431-452 CE (Superpowers)

Post-Imperatores Boni:
1148 (395)-1184 (431)

Last of the Antoninae:
1184 (431)-1205 (452)

Reign of Draco:
1205 (452)-1238 (485)

Gaius Aurelius Antonius would be the last great ruler of the Antonine dynasty. While Rome faced its greatest threat in the form of the Huns, this Caesar kept a cool head and steered the empire away from destruction while continuing to expand its power. The combination of these feats made Caesar Scipio I an appropriate end to the Antoninae, if one can forget the ill-fated reign of his younger brother....

Caesar Scipio I (431-448)

Eldest surviving son of Caesar Antonius, Gaius Aurelius Antonius was his immediate successor on his death. The new Caesar Scipio is generally remembered as the most prolific of the Post-Imperatores Boni period that ended with the start of the Draconian dynasty. Scipio's reforms enlarged a much neglected side of the empire - the Roman Navy (Classis). For its whole history, the Classis was not an independent branch of the military but a mere arm of the Legion. As such, it was up to the aptly named Imperator Nautici (Emperor of the Sea) to give it the necessary autonomy to contribute to Roman jingoism.

Rebuilding Carthage (431-440)

Spending a large part of his adolescence in Carthage, even receiving the news of his father's death while there, Scipio had a strong interest in the old Phoenician city. He believed that if firm naval outposts were present at strategic points along the Mediterranean coastline, the entire sea could be further stabilized. Carthage, for its part, had seen better days. Although its military academy prospered, it took the brunt of many African plagues and its shipyards had fallen into disuse since their heyday under the city's former empire.

The Great Harbour of Carthage that Scipio built was on the location of the old commercial port. Its substantial increase in size over the latter - more than six times the capacity of merchant vessels - was only the beginning, finished as this part was in 435. A separate military harbor was constructed adjacent to the commercial one in order to dock warships during peacetime. It was hoped that no battles would be near enough to Carthage for ships to be restocking and resting there between naval skirmishes.

A shipyard of ten dry docks was built half a kilometer west of the ports. The emperor intended to divert the most adept shipwrights in the Western world to this yard, which would set a precedent for the future. The docks were arranged back to back in two columns of five. Resting on artificial supports, the shipyard stuck out from the edge of Carthage like a precarious cliff.

Grand Harbor of Carthage — Carthage's new commercial harbour (*832 CE*)

The Grand Harbour itself stretched out from within the coastline of the city. Its center was a 1.48 km diameter circle with a 185 meter thick rim within which small ships could temporarily dock. In the middle of this ring was the imperitus umbilicus, a control center for all of the port's activity. Every captain docking his ship in Carthage had to procure what is effectively a parking permit before leaving to do his business in the city. Running 3 km from the ring were the major docks, for larger vessels. The walls that enclosed this artificial lake of sorts rose 50 meters above sea level and were 23 meters thick near the base. Watchtowers bristled with ballistae and polybolos which were able to be manned at a moment's notice. Of course, the proximity of the naval docks made such defenses seem almost superfluous; nothing, it seemed, could penetrate Carthage's sole entry point.

Within Carthage, Scipio founded in 439 the Academica Bellica Nautica. Less extensive than the terrestrial military academy, this institution nevertheless became the primary naval staff college for the Roman Empire. More modest expansions of the harbours of Massiala in Harbonensis and Tyrus in Syria were made a year after the founding of the naval college. And yet, these were mere preludes to Scipio's vision for the empire.

Melita

Scipio designated the well-located archipelago of Melita (Malta) as the site of a centralized commercial hub. To begin, from 435 to 439, the original ~35,000 inhabitants were relocated to beautiful estates across the Italian and Hispanic countrysides, with only moderate resistance in light of this incentive. The majority would sell these temporary residences to return to their renewed homeland. This procedure alone cost 40 million Dn but later ensured a moderately wealthy basic populace for the renewed isles of Melita.

