XI: Serica & Romanum

Welcome to the main page of XI: Serica & Romanum.

This timeline focuses primarily on Serica (known as China) and the Roman Empire, but other nations soon come into the spotlight as well.

China
In the late 900s, the Chinese civilization was once again at one of its Golden Ages after nearly half a century of turmoil. Emperor Taizu of Song had just unified the country and established the Song Dynasty. He created a strong, central government and promoted the Civil Service Examinations. Under the Song, cartographers made detailed maps of each province and city and the Chinese invented many things, such as gunpowder. However, different political fractions in the Imperial Court caused the government to weaken. In 1127, Jurchens (a tribe from the North) crushed the weak military and forced the Song to retreat south and establish the Southern Song Dynasty. There, the Southern Song continued to resist the Jurchens with its powerful navy until it was completely conquered by the Mongols in 1279

Roman Empire
In 161 AD, Marcus Aurelius became the emperor of the mighty Roman Empire. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors". After his death in 180 the Empire plunged into the Crisis of the Third Century. Constantine the Great briefly united the empire for about 30 years but it split up again after his death. The Eastern Roman Empire survived unto it was conquered by a Turkish sultan in 1453, while the Western Roman Empire collapsed after barbarians invaded in 476.

Imperium Romanum/ Roman Empire
Main article: Roman Empire

Instead of Marcus Annius Verus Caesar (Marcus Aurelius' son and first heir) dying of natural causes like in OTL, he survives and becomes the next emperor in 180, naming himself Verus. Leading a gigantic army, Verus invaded Northern Europe and pacifies the "barbarians". By 203, Rome was in control of all of Europe except Russia, Iceland, Scotland, and Ireland. After Verus' death in 204, Pertinax becomes Emperor and decides to turn his attention to Roman territories in Africa. With the unanimous approval and support of the Senate, he and his successors led the Roman army as it swept through Africa, conquering most of East Africa (including Ethopia, Somali, and Sudan) and the rest of OTL Algeria.

However, starting from the late 4th Century, the Romans had to deal with the Huns from Asia and were too busy to conquer new territories in Africa. The Huns swept through Europe and sacked Rome twice. When Attila the Hun died in 453, the Romans, led by Emperor Avitus managed to regain lost territories in Northern and Eastern Europe. By the beginning of 6th Century, all the European territories were recovered.

Due to the Roman army stationed in Africa not being trained and unable to adapt to fighting in hot deserts, they lost most of their new African provinces to the locals. Needing a new, easy source of gold and riches, the Romans gave up trying to conquer all of Africa.

After Avitus died in 461, the empire fell into chaos. Meanwhile, Christianity began to rise. In 483, the empire was reunited by Emperor Justinian I, a Christian, who moved the capital to Byzantium. After he died on November 14, 565; his son Justin II succeeded him and reclaimed the lost provinces of Aegyptus (OTL: Egypt) and Germania (OTL: Germany). During Justinian's reign, a deadly plague killed millions of people and greatly weakened the empire.

In the early 13th Century, Emperor Timothy III's army invaded Iraq, Azerbaijan, and southwestern Iran. These conquests made it possible for the Romans to meet the Sericans.

Great Song Empire of Serica/China
Main article: Song Empire of Serica

Wang Anshi manages to convince Empress Dowager Gao that his reforms are the only solution to Serica's problems. Even after an economic crisis occurs because of Wang Anshi's reforms and the death of Emperor Shenzong, Wang's reforms continued to be carried out and opposition is quickly silenced. With peace and prosperity in the empire, the Song emperors dream of world domination and begin to strengthen Serica militarily. The Song army swiftly crush the Jurchens with its advanced organization and technology and resist the Mongols. As a result, the Mongols were only able to conquer most of Russia and Central Asia. Hungry for land and power, Shenzong's successors launched violent campaigns to subdue the "barbarians" of the North and the West. The Imperial army invades Tibet in 1242 but spares all the Buddhist monks. Instead of executing the Tibetan leaders, the government installs Sakya Pandita as Imperial Viceroy of Tubo and the High Priest of the Way of the Buddha.

In an effort to conquer the known world, the Chinese army begin the invasion of the Mongol Empire in 1276. They invaded all of Manchuria, Mongolia, southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northern Persia. The Mongols are left with a small part of Western Russia but are soon overthrown by the local Russians. The Sericans attempt to sinicize the conquered peoples but tolerate their local customs and traditions.

