228-278 CE (Superpowers)

229-238
In his first act as emperor, Marcus I passed an act that allowed for the interest being gained, from the money that his predecessor had saved, to be used in a new civil service project of his design. An overseer was employed to work slaves to clean the streets of the Empire's mighty capital. Though the initial work, of cleaning all the already dirty streets, was a great challenge, by the next year, business had gone down to a normal and steady level. As the quantity of money in the maco account steadily increased, it was steadily invested in the maco of other cities, spreading the money out more. The interest from these accounts would then be used in the financing of other garbage collection committees.

In 232 CE there was a second one founded, this time in the city of Londinium. Though a seemingly costly measure, the programs were found to have positive externalities that were never considered beforehand, including noticeable increases in city's productivity and decreases in civil unrest. There was also a near doubling of both cities' rates of urbanization in the following years, and because the program was operated largely by slaves, costs experienced almost no rise with the population growth.

Further expansions to other cities, during Marcus' reign, were Parisium in 235, Eboricum in 236, Lugdunum in 241, Neapolis in 247, Jerusalem in 253, Alexandria in 255, Carthage in 257 and from 258-272 a program of this kind was added to Athens, Syracusae, Tyrus, Aquincum, Mediolanum and finally Palmira in 271. A new city would be given a program almost every three years from then on, each time a special account being made in the maco of the city, and the interest rates paying for the program.

The Emperor Marcus was, at heart, a civil emperor. Not in the sense that he was a gentleman, though many admitted he was, but it was in the sense that his reign was marked by great works of civil engineering, particularly in the city of Rome itself. In his third year on the throne, Marcus began the first of several reforms to improve the movement of goods into, and within, the Empire's primary province of Italia. This began with a near doubling of the capacity of ports along the Amalfi Coast in 230 CE.

Then, in 235 CE, he began a near total reconstruction and upgrade of the great Via Appia. All the stones along the road were removed and recycled for use as concrete in the Emperor's many other building projects. It was then rebuilt, almost a three feet wider, and with marble lining each side towards the last dozen or so kilometers leading up to the City. A meter high concrete wall was then built along 70% of its length, most importantly in areas prone to attacks by bandits. On the wall were markers placed every five Roman miles pointing out the traveler's present distance to several important cities. Finally, he had state run taverna built between already existing ones along the route, this ensured that no one could travel more than 6 hours on the Via Appia, and not be able to find a place to rest. All of this was completed by 254 CE. Additionally, all other intercity roads in the province were given complete repairs over the same period of time.

The decade would see one significant military event however. Now that the newly formed Sassanid Dynasty had taken hold in Persia, it was prepared to expand its sphere of influence. Like many ancient civilizations, it chose to do this through war. Unfortunately for these Persians, they were unaware of what the Parthians had known about Rome. Therefore, although the knew the Romans were powerful, they had no idea on just how extensive it was. When they invaded Mesopotamia in 230 CE they sucessfully fought off the auxilaries stationed in the province. Though this gave them confidence, it meant nothing once the 3 provincial legions set out from their fort to meet the invaders in the Battle of Nisibis. A resounding success for the Roman legions, it turned the war instantly in their favor, culminating in the capture of the Sassanid capital in 232 CE, the second time in less than half a century.

Another minor war, the Alamanni Rebellion, would be even more easily put down by the Roman military. Starting in 233 CE, there was an immediate Roman response and most of the dissidents were put down within the first 8 months. The whiplash however, was a little longer lasting. Two legions were sent throughout Germania, in both occupied and unoccupied territories, to put down real and non-existent insurgent natives. Franks, Goths, Alamanni and Quadi alike were massacred in the attacks. Though resentment among the locals was now even greater, the repression by the authorities more than offset this. As another precaution, 2 more auxiliaries were set up in the area in the wake of the rebellion.