With a tabula rasa of 316 km² and free rein to remodel, Scipio started demolishing unnecessary structures, leaving the ancient temples and hypogeums of Melita intact for posterity. A major bay in the southeast, the Bay of Sirocco (Marsaxlokk), was prepared as a port for the transport of necessities such as bread and water jugs. The vision Scipio had for the isle would make it almost completely dependent on imported food so a number of wharfs would need to be devoted to bringing it into Melita.

Meanwhile, teams of curatores wove a carefully designed network of viae (roads) across Melita. These would be the primary arteries of a planned city - the world's first nisipolis (island city). If Sirocco is the mouth of the city, the sewers its veins and the roads its arteries then its heart was the grand harbour, the Porta Neptuna.

Constructed in and around a natural harbour on the north side of Melita, the Neptunian Harbour had roughly 4 km² of sea within itself. Once complete, it would be able to service thousands of merchant ships at once.

Around the grand harbour, infrastructure for a marketplace was constructed. The primary market was a multi-tiered structure covering nearly a quarter of a square kilometer, with over a hundred shops able to operate within it (i.e. a shopping mall). Outdoor markets were also built with the acknowledged completion of a nascent harbour district in 449, a year after Scipio's death. General expansions to the city ensured that by the end of Scipio's reign the island would already have a population numbering 20,000 citizens.

Complimenting the economic growth of Melita was the expansion of the state merchant fleet. Sturdy liburnae, rapid transport vessels, were assembled in the new dry docks for work in the postal service. Their maximum rate of travel of 40 km per day made them ideal for long-distance transport of large volumes of letters. Packages and mail would collect in specific coastal stations - like ones in Ostia, Constantinople, Athens, Alexandria - then get taken clockwise around the Mediterranean to their ultimate destinations. If the ships were on schedule then one would pass any postal station every three weeks. The service is notoriously late in the months of fall.

Another function of the new public fleet was serving as infrastructure for emergency response to natural disasters like the plague, famine or earthquakes. With thirty to forty ships in the public service fleet at any one time, a significant alleviation of local suffering could be made by a nationwide intervention. About 700 bushels of wheat could be transported by a single liburna and the state had measures set up to mobilize at least ten within weeks of a disaster. Although this could support only ~8000 people for a week, it can save lives when circumstances are poor. To supplement this modest response, deals were made in the long-term with merchants to expect repayment by the Senate if aid is provided during local emergencies. The offer was not a source of significant profit so it was unlikely to set a legal precedent for extorting money from Rome on pretenses of providing aid.

Military Expansion

For all that Scipio spent on civil growth, he had money to spare on an expansion of Rome's military. Perhaps his most historically significant reform was splitting the Classis Imperialis (National Navy) into five high fleets, each led by a Magistrassis (High Naval Chief) of the patrician order. Maintaining the cohesion of these geographically and politically separate fleets was a new office, the Admirabillis (The Admired One), supreme commander of the Roman naval forces. Over time, this prestigious office's name has evolved into the high modern rank of Admirallis.

The five high fleets of Rome were: the Black Sea Fleet, the Arabian Fleet, the Britannic Fleet, the Western Fleet, and the Eastern Fleet. Each of the latter two were given dominion over half the Mediterranean. The Arabian Fleet operated out of Petra, overseeing Roman operations in the Mare Rubricum and the Orient while the other two respectively patrolled entries into the Bosporus and Mare Britannicum. Creating these divisions in the Navy was a vital part of the emperor's endgame - the political isolation of the Mediterranean from the rest of the world.

To accomplish his master plan, Scipio created restrictions for entering the two major entryways into his empire's private sea. At the Bosporus, north of Constantinople, sea walls were erected covering 80% of the strait, with free space down the middle for ships. Hearing news in 434 of final touches being made to the Bosporian Wall and the similar defenses at the Pillars of Hercules, Scipio devoted several weeks to commemorating the event with a nationwide procession of ships from the East to the West through all the major cities, terminating in Rome.

