Superpowers

Throughout history there have been many examples of world superpowers; such as the Romans and the Mongols, but most of these have fizzled out over time. This alternate history explores the, slightly unlikely, world events that would lead to a few of these empires staying strong.

Introduction
There are "multiple" points of divergence for this timeline, each occuring in entirely different parts of the world, having virtually no relation with each other. All other changes in history stem from just these three changes, with the very first point of of divergence occuring in the year 173. During his tour of the Eastern provinces, Marcus Aurelius encounters a Greek by the Roman name of Gaius Correlus Sulla. Seeing promise in this young man, he adopts him as his successor, as opposed to his son Commodus. This, instead of ending the period of the Five Good Emperors, allows it to continue on for five more successors.

The next diverging point occurs sometime in the 5th century AD. The Mayan civilization, while still in it's Golden Age, gives birth to one of the greatest minds in all of history. This genius, after experimenting on various rocks, accidentaly creates gunpowder. This tremendous discovery is followed a decade later by the invention of the wheel, by this same ingenious individual. The man is hailed as being inspired by the gods and is placed upon the head of his home city-state. His continuous reforms lead into what can only be called a "Platinum Age", his state becomes reknowned throughout the continent and eventually over half of the Mayan city states are joining to form the greatest nation their region had ever seen, only continuing to grow from that point onward.

The final main diverging point is in the early 13th century AD. Instead of quarreling with his eldest son, Jochi, Genghis Khan develloped a close bond with him. This would lead to Jochi taking succession of the Mongolian Empire his father had created, preventing it from fragmenting as it did "here".

Contents
Timeline