595-642 CE (Superpowers)

Emperor Phillipius (595-604)
An native Tyrian Jew, adopted by the previous monarch, Lucius Votus Phillipius may have been the eldest successor, but he was certainly not the best. Less intelligent than his non-adoptive brothers and lacking the charisma of his sisters, the emperor was one the worst man at the time for the job. It was fortunate then that previous emperors had done so much to prepare for such a situation and so most of the work that an emperor had to do was performed by the many ministers and advisors under the state's employ. Phillipius was therefore allowed to bask in the glory and fame of the position, with almost none of the actual responsibility. Unfortunately, his ineptitude greatly displeased his second-eldest son who eventually murdered him discretely with a venomous snake.

Civil and Military Events
The first year of Phillipius was marked by a stagnation of the government's operations as the ministers became accustomed to a basically useless emperor. New positions were created to take on many of the emperor's roles, many of which would became permanent advisors following the current leader's death. With the power of the Empire divided for the first time, things actually began to run far more smoothly. Each task the emperor would normally perform was done more quickly and with greater skill than when a not-so competent or even normal man was in charge. This would prove fortunate during a cataclysm in the later part of his reign.

In addition to these changes, the position of Praeministrum Imperium, of Minister of the Empire, was founded. Elected every 5 years by the Senate, he served as that bodies chief administrator and would act as Deputy Emperor on the absence of their monarch from the city. Though his powers in this respect were limited, they were still sufficient for him to continue the day to day operations of the government through similar mechanisms as a republic. When the Praeministrum Imperium would take charge, all major advisors of the emperor would become official ministers, acting somewhat like the "cabinet" of the temporary leader. A millennium later this position evolved into the Praefectus Consua or Chief Advisor of the later, more authoritarian emperors.

During this period, power was once again growing among the upper class. Senatorial and equestrian taxes were reduced and enormous government subsidies were made on things like toga and silk manufacturing to benefit those same people. Furthermore, the Senate House was rebuilt grander than it had ever been before. About half the size of the Pantheon, and of a similar design, the new Curia Augustia was meant to be a new symbol of the government's might that would be visible across the entire city of Rome.

Over half a century ago in 539 CE, there was an outbreak, along the Empire's borders on the Red Sea, of the Pestis Gravis, or bubonic plague. Though the outbreak had been contained by the army, more than 800,000 lay dead and the state came only several kilometers from a crisis had the disease reached the grain shipments that were bound for Rome. For the next century, the plague ravaged the world outside Rome's borders in the Middle East, during which time trade had to be postponed or limited. In 601, the plague once again penetrated through Rome's borders, this time coming north from the Axum province. As it spread up into Aegyptus, the Roman ministers of grain shipments and of diseases managed to cut off the transport of goods from the east, to the west of the Empire. Then, the ministers for transportation and trade were able to slow, and even stop, the movement of travelers and merchants all across the nation.

Though the disease did spread, it only afflicted the African, North Arabian and East Anatolian provinces, stopping at the closed off walls of Constantinopolis and blocked at other walled off cities such as Jerusalem and Antioch. Overall, the death toll in the Empire, from the blague, from 601 to 607 was between 1-2 million people. The cities of Alexandria, Memphis and Petra were devastated, the first two loosing as much as 30% of their populations, and the latter being completely abandoned, not to be retaken till 10 years later. By 615, the rest of the world was free from the diseases grip and people were finally able to make up their losses.

On Phillipius' assassination, his eldest son took over the position of emperor. Though officially recognized as emperor by both the Pope and the Senate, Emperor Tiberius II (604) was sitting as governor of Arabia at the time and died in the aforementioned plague in Petra only two weeks after receiving the throne.

Emperor Tiberius III (604-642)
The very son who had killed Phillipius, the unwitting Senate named him as his fathers second successor once news of his brothers death from the plague had arrived. This information however took a great deal of time to reach Rome as the postal system was put on hold to prevent the spread of the plague. This left the months of April to October as a period of Sede Vacante of the Imperial Throne. During this time, the Senate continued the job it had been doing during the reign of Phillipius, essentially acting as if nothing had changed. Though once Tiberius III was in power, everything did finally change.

