687-761 CE (Superpowers)

Emperor Constans III (700-727)
The emperor Constans III continued on the works of his two predecessors, advancing the sciences of Rome and though his reign may have begun unremarkably, it sparked the second greatest scientific movement in history, standing behind that of the Mayans in the Vth Century. All of this however came to be due to the reforms of his father and grandfather, as they created the perfect atmosphere for the great minds living within the Empire to work in.

Civil and Military Events
There have been many great minds throughout history; Archimedes, Hannibal, Sapiens, Mayapan; and the next name to add to that list is Gaius Archaedavincus Acutula. A Dalmatian stemming from Agricolopolis, Archaedavincus revolutionized mechanical application and theory, and even affected virtually every area of science possible. On his death, a national holiday was made on his birthday, September 21st, one of the few still existing Roman holidays that are not of a religious nature.

Born in 701, Archaedavincus was of a middle class family of teachers working out of the Ludus Agricolopolum, the city's primary schooling facility. Because his family was cheap, a trait he inherited, they worked out of the school and so the young Acutula found himself sitting in on many of the classes his father taught. To the embarrassment of many of the students, he was solving problems and answering questions at the age of 4 that a class of 10-14 year olds (as the system was organized) struggled with. Gifted with eidetic memory, among other things, he had already learnt, by the age of 8, all the material a rich boy would have learned in school, and he probably kept what he learned a lot better too. Much to his father's chagrin, Acutula was corrected him and steering him around constantly, on tax payments, class lessons and major life decisions. At 11, his parents spent virtually their entire fortunes to enroll him at the Academia Bellica as a military researcher.

Though the administrators of the Academy were initially wary of such a young boy being enrolled there, he passed the examination for entrance with the highest recorded score in the school's history, and so began lessons as quickly as possible. Following his first year, as his father had prayed for, the Academy offered to fund the rest of his schooling. Finishing at the unheard of age of 15, Acutula was appointed as a payed researcher the Academia Bellica's Center of Research for Arms and Armor. Pointing out and correcting several inefficiencies of the Ballista design on his first day, he was well on his way to the successful career that he would lead throughout the rest of his life.

At 17, the age most boys would have begun enrolling in the Academy, he was appointed Chief Researcher by special request of the Governor of Africa Proconsularis. That same year, the emperor Constans III was informed about the young man, he was asked what should be made of him. Immediately, the emperor demanded that Acutula be removed from the job of Chief Reaseacher and returned to his original post. The great monarch himself then came to visit the boy, informing him that if he was to have that position, he would have to earn it. And earn it he did.

Between 718 and 724 he invented improved designs for cranes, inclined planes and the casting of metals. In 721 he suggested that weapon smelting need not be done by bellows, instead, a natural source of wind could be harnessed to perform the work at virtually no cost. Selecting several locations for this with the help of geographers, the technique yielded one unintended result. The iron created was of superior quality to any other kind in use at the time, even superseding that created in Noricum. This steel was the greatest of its kind in all of Europe, and only the Wootz Steel of India was of superior quality. From 720 to 723, he published several studies on the ideal designs for various large scale siege weapons, as well as the greatest choice for the dimensions of a bow based on the materials it was made of. Across the Empire his name was known and almost daily he was receiving gifts of money and goods from grateful legionaries and centurions posted throughout the Empire. Finally, in 723, the emperor granted him the position of Chief Researcher, ensuring that he was given ten times the normal pay for a man of that position.

His first greatest invention was still yet to come. Observing the capabilities of the gastraphetes, that had been in use by the Legion for centuries, he was displeased by its slow firing rate and tendency to break down under harsh conditions. In late 723, he drew up designs for a crossbow that fired at each pull of a lever from bolts stored in a case at the front. Bothered by the low power of this repeating crossbow, he made several improvements to the original design so that by February 724, he had created a weapon of 8/10ths the power of the original crossbows, but able to fire one shot every 2 seconds. Reducing the complexity of the Celerite Arquus over the next two years, he finally released his design to an eager audience of Roman generals.

Absolutely astounded by the weapon's ability to make a single soldier able to kill thirty in only half a minute, immediate production of the weapon was unanimously demanded by these military leaders. Then, in 727, a test was put forward wherein an army of 800 archers would be sent to quell one of the frequent rebellions occurring in the province of Cimbria. Though they were faced with a force of approximately 6,000 insurgents, not a single soldier was killed and every last one of the enemy soldiers was either killed or sent fleeing for his life. Unfortunately, testing showed it was ineffective against the heavy armor used by the Federation and the Arabs, and so it was decide not to issue it to Roman legionaries. Instead, every Sagitta (Archer) and Auxiliary was fitted with this weapon, effectively making them the most powerful support classes of soldiers of any army in the world.

During the three year reign of Emperor Constans IV (727-730), a war was waged against the Arabs who were making an attempt to conquer the Somali Tribes south of Roman Axum. The Romans and their advanced technology absolutely destroyed the Arab forces and a treaty was already being drawn up the same year the war started, ending it by November 729. The emperor at the time was not quite the same kind of man that his three ancestors were. Though he won the war, it was only done despite his enormous ineptitude organizing the men, and his own generals disregarding his orders entirely. This was the last straw for the Senate and the next year, they enacted a successful plot to assassinate the fledgling emperor and to, once again, vote on a new monarch.

Mayan Conglomerate
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