Defenses on the Bosporus more than suited the offensive naval technology of the day. The Bosporian Wall was built 14 km from the Golden Horn, where the metropolis of Constantinople lay in splendor. There the strait is 60 meters at its deepest and structures could be placed in contact with the seabed. Built from heavy stone, the walls on either side of the strait were 31 m thick at sea level, slanting in the usual Roman way. No space was given for defenders to stand on its roof so that the top could be rounded for better resistance to projectiles. Square windows protruded from the north side every seven meters. Although they were kept small and rimmed with iron to maintain rigidity, these holes were large enough for 80 mm ballistae, for anti-ship combat.

Within the gap between the walls, three defensive towers bristling with artillery stood. On the central tower, the Colossus of Christ our Savior was erected, a statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched. The grandeur of this forty meter statue ensured that foreign traders entering Rome's domain "know by whose grace such a mighty Empire could exist". To such foreigners, it was a frightening sight, due to its sheer size, and would keep many in awe for the duration of their journeys in the Roman world.

Invasion of the Huns (440-452)

Rome's longtime fear was realized in 444. The Huns invaded. Led by their High King Attila, these nomads smashed like a tsunami against the limites of Rome with the force of all Magna Germania. The Hunnic Empire had grown in the last four decades to encompass 24 million Germans and Sarmatians. Its level of technology was nearly comparable to noble Persia and its armies numbered in the millions of men. This was truly the greatest foreign threat that Rome had ever faced.

The Huns' ultimate goal, unbeknownst to the Legion at the time, was to take Rome as their new capital. To this end, they attacked the Vallum Raetianum with full numbers. Roman defenders were overwhelmed. Little could be done against the onslaught of catapults, horsemen and spears bearing down upon them. Nevertheless, it is fortunate that a new weapon was being tested at the walls that month. This Fire of Athens had been reformulated from old texts dated to the Peloponnesian War and involved the pumping of flammable liquid through tubes to practically "throw" fire over long distances, bathing enemy troops. Such an awe-inspiring weapon ensured many Germanic deaths for every Roman one, and almost prompted a retreat out of fear. Yet the walls were pierced. The entire Hunnic army crossed the border by nightfall.

Raetia's legion reacted against the Huns by the sixteenth day but it was a wasted effort. The general was fortunate that his scouts surveyed the enemy army before battle for what lay before them was an ocean of barbarians as far as the eye could sea - one million armed soldiers. General Lucius Camius Venerus wisely called off the surprise attack and sought to consolidate his forces with those of the surrounding provinces. It only took a month for the emperor to send word across the empire to collect the legions of Rome in Italy.

For the spring of 445, Venerus only commanded five legions and auxiliaries, 99,000 troops. With the legionaries attacking from the west, in a wedge formation specialized for fighting massed formations, and the auxiliaries moving in from the east, Venerus hoped to keep the Huns fighting on two fronts, perhaps confusing their leaders. Unfortunately the effectiveness of his tactic needed both sides of the pincer to maintain their advance. Rome's auxiliaries were overrun early in the battle, leaving Venerus alone with his legionaries.

After the first hour and a half, the legions' tight position had preserved all but 52 soldiers, one Roman for every 600 Huns so far. However, without its flanking advantage, the impenetrable wall of armored soldiers could be liberally surrounded by the barbarian horde. With stunning attentiveness to the changing conditions of battle, Venerus ordered a formation change to a circle so that their force could steadily escape the surrounding mob. Assisted only by their sagittae, who were harassing the enemy from the nearby hills, Venerus' legions escaped in the next hour.

While many Romans escape, the so-called Battle of the Horde was a disaster. Rome lost 6,000 good legionaries and 59,000 auxiliary soldiers which compares poorly to the 54,000 dead Huns. The carnage marks the deadliest battle in European history for the classical era or earlier, the greatest Roman defeat in history, and the second deadliest battle in all history up until that day.

Shocked at their unbelievable loss, Rome was not discouraged. The Senate enforced a conscription program that had amassed 400,000 militia troops by the end of the following year. Meanwhile, horse archers, equipped with an invention brought from China in 410, harassed the Hunnic army, slowing its movement through the Alps and lowering German morale. The sense of control was only temporary for Rome as the Huns were in Italy by fall of 447.

