funding for the research center was greatly reduced and so discoveries and advancements would arrive at a far slower pace.

In 567, following the attempt of a monk in Jerusalem who pleaded for the creation of a new Calendar where the years are numbered after the birth of Jesus Christ, the Anno Domini system, Comptus had a committee look into the accuracy of the current Roman Calendar that had been put into question by the elderly monk. Though nothing was really changed in the calendar itself, the Pope was convinced to pass Dogma relating to the time of celebration for certain major events, namely Easter Sunday.

Trade was another vital part of the emperor's policies, particularly that of trade with the East. Since sea trade was more difficult and far more competitive than land trade, Comptus decided to make a deal with the Sassanids and the Gupta Indians. They would jointly build a new Silk Road, a single route, 8 meters wide and made using Roman and Indian technology, that stretched from Tyrus in the west, all the way to Pataliputra in India. Though the Gupta Empire collapsed only a year after the road's completion in 553, it would remain in use by their successors for a long time afterward.

Not just having limited himself to military technology, Comptus helped the Empire's merchant fleets by purchasing several navigational and naval technologies from the Gupta Indians during the 560's. Furthermore, a new design for a horse collar was bought from Chinese merchants that greatly increased the ability of a horse to continue exerting itself in field work. This last technology was purchased some time around 580 CE and its importance to the Empire can not be understated. The new collar greatly increased the output of a single farmer and allowed even more of the population to shift away from agriculture, causing another urban shift. This allowed for the population boom that would occur from 585 to 600 CE.

Military
Throughout his long rule, Comptus was engaged in several major wars across the world, and only a nation with Rome's vast economy could have possibly supported several of these wars. Though these battles across the globe were almost all completely unrelated, it was the first time that a nation was engaging in anything remotely resembling a "world war".

Tensions between Rome's vassal Nobatia and Axum's former ally, Alwa were the lowest they'd ever been since the Nubian Civil War, and a reunification of those two nations, ignoring Makuria, seemed a definite possibility. Preemptively, Comptus planned an invasion to conquer all three before they could finally regain their footing. In 539 four legions were moved to Aegyptus to flank the three kingdoms from either side (east and west). Though each put up a resistance against the two legions they were facing, neither could achieve many victories and by 543 they were conquered formed into the new Roman province of of Nubia. Makuria, which was uninvolved in the war, attempted to make diplomatic relations with Rome. The legions of Comptus had other ideas however and soon two of them were performing an almost identical plan of attack on the formally neutral nation. By 545 all the Nubian kingdoms were owned by the Romans and the last remaining major North African nation was the Axum Empire.

Axum had been prospering in recent centuries thanks to Roman trade and around this time it had become part of the Big Four economies of Eurasia (Rome; China; India; Persia), having around two-thirds of the Sassanid's national income. Relations with Rome were going just as well as the economy, with a massive Citadel like embassy as a major part of the Axum (City) skyline. The importance of trade by sea however had caused the Axumites to neglect their forces on the ground as there was no need to field a standing army with Rome around to protect its biggest trading partner. They unfortunately underestimated the ambition of Roman emperors, which would prove to be their downfall in 562.

In that year, a force of only two legions crossed the border into the Axum Empire and began its three week long advance towards its capital, ignoring all other cities along the way. After a week they received confirmation that they were in fact at war with Rome, something which came as an enormous shock to them, though they nevertheless send their entire ground forces to intercept the legionaries. At the same time, the Roman Red Sea Fleet was meticulously taking out single groups of ships of the incredible Axum Navy, the largest in the world at the time. Once they had regained their bearings, the Romans would experience very few victories at sea, surviving only through their far more advanced technology in ship to ship combat.

By the second week's end, the embassy of Rome in their capital had finally failed to maintain their personal innocence in the matter and a siege within the city was begun on the citadel and its 100 legionaries and 20 sagittae. Due to adept organization by their commanding Centurion, judicious use of their archers and 25 Ballistae and the near-impenetrable gate, they held out until the main Roman army could surround the capital. The king was overthrown with very little more resistance after two days and the Axum Empire was annexed as the Federation of Axum province of the Romans. Like Aegyptus, this was a very prosperous region, producing virtually a third of Rome's gold and providing much needed ports for Rome's trade with the Orient.

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