239-248
The next decade would immediately see one of the greatest rebellions for over one hundred years. In the 240's, a tribe known as the Carpiani emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become the most powerful of the Dacian people. They gradually gained support in the Balkan provinces until in 248 CE when they began the first of many rebellions. Sparked by Roman refusal to offer tax reductions for these long term allies, the violent unrest was hardly unexpected. For this reason, the legions were prepared for the attacks and were able to quickly put down the Carpi rebels with as minimal a cost to Roman life as possible.

Though there were further rebellions in 261 and 269, the last and greatest one was in 275 CE. Over 100,000 Dacian people had taken up arms and were moving to take the province of Dacia's capital. Though they were able to defeat 2 legions and take the city, the Senate's retaliatio made this all a relatively moot point. Seven legions were chosen to lead a siege on the city and take it back in the name of the Empire. By the following year, the revolt was put down and nearly all of the remaining Carpiani people were wiped out in what has been considered one of the worst genocides committed by Roman conquerors, exceeding that of the Caledoni during the same century.

The decade also saw one of the worst financial disasters for the Empire in centuries. With banking a relatively new concept, there was no concept of credit, or of high-risk individuals for lending. The entire structure of the lending system was in its infancy, and a fatal problem was brewing, one which would eventually lead to the Millennium Credit Crisis of 997.

Essentially, people were paying off old debts and interest payments, by taking on even further debts from banks. This endless cycle of debt only got worse and worse over the years, but was perfectly self-containing thanks to a little luck, and a lot of good management. The Senate however took note of the trouble that would arise from this and so it took action to cut off the potential damage from growing more than it already had. To do this, it passed the Borrowing Limitations Act of 242, a law which limited the amount of loans one person could take out to only four. Unfortunately, countless people got around this through fraud and the problem continued to grow.

Following an investigation into the matter by the Senate, the internal corruption became clear and drastic action could be taken. All assets of debtors were seized by the government and used to pay back the maco whom they owed money to. This kept them afloat, at the cost of several thousand middle class Roman merchants. Needless to say, they weren't happy. Riots quickly followed, all throughout the larger cities, Rome and Jerusalem in particular. Worse, the military couldn't intervene because it would necessitate killing and beating Roman citizens only, an unthinkable thing to do. Therefore, for much of January 244, riots raged through the streets as the violent unrest grew.

Facing a crisis, Emperor Marcus and his team of advisors were finally able to agree on the solution before the end of the month. The government would use its vast coffers to bail out the debtors after the return of their possession. Then, all the assets of the smaller maco, which were themselves facing enormous deficits, were seized and either sold to larger ones or given to the national maco. This, together with the new law banning the foundation of any new private banks, ensured that those which still existed at the time would remain the only privately owned maco to exist in the Roman nation, barring several later exceptions.

Overall, the bail out cost over 170% of the government's income and lost over 1,500 people their jobs once it had ended. Fortunately, because of the previous emperor Sulla's massive savings programs this had very little effect on the nations total wealth without the Roman Golden Age losing any steam. Furthermore, the new standardization of money transfers in all maco caused a massive dip in money lost from corruption of any kind, greatly increasing government income from then on.

The most significant event however was the Magni Ludi Saeculares held in Rome in honor of the end of the City's 1st Millennium in 247 CE. Having necessitated a grand refurbishing of the Colosseum in the previous decade, the games lasted for the entirety of January and were both preceded and succeeded by other festivals in cities across the Empire. The year of celebrations was brought to a close when the Colossus of Sulla was finally erected in the Forum, towering above the Senate House and overlooking the entire city.

