Basque Empire

1100 B.C.E.
An early Phoenician exploration expedition leads to colonies being set up on the coast near the Basque homeland. Trade with early Basque communties leads to the Basque peoples developing advanced metalworking, and sailing techniques similair to the Phoenecians.

350 B.C.E.
The Basque use their homeland as an overland route to circumvent Spain when trading for tin with Britain. This allows the Basques to build a wealthy state in North Eastern Iberia and South Western Gaul. The Basques forge an alliance between the Gauls, Carthaginians and themselves. This military and economic alliance, although powerfull, is unable to defeat Rome, but does manage to force it to remain in Italy and the Eastern Mediteraenean. Therefore, the Roman Empire, having never expanded to its Rhine-Danube border with Germania, did not fall in the first few hundred years C.E.