Civil and Military Events
Stuck with the burden of undoing his father's work, the new emperor spent most of 605 CE reorganizing the government along new terms. Once this was done, taxes were lowered for the Plebeian Class in order to ensure they received the same treatment as the Upper-Class citizens had been given previously. However, most taxes were not being collected anyways as contact with the Eastern half of the Empire was rather scarce. Still, once contact was reestablished in 607, the new laws could finally go into effect.

With the crisis subsided, Tiberius put government spending into overdrive, wishing to accelerate the failing economic growth of Rome. Hundreds of cities were rebuilt, populations were shifted, and new architectural standards went into effect. Over 40% of the Empire's aqueducts were rebuilt over his rule to fall within the new safety and health regulations required by the state. Also, the island-city of Melita was greatly expanded during his rule, arriving at a population of 900,000 people. Repopulation efforts directed towards the east were also of great significance during Tiberius' reign, and the resulting shift is widely considered the second largest population movement of the 1st Millennium, after the Hunnic Diaspora of the Vth Century.

By 615 already, the entire treasury of the Empire was depleted and Rome was at risk of running another national debt. To prevent this, Tiberius authorized for 4 legions to plunder the territory of the Sassanid Empire for valuables. As the soldiers were given permission for indiscriminate violence in order to achieve their goals, the Senate estimated that they could collect up to 3 times their government income in plunder. They set out that same year, running back and forth across Persia, covering virtually its entire area. In total, about 6 million Persians were killed in the war, their entire army destroyed and over 40 times their GDP in damage was done. The Sassanids never recovered from this and so from 618 to 639 they underwent a period of terminal decline, ending with their conquest by the forces of Islam.

More significantly even, several interesting artifacts were discovered among the valuables stolen. They were several ceramic jars with metal plates inside, filled with residue of different types of acids. After scientists had reconstructed them to their believed specifications, it was founded that they could be used to produce a spark and even heat up metal. Dubbed Ampulae Iovae, great promise was seen in this newly discovered technology and the emperor and Senate unanimously agreed to place large funding on further development in that direction.

Already in 623, a more suitable acid than vinegar was chosen, increasing their capacity per liter several times. In 628 new designs for the electrodes were invented and finally, in 439, a practical design for the Ampula was developed. Though its energy storage per liter, and voltage were low by modern standards, the device quickly found use in government funded electroplating industries. From that point onwards, the technology for the creation of ampulae would steadily increase over time with the occasional discovery or invention boosting its capabilities.

The year 622 was a revolutionary year for the entire Eurasian continent. An unknown arab man and his followers fled the city of Mecca to go to Yathrib. Renaming the city, "The City (of the Prophet)" (Medina (un-Nabi)), they began a chain of events that led to nearly all the native arabs uniting under the banner of a new religion, Islam. From that year, to the death of the prophet Muhammed in 632, the Arabs conquered virtually the entire peninsula up to the borders of the Romans and the Sassanids. Much to the dismay of the Roman emperor, their foederatus of Ghassan collapsed over the course of the war.

Despite the death of their spiritual leader, the Arabs continued to expand their new nation, now coming directly into conflict with the Romans and the Persians. Reach the Yarmuk Wall, a section of the Great Judean Wall, an arab force of 40,000 men fought a Roman army of 13,000 legionaries and 20,000 auxiliaries. Although the upstart civilization fought well, they were repulsed, making the Battle of Yarmuk in 636 the first Muslim conflict with Rome, as well as their first defeat in battle.

The Sassanid Persians were far less fortunate. Their meagre army of 30,000 or so men couldn't hope to defeat the entire Arab mass coming towards their land and exceeding them in both size and zeal. Invading in 633 under the brilliant General Khalid ibn Walid, the Muslims completely blitzed the Persians, taking their capital by 636 and finally defeating the last Persian king at the Battle of Nehavend in 639 CE. Thus bringing about the fall of the Sassanid Empire, the last ruling Persian dynasty.

Next in their line of site was the Roman foederatus of Armenia. Though the Romans moved to defend their ally, continual pyrrhic victories against the Arabs wore away at their will and the Romans retreated to safety behind their wall in 642. As the emperor Tiberius III signed a treaty of peace with the Arabs that same year, they now had free reign to focus all of their efforts towards the East.

Back to Timeline or Superpowers

Also see Geopolitics