The Senate appointed Venerus generalissimus over the empire's grand army. Assembled north of the Eternal City were 650,000 conscripts, 140,000 auxiliaries and 83,200 legionaries. It was the largest army Rome ever formed.

Attila's horde was expected to besiege the city of Mediolanum (Milan). Generalissimus Venerus devised a strategy that would guarantee Rome's victory. In outline the plan was as follows:

50,000 auxiliary infantry are stationed directly in front of the wall, luring the horde forward; 10,000 archers are hidden on the hills along each flank.
14,000 archers, 100 ballistae and two Athenian fire throwers are stationed inside the wall; these can kill the enemy from a position of safety throughout the battle
41,600 legionaries, 50,000 auxiliaries (infantry and archers) and 200,000 conscripts are stationed to the east, obscured by the walls of Milan to await the signal to attack
41,600 legionaries and 450,000 conscripts are stationed to the west, obscured by the walls of Milan to await the signal to attack
4,000 horse archers lie in wait on the far side of the city; they will circle the Huns, whittling their flanks down with arrows while avoiding direct conflict
15,000 Roman knights, armored horsemen, watch from a distance for sign of the enemy's retreat; they will cut down the fleeing enemy once any break from the mob

Veneru's strategy was perfectly executed. The Huns, in their blood lust, charged straight into the wall, only to be met by a flurry of arrows and searing flames. The fire throwers were positioned on the far west and east sides of the ramparts to soften the German horde for the flanking armies. East came first, as the stronger of the two, to beautiful effect. The wedge formation had proven itself again in the last battle and was used to stunning effect by legionaries here. Massed conscripted forces flanking the legionaries prevented encirclement. Minutes after the east army crashed into the mob, the horse archers rode onto the field to harass Attila's forces, sending a messenger to signal the west army. Squeezed from the entire front end, members of the horde tried to flee in vain, until the desire to escape had spread through all their ranks. When an organized effort to leave had taken hold of the barbarians, the legionaries kept their control, slowly advancing into the enemy. This was a crucial moment in the battle.

Once the German rear had broken into a scramble, the Roman cavalry came in to cut them off from their escape route. This iron juggernaut moved through the Germans like a lawnmower, unhindered by such an unprepared foe. With this, Attila's pursuers - two lines of legionaries - regained whatever ground was opened between the armies.

Within an hour and a half the battle was over, a clear Roman victory. Almost the entire barbarian army was killed or captured, with casualty estimates in the 600,000-750,000 range. In comparison, Rome only lost 12,000 of its brave people, completely offsetting Venerus' previous loss. All prisoners of war were ransomed back to the Hunnic Empire, a nation still in mourning from the loss of its great King Attila, whose son, Ilek, now led them.

Rome celebrated like never before, the emperor declaring October 14 a national holiday. The empire was spared a humiliating defeat and the Eternal City could rest easy once more. It was justifiably believed in the Senate that the Huns had assembled the last great German army, which Rome had now defeated. The day's victory marked the end of an era where Magna Germania lay under German control.

Without disbanding the massive Roman army now stationed outside Mediolanum, Scipio convened the Senate in early November to discuss the matter of conquering Greater Germany. No major military force, he argued, was left in the region and there were fertile grasslands and rich forests to be exploited. A consensus on the issue could not be immediately reached. Months later, an emissary from the High King Ilek offered unconditional surrender to the Roman Empire from the Hunnic Empire. As the Huns and their German underlings were nomadic, Rome saw fit to demand their eternal emigration from Greater Germany as punishment for invading its empire. Signing the Treaty of Vindobona set the punishment into stone.

With the Huns removal from Germany, the Senate agreed to send Rome's armies for its conquest. When Scipio died three months after the legions left Rome, his son was crowned Caesar Romulus Augustus in the town of Noviono in Germania Inferior. Romulus and his four legions were on their way to invade Germany, and the young man's first act as emperor would be to spread his forces for the operation. Fortunately, resistance was nearly as thin as what remained of the population. Historical estimates put about 200,000 people in the whole of Greater Germany, those who did not leave with the Huns. Unfortunately, in a battle with guerrilla forces, a stray arrow found its way to the eye socket of the new emperor. He died in mere seconds.

