User blog:Pacificus Viridis/Updates on the Gaul Rising timeline and an announcement of my decision to take a break from the Alternate History Wiki

I am going to take a break from this site for several weeks. I have final exams coming up at school, and I need to focus exclusively on those. I plan to return during the latter half of May.

While I'm gone, I would appreciate any suggestions you have for my Gaul Rising timeline. For those who haven't read it, the timeline centers around the Gallic Empire. In OTL, it was one of two areas that temporarily broke away from the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century (the other being the Palmyrene Empire). In this timeline, the POD is occurs in 268, when Postumus, the first Gallic Emperor, makes a crucial decision to help out a Roman general who had defected to him. The main thing that I've established so far since then is that the Gallic Empire stays in great shape into the 270s and then survives an all-out war with the Roman Empire during Aurelian's rule. Major events in this war include an invasion of Gaul and Spain by the Romans, a counterinvasion of Italy by the Gauls that includes a sack of the city of Rome, and an alliance between the Gallic Empire and several Germanic tribes.

I only have vague ideas about where I want the timeline to go beyond its current point. They are as follows:
 * The war officially ends by the end of 276. Postumus dies a couple of years later, and his succession is peaceful.
 * The Roman Empire is in really bad shape by 278. Central authority has completely broken down. There are three or four major contenders and a handful of minor contenders for the Roman throne. The Senate's evacuation of Rome and subsequent indecision regarding who to recognize as Emperor costs it what little respect it has left. The governors of one or two provinces simply refuse to either seek control over the Empire themselves or align with any candidate, effectively starting down the same path toward independence as the Gallic Empire.
 * By the late 280s, one man does manage to take complete control over Roman Empire. He disbands the Senate (if it has not already been disbanded by this time), and establishes a system even more authoritarian than the OTL Dominate. This new Roman Emperor accepts that the Roman Empire as it was before the secession of the Gallic Empire was too large for one man to rule, so he accepts the independence of the Gallic Empire.
 * The Gallic Empire gradually evolves into a constitutional monarchy. It doesn't become a republic, but it does become closer to a republic than Rome's Principate system was.
 * During the early 270s, an idea called the Two Romes Theory became popular in the Gallic Empire. According to this theory, the Gallic Empire is a prosperous and internally stable New Rome; whereas the remainder of the Roman Empire, which continued to degenerate, is the Old Rome. Initially, the culture of the Gallic Empire remains basically Roman. Sometime during the 320s and 350s, however, the Gallic Identity movement begins to emerge. This movement seeks to transform the culture of the Gallic Empire along more Celtic lines.
 * The Roman Empire hangs on for a while, but collapses at least a few decades earlier than in OTL. The Gallic Empire is still in relatively good shape, so it serves as an important oasis of civilization and education in Europe, which in turn leads to the Dark Ages being shorter than in OTL.

There are several areas where I would especially be interested in your input:
 * Postumus' successor: Who do you think would be likely to succeed Postumus? For this, I would need to know the names of specific individuals.
 * Diocletian: He is my first choice for the man who reunites the Roman Empire. Is there any reason for him not successfully gain control over all of the Roman Empire? If Diocletian could not be the one, who could it be?
 * Constantine the Great: Does he ever become Emperor of Rome? If he does, when and under what circumstances does it happen? If he does become Emperor, how similar is he to who he was in OTL? I know that in OTL, he was first crowned in Britain, which in this timeline is part of the Gallic Empire.

I think that covers everything. So with that, goodbye. I'll see you in six weeks.

 Pacificus   Viridis  04:31, April 7, 2012 (UTC)