Abrittus

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Timeline Development
So far, all the content in this timeline has been created by me (salvador79). It`s all still mostly rough sketches, and some of the already more elaborate pages may need re-editing to restore coherence and enhance plausibility. I enjoy conceptualising all the different aspects and relations, and I´ve tried to put as much time as I can into writing on this timeline, but I have a family and a full-time job, so progress cannot be very fast. If you prefer to read perfect timelines, you may have to wait a little. (A couple of years maybe... )

But if you like a work in progress and find the general ideas or any particular aspects of my timeline interesting, I´m very glad to read your feedback and ideas.

If someone should really be interested in jumping in, changing or adjusting the timeline, taking over a specific topic or anything else, I´d feel very flattered and I´m open for co-operation. I consider new perspectives to be enriching, and I´d love to discuss the effects this or that change might have. Be warned, though, that I´m still rather new to althist and I´ve never cooperated in a TL.

Point of Divergence
Moesia: 251 AD.

Decius, a barracks emperor, who tries to stabilise the institutions of the Roman Empire and persecutes the Christians because they refuse to venerate the emperors, is faced with a Visigothic invasion of Moesia and Dacia. Defeated at Augusta Traiana, the Romans are unable to defend Philippolis. But the Gothic troops, led by King Criva, are weakened and seek to negotiate an organised retreat. Decius turns down the offer and chases the Goths back North.

Criva separates his troops. The Roman legions confront the Goths near Abrittus, Although Decius` son, Herennius, is killed by a Gothic spear, the battle generally seems to go well for the Romans. Decius` general, Trebonianus Gallus, wants to pursue the retreating Goths, but Decius is wary (in contast to OTL). He orders to look for the rest of Criva`s troops and learns that they are less than two miles away, awaiting a Roman advance into the marshland. Decius sends assassins to kill Criva while he reorganises his own troops to skirt the swamps and attack the Goths from behind.

Instead of dying in the battle, as in OTL, Decius celebrates a glorious success at Abrittus, driving the Goths into the bog and annihilating Criva´s troops completely. After that, he rides North with his legions to root out the Barbarian nuisance.

After several huge massacres, the campaign concludes with the capture of the entire Visigothic nobility.

Decius has secured Dacia and the Danube for the next decades. Upon his triumphant return to Rome, he decides to found the "Academia Martiana", a university dedicated not so much to grammar and rhetorics, but to military strategy, because he deems superior military strategy crucial for Rome`s future.

In the remaining years of his principate, Decius remains faithful to his all-in-against-the Northern-barbarians approach and stomps out the Alemannic danger, too. Decius diminishes Rome`s problems in the North, but he also continues persecuting the Christians, who refuse to venerate the Roman gods and emperors and seem like a factor of internal instability to him, to a point where the episcopal church breaks apart and desperate Christians follow radical leaders and take to the arms (not unlike Jews 180, 140 and 120 years earlier, but spread all across the Empire instead of concentrated in Iudaea).

Decius is finally killed in a Christian suicide attack. From the years of revolutionary anarchy and social, political and military chaos following his death, a shrunk Second Roman Republic emerges, where slaves become free Roman citizens and the state is neutral against all religious creeds. Secured against threats from the North, this Roman Republic manages to stabilise itself.

Ideas behind the timeline - OTL to ATL differences
Can you imagine a world without the close European ties between church and state, without feudalist Middle Ages and absolutist routes into a modernity dominated by a colonialist Europe?

Ths timeline aims to experiment with Rome developing and influencing the world as a democratic republic, a large non-slave-owning market economy and a fountain of various cultural, philosophical and religious trends and ideas, all competing against each other.

I´ve always loved timelines where Rom survives the Goths and Huns and continues into the present. After I´ve read Ætas ab Brian and Superpowers, two timelines that I absolutely love and whose quality standards I can`t hope to achieve, I`ve wanted to see a Rome that doesn´t conquer half the world with its legions and whose influence is felt stronger in other domains.

Below, you can find some hints about what how_I_have been imagining the above-mentioned differences to turn out. I´d be delighted to hear ideas about other consequences, which would bring other chains of events, other nations, other innovations and other conflicts.

Timeline
251-300 - Imperial Crisis and Second Roman Republic

300-399 - Waterwheels and Defeated Huns: European Power

400-499 - All Quiet on the Western Front

500-599 - Natural Sciences and the Plague Appear

600-699 - Crisis in the Middle East; China Reforms

700-799 - Empires Reshape Two Continents` Heartlands

800-899 - Guns Appear

900-999 - Neoconfucian Reforms

1000-1099 - Black Death

1100-1199: Age of Explorers and Atheists

1200-1299: Building Up Steam (and Bourgeois Society)

1300-1399: Railroads, Steamboats, and Class Wars

1400-1499: Imperialist Wars and Ethnic Nationalism

1500-1599: Electric Revolution

1600-1699: Climate Catstrophe

1700-1799: Painful Conversion

1800-1899: The Global Village

1900-2014: The Quest for Social Healing

Nations of Europe
Europe is the most affluent continent, but is politically shadowed by the world`s leading power, China. Europe´s power and wealth are concentrated in the Mediterranean region and gradually decrease towards the North and East of the continent. Ideas and innovations from Europe shape much of today`s world: democracy, the dual credit system, chemical and pharmaceutical industry, the steam engine, railroads...