249-258
The 250's were marked in particular by a series of Barbarian Wars, in particular with the Goths, Alamanni and the Franks. The first of such attacks was perpetrated by the Franks in Germania Superior in 250 CE. Though they were repelled, over a thousand Romans lost their lives, pressuring the Senate to fund the creation of a wall across the entire province's external border by 254 CE. In 251 there was an entirely unsuccessful attack by Gothic tribes against the defenses near the Balkan provinces and then two years later, the Alamanni attacked the not yet completed Germania Superior Wall. A second attack by both Franks and Alamanni simultaneously in 256 CE forced the Emperor to not only expand the wall across the Rhine River in Germania Inferior, but to also station two more auxiliaries in the provinces. The successes in these battles led to the appointment of Lucius Domitius Aurelianus as Quaestor, or Military Leader of the Legion, and he is widely considered to be one of the most successful men to hold the position for till 250 years afterward.

Trouble was also brewing to the Empire's south for the first time in centuries. The Axum Civilization was growing in power south of Aegyptus and was classified as a "potential threat of the second highest order" by the Emperor, putting them just under the Sassanids, but right above the Goths, in degree of danger. Thanks to the removal of any trade barriers to the provinces south, better relations were quickly established between the two empires and war was almost completely averted. The problem of the Berber tribe people was much greater however. Constant raids beginning in 251 CE proved to be crippling to the region and the addition of two more auxiliaries only lessened the problem slightly. A solution was reached by moving two legions stationed at the Persian border, over to Africa Proconsularis and then stationing them in two new forts in the province.

At the same time, a plague outbreak was narrowly averted in Aegyptus thanks to the decisive isolation of the victims in the Galenariae of the province. The near crisis prompted statesman in the province to ask for funding to build a second Medical Academy, this time in Alexandria. Completed in 255 CE, the school provided training for the thousands of medical professionals operation in Africa, though it would never take on the research capabilities of the Academia in Jerusalem. Still, this began a trend and by 258 CE, Medical schools had been founded in Rome, Corinthia, Londinium and Parisium. From this point onward, a medical community would exist in the Empire, consisting of medics, doctors and academics alike, all sharing information on a grand scale within the nation.

Marcus Claudius Tacitus achieved a crippling victory against the Goths during their attempt to establish a fleet in the Black Sea in 257 CE. An army of 30,000 barbarians was completely torn apart by Tacitus' two legions and the remaining local population of Bosporians were provided with rudimentary weapons to allow themselves to defend themselves better in the future. The same general would later be appointed as Praetorian Prefect in 263 CE but would later fall out of public and senatorial favor following his continually asserted descendant status with the great historian of the same name. However, his work to proliferate that man's works among the aristocracy would ensure that the works would exist in their complete form all the way up to the present time.

259-268
Opening this decade, the Consul of Germania, Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus began a rebellion in the two provinces of Germania with the support of Legio I Minervia and a quarter of Legio XXX Ulpia in 259 CE. It however appears that his men were not entirely aware of his intentions, perhaps believing he was working to remove corruption in the region. In any case, in the following year over half of his men rebelled against him, leading to a violent stand off of Roman versus Roman. In the end, one of his closest commanders betrayed him, so that his lifeless head was being paraded in front of his still loyal troops before the end of the battle.

With their defenses weakened, the Romans found themselves being, once again, attacked by the Franks at Germania in 260 CE. Though this would fortunately be their last attack for several centuries, it was a forewarning of an even greater problem. A population and power vacuum having been created over the decades by the intense devastation of Germanian tribes by the Romans, a new enemy was drawn down from the region of Cimbria, the Saxons. With a population many times greater than the other waning tribes, and a decent navy, especially by barbaric standards, these people were certainly not to be trifled with. By 269 CE they had become the dominant force in the region, but still had yet to pose a direct threat to the Romans themselves.

The Emperor Marcus, in his usual way, rated this new tribe as the new "potential threat of the second highest order", surpassing both the Goths and the Axum Civilization. As an aside, this way in which the Emperor classified enemies to the Senate would remain in use even after his death, soon becoming an actual official scale of gauging enemies based on how they compare to either, all other threats to the Empire, or as it is used towards the public, compared to other civilizations at their maximum point of threat to the nation's security.

