The 2nd Century is the ninth section of the Iron Age.
Iron Age Pt. 8: 1-100 CE |
Iron Age Pt. 9 101-200 CE |
Iron Age Pt. 10: 201-300 CE |
Egypt[]
Egypt's progress began to slow down during the turn of the new millennia and it continued to do so into the second century. Not much is recorded from this time of the Egyptian Empire, but many works of art and many trade items from Asia show that Egypt was the main proprietor of spreading the new technologies from China into Ifran and Europa. Though during this time there was a drastic increase in the movement southward into eastern Ifran against the tribal nations in what would be the heartland of Assyria. Along with movement along the Levant peninsula. Records even showed border tensions with the nearby Persians and Macedonians in Eneti. Though neither sides were willing to declare war on each other, as all sides were suffering severe factors forcing them to focus on the homeland first, instead of dealing with neighboring countries. Records also show an expansion of diplomatic embassies in other nations, the most noteworthy being one in Macedonia and many embassies in the various nations in Indus and its larger subcontinent home.
The advancing Egyptian forces began to hit a massive roadblock in their path. Thick jungles and forest began popping up in the southwestern portions of Assyria, any advances made in the jungles were pushed back by nature itself. As diseases and animals the Egyptians had never seen or studied, were afflicting them. However in the eastern portion of Assyria their progress was being bogged down by stubborn tribesmen and local kingdoms not willing to give up their land or submit to the Egyptians. This expansion into the south, strained resources in the not fully developed regions in Egypt. The southern regions were being forced to quickly become self-sufficient, but the constant rise of rebels and freedom fighters, bogged down the progress in that too.
Euskaldunak Empire[]
Campaigns Against Mauretania[]
When Euskaldunak Emperor, Paxti Remus I, claimed nearly the entire Iberian continent, he left his son and future predecessor Paxti Remus II with an empire with nearly no room to expand. As the Macedonians gave them no ability to expand eastward into Europa, and the small tribal kingdoms to the north were to costly to launch a campaign against. Paxti Remus II however did find a way to expand his empire. Though it would cost many lives to do so, but he planned on it being the opposing side who'd lose more lives. Paxti Remus II, began his campaigns across southern Iberia to take what he claimed as 'rightful Euskaldunak land' from the Mauritanians. A kingdom that had splintered from the once proud Carthage Empire, after their defeats against the Euskaldunak. Paxti Remuss II, personally led his conquest against the Mauritanians, what he and his advisors expected to be a quick and easy war against a technologically inferior kingdom, they were wrong. The Euskaldunak may have had the sheer technological and manpower advantage over the Mauritanians, they knew very little of the land in which the Mauritanians inhabited. The Mauritanians used this to their advantage as long as they. Hoping that drawing out a long war, would force Paxti Remus II to give up his ambition and deem the land in Iberia as not worth the trouble. The Mauritanians however, did not plan on Paxti Remus II being a hard headed and stubborn man, the war nearly cost Paxti's life on numerous occasions. As his various heroic battle charges on the Mauritanians put his life in constant danger. Though by what some deem as the intervention of the gods, not once did Paxti ever get injured in combat. After a six year long war, the Euskaldunak finally pushed the Mauritanians out of Iberia.
Stabilizing Their Home[]
Paxti Remus II may have been able to finally the secure the Iberian Peninsula and affirm the large empire, but he was not the one to tame and fix the problems the previous emperors had failed to notice. Peio Azarola, Paxti Remus' cousin, was the next to claim the Emperor's throne after Paxti had passed without, his son being old enough to claim the throne himself and be deemed responsible enough to rule the Empire. Peio began his immediate plans to re-stablize the still new territory acquired from the Mauritanians. Peio began building schools, hospitals, and genrally began improving the region that was ignored by the Mauritanians and his older cousin. His plan to rebuild the infrastructure was to not only gain the trust of the native Mauritanians who still inhabited southern Iberia, but to also help promote people to settle in that region.
Whilst in the northern regions of his new empire, Azarola, employed the same tactic he was using in southern Iberia. Except this time it was geared towards those natives and still remnant tribes people to help gain their trust. Azarola even went as far as sending diplomats to the tribal nations that bordered the empire to the north. To possibly gain their trust and influence them. Azarola continued improving the newly attained regions, that they were the pinnacle of the empire's prowess, and he eventually began looping his strategy inward, from province to province he improved the regions. He improved the empire greatly enough, that a high council of generals and advisors deemed his son and kin worthy enough to lead the empire from that point on. It was the end of the Remus line of emperors, and the beginning of the Azarola emperors, but both hold grand significance to the empire's long history.
Macedonia[]
Conquest of Albíōn[]

"Albíōn" in 135 CE.