Its two major powers are the Roman Empire (Res Publica Imperii Romani) and the Celtic Empire (Res Publica Galliarum). The small, but heavily populated island of Tauris is the home of a Judaist sea-faring nation, whose commonwealth includes several islands in the Atlantic Ocean and Taino Sea (OTL Caribbean).

Less powerful and lagging behind at least several decades in social development are the Germanic- (Saxony, Burgundy, Franconia, Southern Federation, Frisia, Denmark, Sweden and Norway) and Slavic- (Corvatia, Slavonia, Venedia, Moravia) speaking countries and a number of small Baltic republics united in the Baltic Treaty Union. Further to the north-east lie the indigenous territories of Ugro-Finnic people, who co-operate with the Union of Atlantic Nations in their common struggle to pursue an alternative path of social and economic development, which preserves their cultural and ecological heritage.

Nations of Africa
Africa is a continent of slow, but steady development. Its north-east is one of the cradles of civilization, which over the last three milennia slowly influenced the continent from its coasts inward.

The northern, Mediterranean coast is a wealthy, highly urbanised and developed part of the Roman Empire, providing intellectual and industrial products for the world market as well as petrol. It has close links to Europe across the Mediterranean.

The Sahara is controlled by a highly organised, stable and peaceful nomadic society - the Imaziyen. They practice a radical, communist variety of Christianity (Simonism) and are closely allied to the communities of the Sahel (Wagadu and the cities of the Hausa, Banza and Sao), who are sedentary but culturally and politically similar.

The north-east and east of the continent is controlled by Aksum, a highly stable, liberal, parliamentary monarchy and an economic powerhouse both in the agricultural, industrial and commercial domains with intense trade contacts with Asia, Europe and the rest of the continent. Aksum has served as the moderate counter-model of social, political and economic organization in Africa (in comparison to the communist Simonists and ultra-capitalist Liberia), which was copied widely in central and southern Africa. Along the Indian Ocean coast spans a string of wealthy independent city statesw tih close links to Saba, which had founded and controlled them for more than a thousand years. Between Aksum and these city states lies the (democratic) Kirinyaga Alliance, the world`s no. 1 producer of coffee.

The west coast is controlled by Liberia, the southern and south-western half of the continent are ruled by Yoruba, Congo, Kitara, Munhumutapa and the Khoisan Federation. While the northern half of the continent is more or less Christian, the southern half has remained animist. Their agriculture is highly developed; their industry is focused on the extraction of the vast treasures of the soil (copper, gold, petrol, diamonds etc.).

Nations of Asia
Asia is the geographically and culturally most diverse continent and home of the world`s four most widespread religions (in order of number of followers): Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism. South and East Asian nations rival the two European empires in political, social and economic development. In its North, thousands of indigenous peoples are looking for ways to adapt their traditional ways of life in the tundra and taiga to a changing world.

Asia`s only major Christian country is Saba, a very wealthy constitutional monarchy controlling the Arabian peninsula, who has long profited from its huge oil deposits and now, after the global climate crisis, houses the world`s largest solar power plants.

Its equally wealthy and industrially developed eastern neighbour is the Persian Republic.Persia perceives itself as an economic and cultural bridge between the Mediterranean and East Asia, but it has also preserved some unique features (with a large percentage of the population adhering to one of the Zoroastric confessions). To secure its difficult position between larger geopolitical power centres, Persia has cultivated a close alliance with its northern neighbour,Türkestan. Türkestan is a constitutional monarchy controlling a large and sparsely populated steppe to the north of Persia and China. Its culture is deeply influenced by a mixture of Tengrism and Buddhism. Its golden age was 1,000 years ago, when it profited highly from controlling the trade between Europe and China and extended its control over all of Mongolia. Today, Türkestan is considered a less developed country, and conflicts between the Turkish-speaking majority and a separatist Mongolian minority are frequent.

The world`s most populous and most powerful country is China. Many economic innovations and inventions, political philosophies and principles of state organisation stem from here. China`s leading role in world politics has developed from the times of the Tang dynasty and has been undisputed ever since China`s pivotal role in finding a way out of the intertwined dilemma of the global climate crisis and chaos in Atlantis in the 15th and 16th centuries. China is a parliamentary monarchy; religious and cultural diversity are cherished; Buddhism and Daoism are still very influential. China has established the world`s most exemplary welfare state and sustains its continuous economic growth through ever-increasing domestic demand, but it also exports the products of its extremely diversified industry across the globe. China has also been the spearhead of women`s emancipation and equal rights. All East Asian nations depend on China to a greater or lesser degree. China has also established new provinces on the Atlantis East coast.