Pax Eurasia (1320s-1390s)
On the third month of 1278 of the Roman calendar, the Roman army entered the city of Shahr-e-Rey in Persia unopposed, as the force of 40 thousand crushed all who resisted. A month later, just as the Roman soldiers were about to exit, a force of 45 thousand Serican soldiers approached the city. The Romans were frightened, as the army had brought archers, cannons, and other siege weapons that rivaled their Roman counterparts. The Roman general stopped the advancing army and inquired their identities. The Sericans misunderstood them and thought it was a declaration of war. And so the two great armies clashed in what would be known as the Rey Incident.

Both sides suffered light casualties, but after a day of fighting both sides withdrew and sent negotiators. According to Serican sources, a Roman archer yelled, "Sorry!" in Persian to a Persian-speaking officer during the battle and the officer ordered to stop and withdraw. Roman sources say that a Serican officer shouted, "We are from the Land of the Silk, the great Song!" to the Romans and they withdrew. And yet Muslim sources claim that the people of Rey, tired of the destruction, ran out of their homes and between the two armies. They claim after the battle the Generals of both the Serican army and the Roman army converted to Islam after-wards. However, what all three sides agree is that the Sericans and Romans immediately established diplomatic relations with each other and agreed to make Shahr-e-Rey a neutral city for trading purposes. Silk and paper arrived in mass amounts all over Europa, while Roman and Greek books are bought by the Serican people.

In 1321 Serican official Yangzi Liang (扬子 亮）arrived in Byzantium to meet with Roman consuls Quintus Faenius Ignatius and Vibius Calvisius Nennius, marking a new era of Pax Eurasia. The Romans were eager to trade with the Sericans after a famine killed millions in Northern Europe. With copies of Roman seige weapons and tactics, along with their own cannons and gunpowder, the Sericans are able to conquer the rest of Siberia by 1334, reaching as far as Alaska. In 1356, the Romans force the Vikings out of Europe and crush British revolts in Britannia.

In 1360, the Song Imperial Family celebrates its 400th year of power, and the Serican army pays tribute to the Emperor by conquering southwest Russia as a present.

Meanwhile, having pushed out by the Romans from Europe, the Vikings retreat to Canada and creates the colony of Vinland. Despite Iroquois hostility, the Vikings manage to make a permanent settlement there. The Sioux Nation in the West gains power and the Aztec city-states unite under one banner to create the most powerful empire in Central America.

First Silk War (1393-1402)
Main article: First Silk War

Tensions between Serica and the Romans had been rising in the years just before the start of the war. Mass amounts of gold were being drained out of the Roman treasury, and there were disputes over the exact border between the Roman Empire and the Serican Empire. In 1393, war broke out when a skirmish in Isfahan occurred between Serican troops and Roman legionaries. For their own reasons, the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate and the Grand Duchy of Moscow also joined in the war on the Roman's side.The war ended with the Treaty of Baghdad and an Allied victory.

Asia 亜洲

 * Republic of Serica 中华共和国 (Zhonghua Gonghe Guo)


 * Empire of Iopania 日本帝国　(Nippon Teikoku)
 * Empire of India
 * Later/New Sui Dynasty 大中華新隋国 (Da Zhonghua Xin Sui Guo) [Former]
 * Song Empire of Serica 大中華宋国 (Da Zhonghua Song Diguo) [Former]
 * State of Zepang 日本國 (Nippon Goku) [Former]
 * Tsardom of Russia [Former]
 * Grand Duchy of Moscow [Former]

Europa 歐洲

 * Russian Federation Российская Федерация (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya)
 * Roman Commonwealth Res Publica Romanum
 * Kingdom of Albion and Hibernia
 * Kingdom of Gaul 
 * Holy German Empire Heiliges Deutsches Reich
 * Roman Empire Imperium Romanum [Former]
 * Russian Empire Российская Империя (Rossiyskaya Imperiya)[Former]
 * Grand Duchy of Moscow Великое Княжество Московское (Velikoye Knyazhestvo Moskovskoye)[Former]

Middle East 耶稣之洲

 * Kingdom of Saudi Arabia المملكة العربية السعودية
 * Kingdom of Mesopotamia المملكة العراقية
 * Islamic Republic of Persia  جمهوری اسلامی ایران
 * Islamic Abbasid Caliphate الخلافة العباسية الإسلامية [former]

The Americas 美洲

 * Iroquois Confederacy
 * Holy Aztec Empire
 * Great Sioux Nation Oceti Sakohowin

Incomplete Articles That Still Need Work

 * Grand Duchy of Moscow

Incomplete Articles That Do Not Need Immediate Action

 * Islamic Abbasid Caliphate
 * XI: Serica & Romanum

Articles That Still Need to Be Created

 * Battle of Isfahan
 * First Siberian Campaign
 * Second Siberian Campaign
 * New Sui Empire of Serica (Later Sui Dynasty)
 * Kingdom of Albion and Hibernia
 * Kingdom of Gaul