Macedonian General Egnatius Colonomos was stationed near the OTL North Sea, when war broke out over on the island (known as Pyrdain to the natives) to the north. Ancient Macedonian philosophers had named the mysterious land "Albíōn", and many Macedonian trade ships had been to the region to spread influence through Europe. However, the last few decades hadn't been very nice to the natives. Trade was failing, as the Macedonians found better allies in the Egyptians, and also had trouble exporting goods with the Euskaldunak owning the only strait out of the White Sea. The Celtic people were angry about this, and many tried to infiltrate the northern provinces of Macedonia, but to no avail. While Macedonia technically didn't own the islands of Pyrdain and Éire (Great Britain and Ireland), they de facto were the rulers. Or at least they were, until around 115 CE.
Around that time, a half-legendary general named Faolán Sechlainn supposedly united the isles, with its center of power being in eastern Éire. The natives of Alba weren't technically subject to the same hegemony, but that didn't stop Faolán from claiming rule over it. He sent multiple legions of barbarians to attack and pillage the Macedonian villages on the high north coast, which were then used to solidify their newfound claims in the area (they only officially ruled the north of Europe from about 102 CE onwards). Egnatius Colonomos, a prized general who was previously a famed diplomat to the Euskaldunak, happened to be patrolling the ocean when he caught wind of the Celtic fleets. A fight broke out immediately, in the middle of the sea between Pyrdain and Macedonia. While Faolán would never get a chance to fight in the war himself, Egnatius frequently got caught up in battles against the Celts. However, by 118 CE, after three long years of war, the tide was changing. Instead of constant stalemates, the Macedonians began to win every battle. Their better army and better navy was beginning to turn things around for them, especially now that they had solidified rule in the far north. Within another two years, Macedonia began to hold rule over the formerly Celtic towns on the coast of Pyrdain. While the war basically froze after Macedonian troop supply dried up, it continued at full force by 129 AD. By then, Macedonia was even more organized, and Faolán Sechlainn was growing quite old. By 133 AD he was deceased, and the Macedonian king at the time claimed rule over the entirety of Pyrdain and Éire. However, they only held complete rule over the lands marked by the walls (built by the Macedonians of course, to keep those pesky Celts away) to the west and north. Faolán's descendants went on to form the region of Éire now known as Faolánachta (near OTL Connacht), while Ordovik (OTL Wales), formerly a pity region of the Celtic Empire, became a major player in its own right.
Expansion into Germania and Trade with the North[]

Jutland in 200 CE.
After the conquest of Albíōn, Emperor Phaedrus II ordered the construction of two walls, to keep out "barbarian" invaders. Near the middle of the island, a wall was constructed to keep out the people of Alba. In the west of the island, a much larger wall was constructed to keep out the Ordovik peoples. The north wall was named after the Emperor himself, while the west wall was named after the famed general who kept out the Celts, Egnatius Colonomos. Egnatius' Wall was heavily fortified, while Phaedrus' Wall suffered from frequent raids and had a hard time completing construction. After the walls were built, however, and the war finally ended, trade picked up with northern Europe a lot more. Trade with Germania picked up to such an extant that Macedonia expanded into the region quickly. Unlike the Celts, they joined much more willingly. This time, trade didn't dry up as fast, leading them to be much less angry. However, a few regions decided to keep their soverignity. The Jutes and Angles, for example, created strong, united states of their own. While Macedonia was allies with the Jutes, the Angles frequently invaded their provinces of Saxony and Thuringia. It would later cause the end of the Anglish state on the Jutlandic Peninsula, but in 200 CE the entire region was thriving.
Formation of Anglish[]
With trade from the south picking up, the large amount of dialects and languages was tiring. The Anglish king around 150 CE, Einar I, decided to try and unify all the languages of the region. Most were similar, and many used Germanic runes as influence. A large part of the Angles spoke Macedonian, leading to a major disconnect with the ruling population and the peasants. Early Anglish was born soon afterwards, and was basically a combination of old Jutlandic vocabulary, and Macedonian letters and grammar. As time went on, and the Anglish migrated to Pyrdain, Anglish would come with them, evolving as time went on.
Absorption of Eneti[]
Eneti had been a puppet of Macedonia for hundreds of years before, but they had a distict culture and regional identity. However, the kings of Eneti had little to no power after around 50 BCE. While the king of Eneti in 170 AD, Abel II, was hoping to keep de facto independence, Aegeus I, emperor of Macedonia at the time, didn't agree. Diplomatic relations were going up rapidly between the two states, and Aegeus knew it was time to fully absorb it. The king was exiled to Persia, while the current provinces of Eneti each gained autonomy of their own. A half- republican system was used in these provinces, somewhat based off of the old nation of Sparta.