Close, but not always friendly ties exist between China and its eastern (Silla, Balhae and Nihon) and southern neighbors (Tibet). All four are deeply influenced by different buddhist schools of thought, mixed with local (often animinist) traditions. Silla and Balhae are economically dependent on China. While Silla is a socialist republic with close ideological ties to Bangladesh and friendly relations to Sri Vijaya, and Balhae is frequently copying China`s policies, Nihon and Tibet are socially and politically considerably more conservative than China.

China`s cultural, political and economic influence is also felt in the (predominantly Buddhist; mostly constitutionally or parliamentarily monarchic) countries of south-east Asia (Vietnam, Kambuja, Muan Thai, Dvaravati). The largest and most powerful country in this region is the federal and democratic Republic of Sri Vijaya, which stretches from the Malakka mainland in the West to Mindanao in the East. During the height of industrial expansion, Sri Vijaya colonised much of Asambadha Anuttara (OTL: Australia), parts of which are now loosely allied to Sri Vijaya`s commonwealth.

Once the source of two major world religions, the Indian subcontinent has suffered from persistent warfare - first (3rd-11th century) among competing dynasties (Gupta, Gandhara, Pallava, Pala, Chakuya, Chola, Anuradhapura), then (12th-15th century) between egalitarian and caste-based political systems (Eastern vs. Western India) as well as between Hinduist and Buddhist countries (Gupta vs. Gandhara in the North, Chola vs. Anuradhapura in the South), and, after a short period of pan-Indian unity in the 16th century, between the present-day states of Hindudesh (Hinduist, caste-based republic stretching across the greatest historical extension of the Gupta empire plus northern parts of Pallava, ethnically dominated by Indo-Aryans (with a rebellious Adivasi minority), official language: Sanskrit) in the North, Tamil Nadu (Hinduist; constitutional monarchy stretching across southern India and the northern third of Sri Lanka, the successor state of Chola and parts of Chakuya and Pallava; Dravidic-speaking), Anuradhapura (a parliamentary monarchy covering the centre and south of Sri Lanka; Indo-Aryan population like in Hindudesh, but mainly Buddhist, thus no castes), Bangladesh (a socialist republic, successor state to the Pala empire in the north-east; Buddhist; the Bengales are ethnically and linguistically close to the Indo-Aryans and Sanskrit, but differences have been stressed for political reasons for almost a millenium now)  and the Pyu (a federation of democratic city states and territories in the east, bordering on Dvaravati and Muan Thai; a Buddhist Tibeto-Burmanese people who speak their own language, but who were often closely allied to Pala / Bangladesh and see themselves as a bridge between the Indian subcontinent and the countries of South-East Asia).Hindudesh is also involved in external conflicts with Tibet and Türkestan, and Tamil Nadu still has strained relations with Sri Vijaya. Despite violence and aggression, there has also been a historically deep-reaching sense of a common culture and heritage and common problems in the present: especially economic underdevelopment, a heavy dependency on Chinese investments and Chinese enterprises, who manufacture their products to a great extent in India without the Indians profiting much from it, and ecological problems caused by chemical warfare and global warming, which aggravated aridity in central India. Pan-Indiian movements therefore try to achieve (or restore) Indian unity, pursue common Indian interests and preserve Indian culture, but they have not yet succeeded. Political leaders in all Indian countries use pan-Indian nationalist rhetoric, too, but always twisted towards serving the interests of their respective governments.

Nations of Atlantis
The largest part of Atlantis (OTL: North America) is controlled by the Union of Atlantic Nations, a federation of more than 1,000 nations, from tiny chiefdoms to large urbanised states. United through their common defense against economic and environmental exploitation of their ancestral resources by foreign powers, the UAN has fostered a common cultural identity of Atlantic peoples and continues to promote alternative, sustainable and pluralistic models of development worldwide.

Smaller parts of Atlantis are controlled by China (Pacific coast) and the Celtic and Roman Empires (Atlantic coast).

On its tropical islands, Taino people have mixed with Ostrogothic and other European settlers. Most of these islands belong to the Ostrogothic Commonwealth.

The tropical mainland is - - - currently being rethought - - - 

Nations of Caribia
Caribia (OTL South America) is dominated by its two major powers: Chimú on the West coast and Tawantinsuyu in the centre. In the South, the Mapuche have established a republic. Several African and European countries hold small ports on the continent`s East coast, while remote regions in the jungle are still inhabited by people following the same indigenous lifestyles for milennia.

Nations of Asambadha Anuttara
(OTL Australia)

Nations of the Taipingyang
(OTL Oceania)

Abrittus

Salvador79 (talk) 14:25, February 27, 2014 (UTC)