Without any children, brothers or uncles, and having named no successor, Romulus left a sede vacante. Not long ago, Caesar Sapiens had enacted laws for such an occasion. When an emperor dies without successors, the Senate may elect a new Caesar from within their ranks. He would be approved by a popular assembly of the citizens of Rome and receive all the powers of the office, founding a new dynasty. The final decision of the Senate was a decisive yet cruel man named Gaius Julius Draconius.

Founding of the Maya Conglomerate

By demand of Calakmul's populace, the new king Quich'en Ch'onle Mayapan renamed the city Mayapan. Many worshipped the young man as a living god, and all those who spoke personally with him were left in awe at the lucidity of his speech and calm demeanor. With absolute support from his people, nothing stood in his way to completely reshaping the city to his vision.

A ten-year program implementing organized farming began in 431. Farmers could only produce what the king demanded, and he chose where and when they planted. In his youth, he spent three years intermittently out in the farms working to make an extra living and used the time to evaluate theories on plant growth. He found that areas which had been growing the same plants for years were consistently less fertile than newly planted spots. He thought that if the soil could be allowed to renew itself for a year, all might be well. As part of his new organized farming program, a two-field crop rotation came into force.

Artisans were also required to produce whatever their king demanded, although they could produce what they pleased when not conscripted. Sturdy stone and obsidian weapons were assembled in 432, and stored in a new state armory for future wars. Military training exercises were begun for all the men in the city on a biweekly basis. The idea of a standing army was unthinkable but if every man was trained to be an able warrior and weapons were available then a professional army could be formed at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, many artisans were employed to enhance the beauty and efficiency of the city - rebuilding roads, erecting an earthenworks wall around the southern half, and building monuments to honor the gods and king.

By 435, Calakmul had become the most beautiful city-state on the continent with sights that could not be seen anywhere else in that part of the world. Wheeled carts carried large quantities of goods short distances within the city (humans are ill-disposed to drag carts long distances). Fireworks could occasionally be heard going off near the palace, which was partially surrounded by an ornate 1.75 m high cement wall. And at last, a wood and ceramic aqueduct finally stretched from Mayapan to the nearby spring. All was like this when the king invited the ajaw of six nearby city-states, including Tikal and Lamanai, to broker a regional peace. Weeks before the meeting, Mayapan had broken a longstanding tradition of Maya warfare - not to destroy an opponent. Battles were fought, by tradition, for the capture of sacrificial victims. But in a battle with its nearest city, Mayapan's troops massacred its men. The women and all but the youngest children were kept for sacrifices. As news of the massacre spread, Mayapan took the opportunity of having the region's attention to call other kings to his state.

He explained the necessity of his actions for the security of his city and treated the other leaders to the splendor he sought to defend. They understood the fear that nearby cities would be envious of such wonders and were further swayed after watching the military exercises underway upon their arrivals. In a final meeting at Mayapan's palace, the great ajaw told the kings that all these wonders could be shared if they pledged themselves to him. He had a vision of uniting the Maya under one banner and spreading their influence across all the lands. With that, he offered a plaque with which to sign an agreement conglomerating their seven city-states into one kingdom. This union immediately formed the strongest civilization on the continent, one that surpassed Teotihuacan.

Mayapan became the Kuhul Ajaw (Federal King) of the conglomerate. His reforms carried over to populations of all seven cities - nearly 340,000 people. The lesser kings were severely demoted in power but arguably grew in responsibility. They were required to monitor the successes of Mayapan's reforms and report the grievances of the people to the capital. Mayapan wanted to act as a highly responsive ruler, reacting to the needs of the populace whenever possible. While the common folk enjoyed standards of living that rose and rose over time, they had many demands made of them, like those Mayapan made of his original citizens. Of course, the kings also governed their people but they had to pursue any goals passed down from the federal king.