China[]
Great Inventions[]
The second century would prove as another chapter in nations long and grand history. The early half of China's second century history were made great by the technological innovations and great strives in science they achieved. In 105 CE, a eunuch by the name of Cai Lun would invent paper. Cai Lun after his punishment in 75 CE, would be punished for crimes against the government and the people in the region under a certain warlords rule. He then dedicated his life to improving himself and hoping to leave a legacy and make something great. Eventually he discovered and invented the composition needed to make paper and the process needed to actually manufacture paper itself. His invention and technique would eventually reach all across the world and be used as the everyday item we use to write down our thoughts.
Two other great inventions also came from China. Only this time, it was from the same inventor. A man by the name of Zhang Heng. Heng was considered a 'natural' in the field of science and nature. So much so, he achieved awards and achieved in many fields such as; mathematics, astronomy, geography, engineering, and the list of many fields goes on. The first invention was the first water powered armillary sphere, to help assist various astronomers in China, to help study and chart the stars that were over their heads every night. Another was the first ever first seismometer to detect the cardinal direction of earthquakes. Which he was thankfully able to test, after be caught in a small 2.3 category earthquake.
The early half of the second century for China was a time of peace, as the prideful and agitated warlords and princes died down after Cheung Twins took to executing the most heinous of these rebels in front of the enemy armies to deter them. Though that peace would not remain for long...
Yellow Turban Rebellion[]
Although the early half of the century was a time of peace and prosperity for China, its luck eventually ran out in the second half. A major cause of the rebellion was an agrarian crisis, in which famine forced many farmers and former military settlers in the north to seek employment in the south, where large landowners exploited the labor surplus to amass large fortunes. As they heavily taxed trade from the peasants and the Yellow River was beginning to lower and dry up from over farming in the region. To make matters even worse with these landowners who were taking advantage of these poor farmers were growing stronger and more powerful the central government was losing its power and fractures were forming in the central government. The government was widely regarded as corrupt and incapable and the famines and floods were seen as an indication that a decadent emperor had lost his mandate of heaven. That emperor being the eldest son of the former emperor of Huang Cheung was his son named, Cheng Cheung. A man and future rebel by the name of, Zhang Jue, was to prove to be the Han dynasty's most dangerous enemy. As he gathered allies in both the central government and angry nobles and peasants in the north, and his Taoist sect in the south. His plans for an uprising were quickened as a group of the rebel sympathizers in Luoyang were arrested and executed, and the revolt in the provinces had to begin ahead of time, in the second month of 184. So began the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion would continue for another 21 long years. With Cheng Cheung being slain in combat and the near victory of the Yellow Turbans being the lowest point for the Han Dynasty. Records and journals show had it not been for the Cheung's son and future emperor, Hua, the Rebels may have one. Though luckily the Han Dynasty and it's allied nobles were some of the best trained generals known in Chinese history, along with a loyal armies who were not swayed by Zhang Jue's words for a 'new destiny' for China. Hua and his loyal generals, nobles, relatives, and his strong army of roughly 350,000 soldiers, would come to eventually beat the Yellow Turbans. The Yellow Turbans greatly outnumbered them, with 2,000,000 soldiers to follow Zhang Jue's orders. However the Yellow Turbans were corrupted by power and pride and eventually became inept leaders of these large armies. To the point where generals of the Yellow Turban would ignore each others orders to simply gain more money or a higher standing in Jue's new order.
The Han would eventually win, with Hua being the age of 45 when the rebellion ended and a kingdom for a long time never ran without a government and with seven million total lives lost in a 21-year long war, simply because a few landowners and nobles grew greedy and began to exploit the peasants.
Teotihuacan[]
Teotihuacan was the undoubted and unchallenged power in Aztlan in the 3rd century. No tribe or kingdom could possibly match up to their might and power and possibly achieve victory. They absorbed tribe after tribe, their sheer size alone struck fear into opposing tribes. Most of the time a simple showing of Teotihuacan's size was enough for other tribes to capitulate and absorbed into the vastly growing empire. Though the only kingdom that seemingly had a chance against the growing Teotihuacan, were the Mayans. They were as stubborn as always and the people of the <Yucatan Peninsula> united under the much stronger Mayan peoples to avoid being absorbed by the Teotihuacan. The Teotihuacan knew war was eventual between the two, but the Teotihuacan knew that the Mayans held a strategical advantage against the Teotihuacan. The Mayans were on a peninsula and the Teotihuacan only had one route into the Mayan kingdoms, and the Mayans only had one place to truly fortify. It would be a kill box for the Mayans and any attempts against the fortified borders would be futile for the Teotihuacan. The only viable option the Teotihuacan had was to bide their time and wait for a time to strike the Mayans where they were weak, and in the mean time continue to annex tribes and bring them under their rule. To amass a Teotihuacan army so great, that the Mayans could not stop its advance.
Rest of the World[]
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