In any case, the Saxons, though mighty, were a short lived threat. Several fleets had already been created by the Romans in 264 and 268 and they easily outgunned the entire Saxon fleet, were a battle ever to occur. There ground armies however outnumbered the Roman armies in the region for several decades, by a ratio of 8:1, undoubtedly however, the legionaries and auxiliaries of the Romans had substantially greater skill and technology, technically putting the Saxons at a disadvantage despite their numbers.

An uneasy peace existed between the two civilizations, with trade even occurring, and many Roman citizens believed that a war would never come. Unfortunately, in 281 CE, the Saxons overran the Romans to the south of their Germanian walls. Unbeknownst to the Saxons however, there was a high concentration of forts, and subsequently, of legions. The barbarians had no chance against this military might and were retreating even before the onset of winter that same year. The Senate merely shrugged its shoulders at this and provided funding to build what is the equivalent of the old Celtic Walls, a cheap and effective defensive measure at such short notice.

A second attack was nonetheless attempted in 288 CE, with even more disastrous results. Though annoyed, the Romans only took further defensive actions, never once moving to attack the Saxons directly. A final attack in 298 CE was however the last straw. Having built up their navy over the last two decades, the Saxons set out from their territory near Cimbria and staged an amphibious assault on the Britannian Coastline several hundred kilometers north of Londinium, whose location they knew not. With few auxilia on the island, the Emperor was forced to send out several legions from Germania to defend their insular possession. At the very same time, legions were sent through Saxonia, as the new nation was being called, to wipe the Saxons out.

Once news had arrived to the rampaging barbarians in Britain that Romans were on their doorstep, they immediately made an attempt to return home to defend their family and country. After several attempts to avoid the Roman fleets on their return, they were finally ambushed at the Battle of Dover, where one of the greatest naval engagements in the North before the time of the Vikings was held. An astounding victory for the Romans, over three quarters of the Saxon army was drowned in the fighting, the other quarter having either remained in Britannia or have always been in Saxonia.

Though the capture of the Saxon capital, and largest city, did not spell their end, the subsequent massacres and population diaspora would spread them so thin they could no longer have been considered as having any world influence by the turn of the IVth Century.

269-272
Though the Roman Golden Age was now over, its economy was still growing at an impressive rate. Towards the end of his reign, the Emperor Marcus I found that he was leaving the nation with less money in its coffers than it had started out with, significantly less. Estimates for what remained range from a high of 25%, to lows of 8% or even 7%. Regardless of the fact that government income was three times higher than before, or that the nations GDP was over six times higher, he felt that he hadn't done quite enough for the Roman economy. To compensate, he began to spend less around 268 and even when he did spend, it was only on things that would have a noticeably positive effect on the money flowing into the imperial coffers.

Thousands of mines were set-up during this period, all across the Empire. In particular, the African provinces became more "industrialized" and, particularly in Mauretania, began to experience a large population boom. Carthage especially emerged as the pivot around which Africa's economy would rotate. Furthermore, construction of maco increased again during those four years for the first time since the Credit Crisis of the 240's. Ironically having died of heat stroke whilst angrily giving out orders at the site of his planned mausoleum in Alexandria, Marcus left the Empire as well off as any man could have ever hoped for. In addition to the previous figures on income, the government coffers now had between 20-48% from its amount at the death of Sulla.

Though the Emperor's Mausoleum was never completed, his remains were placed in one of the finest rooms ever refurbished in Hadrian's Mausoleum and like his predecessor, his passing was mourned widely throughout Rome, and even by dignitaries from as far east as India. Marcus was perhaps the first, almost, globally significant man in human history.

Summary
Almost a century after the Point of Divergence, a great deal has changed, as is summarized as follows :


 * World Population: Down to 250 million, mostly from losses in China, India and Germania
 * Roman Empire Population: Up from around 40-45 million at the end of Marcus Aurelius' reign, to 70 million

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