Twenty more cities had joined the conglomeration by 439. The empire was expanding faster than roads were being built. Yet each city operated as an individual unit, allowing a greater efficiency than if control was more centralized around the capital. Despite the strength inherent in a nation of 27 cities, Teotihuacan was still the commercial power of the subcontinent. The only obstacle to Mayapan's dominance.

Trade among the Maya states was informal before the rise of one ruler among the nation. Whenever a farmer or an artisan had excess goods someone would usually purchase what they could and transport it to nearby cities for trade where there was no such excess in that product. Now that roads were linking the city states and a single government hung over them, general commercial ties were formed between traders. These could persist through the year and allow specialization of production - e.g. Tikal began manufacturing the hunting and military tools for the whole country - for local comparative advantages in the production of numerous goods.

Nevertheless, Teotihuacan held the commercial advantage of custom. Local traders were in the habit of bringing their wares to this magnificent city and its reputation was still stronger than the Conglomerate. In 451, Mayapan sent a diplomatic team to gain an audience with the head of state for Teotihuacan. Without warning, the group snatched the leader and fled back to the conglomerate. The next morning, a strike force numbering 25,000 arrived at the unfortified city to safely usher in Kuhul Ajaw Mayapan. The great man made a speech to the people of the city, offering them a primary place in his empire. His rousing speech brought them over to his cause. Preparations were made to transfer royal residence and authority to Teotihuacan.

Before that day, the empire was governed with each city as an autonomous unit allied to Mayapan and his vision. While the shift of capitals allowed them to retain much of their autonomy, important as it was to the country's efficiency, political power was definitively focused in one place. Constructing a grand monument in Teotihuacan's city square, people from across the land gathered to see all the Maya kings pledge their cities to Mayapan and his family line. With this great city as its capital, the empire of the Maya was formally united.

The state continued to grow in number of cities in 452 with the people enjoying what historians called the Golden Age of a Golden Age. On the continent, a third of all commerce occurred within or with the conglomerate. Standard currency remained the cacao, both the currency's name and a description of what it was, a bean. This was one of the strongest mediums of exchange in the region, desired by all who would trade with the Maya.

World Summary (452)

The population of the world has been bolstered by a strong Rome. Not only are there tens of millions more people in a region where there could have been few but agrarian trade with Rome supports many civilizations. Persia is a greater size than it would have been without a strong Rome as are the Aksum civilization and Indian states. Only Greater Germany has suffered a severe depopulation due to Rome's persistence.

Global population: 353 million
Life expectancy: 24 years

Roman Empire

Population: 93 million (25.9% of global population)
Area: 7,113,000 km²
GDP: 31 billion denarii (~USD837 billion)
Treasury: 4 million denarii (~USD108 million)
Life expectancy: 38 years
Urbanization rate: 20-30%
Legislature: 900 senators
Government revenue: 920 million denarii (~USD24.8 billion)
Military spending: 615 million denarii (66.8% of revenue or 1.98% of GDP)
Class System:
- Patrician: 13,700 aristocratic citizens
- Equestrian: 1,250,000 citizens
- Middle-Class Plebeian: 11 million citizens
- Lower-Class Plebeian: 18-20 million citizens
- Peregrini et Indigeni: 43 million non-citizens
- Servi: 18-20 million slaves
Size of the Legions: 166,400 Legionaries, 420,000 auxiliaries, 15,000 praetorian guards and 310,000 conscripts still in service for the conquest of Greater Germany

Rank Among Nations:

Wealth: 1st
Production: 1st
Population: 1st
Area: 1st
Technology: 4th (after the Maya Conglomerate, and the Chinese and Indian states)
Human Development: 2nd (after the Maya)
Military: 3rd (after China and the Maya)

Maya Conglomerate

Population: 17 million (4.8% of global population)
Area: 1,050,000 km²
GDP: ~USD62 billion
Life expectancy: 40 years
Urbanization rate: 10-15%
Militia Size: ~630,000 men at any time in active service.