100 - 200 AD (Guardians)

“

He may have been great, but just as our empire surpasses his, so too am I to surpass Alexander!

”

“

There is only one emperor and only one faith, and I will drown China in gold and blood until it understands this!

”

The 2nd century A.D. heralded many changes across the world, especially for the three strongest Classical nations. In particular, the Roman Empire and the Qiang Dynasty of China reached their apex only to collapse shortly afterwards, with the Romans struggling to maintain order and territorial integrity while the Qiang fell apart completely and was succeeded by a host of squabbling states. Conversely, the Totonac dynasty of Teotihuacan continued their rise, growing in martial and cultural power, ready to overwhelm the Zapotec and Mayan states to their south. Finally, the expansion of the three main world religions enters a fever pitch as Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity begin their battle for the many souls of Humanity and the old world. 

Italy

"To Surpass Alexander"

In Rome, the new emperor Gnaeus Sergius Orata had great ambitions despite his young age. When he took the throne in 94 A.D. from his uncle and regent Caius he was only twenty-two years old. Overcoming the opposition of the Senate and other nobles, Gnaeus began plans for the subjugation of Dacia, the neighboring kingdom that caused many problems along the Empire's Danube border. Acknowledging that he was still somewhat inexperienced, he took six years to prepare for the campaign, which launched in 100 A.D. with much success. Dacia was reduced to a client status, but this eventually proved unacceptable to the Dacians who revolted again. Gnaeus defeated the Dacians once more and formally added the province to the Empire, earning his first triumph.

Of all the emperors of the Empire thus far, Gnaeus perhaps had the most ambition when it came to territorial expansion. He planned to move north against the Caledonians and Hibernians and restore Roman control of Germania past the Rhine River. Despite this, Gnaeus' biggest goal was to finally defeat the Arsacid Persians, the greatest threat to Roman power. Many Roman generals thought this to be impossible beyond the flat territory of the Mesopotamian plains. Both because of preparation for this great campaign and because of his disdain for client states following the affair with Dacia, Gnaeus ordered the annexation of Rome's eastern client states, all of which was done by 110 A.D.

Aware of the manpower required for this task, Gnaeus created an army of twelve legions and several auxiliary units, the largest in Roman history. The last attempted invasion of Persia was four legions and was met with disaster, so Gnaeus anticipated the need for a stronger and more resilient army. In order to create this new army Gnaeus raised three new legions to supplement the eastern border legions, a process of which put considerable strain on the Imperial treasury. The riches looted from Dacia and the vast trade wealth from recently annexed Sabaea made this accomplishment possible.  

In 113 A.D., Gnaeus began his campaign against the Arsacids. With their reformed military, the Parthian nobility put up strong resistance in Mesopotamia. However, unlike the Battle of Tagrit in 34 B.C. where the Persian military was largely able to escape, the Arsacid army was almost completely crushed, with many casualties and captured soldiers. The Battle of Massice was a total disaster for the Persians, who were forced to flee and leave almost all of Mesopotamia to the Romans. With almost no opposition, Gnaeus marched into Ctesiphon, Babylon, Ptolemais Charax, and Susa before the end of the year. With the Iranian mountains covered in snow, Gnaeus and his generals opted to wait and resupply in Susa, allowing the Arsacid king Vologases III to stage a small recovery. 

When the arrival of spring cleared the valleys, Gnaeus continued his campaign into the heart of Persia. With the Arsacid forces evicerated, Gnaeus felt confident in sending a legion of his force to secure Media and the wealthy city of Ecbatana. By late 114, the Romans had penetrated into Persia, forcing Vologases to flee yet again. In his haste, he left behind the sacred texts and fire of the Zoroastrian faith. Had it not been for the ingenuity of a cadre of priests and civilians, who reportedly hid the texts a wall and revived the flame from a single ember, a central part of the Zoroastrian faith might have been lost forever. Without a conclusive victory, Gnaeus vowed to pursue Vologases III as long as possible, a repeat of the Alexandrian experience. With word of the Zoroastrian desecration spreading like wildfire, Vologases hoped for small hit and run attacks to sap Roman morale while he recovered. 

These attacks, while damaging, did not produce the result that the Persians had hoped for. Energized by their victory, the Romans raced across the Iranian mountain valleys, reaching the furthest domains of Persia by 117 A.D. and all of it under substanial control. For the first and only time in Rome's history, their Persian opponents had been completely defeated and occupied. Desiring stable borders for his new eastern provinces, Gnaeus pressed his troops forward, conquering small kingdoms along the Indus River just as Alexander's general Seleucus had done nearly four hundred years earlier. With discontent in the military rising, Gnaeus promised one last campaign north into Sogdiana to finalize the border before returning home. 

In this northern campaign, Gnaeus and his legions, bolstered by local Persian and Indian auxiliaries, including the only recorded use of Roman war elephants, pushed deep into Sogdiana, further than Alexander had done. Gnaeus and his generals identified the Talas River as a suitable northeastern border. However, this ran into conflict with the Qiang Dynasty of China, which was in the area for expansion purposes of their own. Believing each other to be a threat, the two battled to a draw, the only instance of a European and Serican nation fighting for thousands of years. Each side won a strategic victory, as Gnaeus prevented the Chinese from crossing the river into Roman territory but the Qiang inflicted so many casualties the Romans could not sufficiently secure the new border. 

The Imperial Retreat

Despite their apparent success in pushing the Empire to its greatest expansion, Gnaeus and his army was not able to stay in the east for any longer. The troops were restless and eager to return home while the council of Senators appointed to manage the Empire in his absence was beginning to break down. Exhausted and pushed to his limits, Gnaeus finally turned back and marched his forces home, surpassing Alexander as he had wished. Upon returning to Rome, the Senate gave him the grand titles of Parthius and Magnus, signifying his great efforts in protecting the Empire. However, the strain upon him was significant, and he died nearly a year after returning to Rome in 121 A.D., leaving the Imperial throne to his son Marcus.

Marcus had much of the talent of his father but little of his ambition. Concerned about the feasibility of holding onto the eastern provinces, which were too far away and expensive to maintain properly and filled with a hostile population, Marcus decided to gradually ease them out of the Empire. He didn't abandon all of the territory captured, holding onto the new provinces of Media, Mesopotamia Superior, and Arabia Tylosia. He believed that the former two contained much of the power of the previous Arsacid state and could be reliably protected with available Roman forces. Media, although subject to a hostile population like most of the other Persian areas, served as a more defensible staging ground for any campaigns in the Iranian mountain chain if more were needed. 

Marcus ended all further expansion projects in the Empire, preferring to ensure its territorial integrity and internal prosperity. With the far eastern lands ceded away, extensive fortifications were constructed in order to protect existing borders. A series of forts along the Median mountains proved particularly resilient and forstalled many Persian attempts to retake the territory. Similar walls were built in northern Britannia, southern Arabia, and the Balkans. Under Marcus' reign, the Empire prospered economically and socially as Rome's enemies were either deterred or struggled to recover from Gnaeus' harsh campaigns. 

Marcus was succeeded by his cousin Catilina, who maintained the eastern borders but attempted to expand into Hibernia and Caledonia, which ultimately proved unsuccessful despite considerable success. Catilina was the last of the Sergian dynasty, adopting a successor. This successor, Heluius Pertinax, was a capable ruler, but was ultimately usurped and murdered by court politics. This led to the period of instability called the crisis of the 3rd century, only interrupted by occasional islands of peace and prosperity when a dynasty managed to secure itself. 

Timeline

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