Emperor Justinian the Great was great, yet his conquests of the west were a waste. So what if he attacked east?
The Byzantine Empire was great at adaptation and survival. That fact is undeniable to even those who mock it as not truly Roman. Despite countless crises, the Byzantines survived for more than a thousand years after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. So lets imagine an yet another timeline in which the empire survives.
How does that happen? There are many crucial points in Byzantine history, in which the Byzantines further weakened themselves. The Battle of Manzikert, the Fall of Constantinople and so forth and so forth. Let's go earlier. Not with a battle, but with a single decision. What if Emperor Justinian simply forsook the degraded west and chose to conquer east?
Point of Divergence[]
- In OTL, Emperor Justinian chose to retake the lands of the Western Roman Empire and succeeded more or less, largely thanks to his able generals, Belisarius in particular. Unfortunately, all these conquests brought were a plague which weakened the empire, diverted armies which weakened the eastern border and territories, lost within a generation.
- In this ATL, Justinian forsakes the west and instead chooses to conquer lands east and secure his empire against the Persians - Rome's most powerful and persistent enemy, who has threatened it since the days of the republic.
- The empire does not suffer from deurbanization.
- The Plague of Justinian does not happen.
OTL vs ATL[]
- The Byzantines take over the Arab peninsula and Mesopotamia, taking the region from the Persians permanently and pushing them east.
- Christianity is forcefully spread throughout the region in order to prevent lessen Persian influence through Zoroastrianism and strengthen Roman influence in the region. This butterfly effect eventually results in Mohammed becoming a Christian priest and eventually a saint due to his work in pleading to Constantinople on behalf for the Arabs further in the Arabian desert, securing them permission to colonize Mesopotamia and Northern Africa, where they further spread Roman influence as citizens of the empire.
- Iberia is never invaded by the Arabs. Instead the Visigothic Kingdom survives to modern times under the name Hispania.
- The Byzantine Empire survives (obviously). It remains a great power and used to have a colonial empire between the 16th and 20th centuries, with colonies in India, Australia and the eastern coast of Africa. Greek is more widely spread in the world due to Byzantine influence and is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
- The Risorgimento is unsuccessful due to Byzantine intervention, done in order to preserve their Italian provinces (OTL Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). Northern Italy is united under the House of Savoy into what is known as the Alpine Kingdom (until after WWI, when it becomes the Alpine Republic). The Republic of Venice regains independence, although it is not as powerful as it once was and instead focuses on banking and trade, becoming like Switzerland. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany is enlarged and becomes a constitutional monarchy under Alfred, son of Victoria of the UK. Due to Roman sentiments within Rome, the city and Lazio are annexed by the Roman Empire, thus permanently adding the city to the empire once again.
- World War I happens again. The difference is that Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated by a Hungarian nationalist instead, which ultimately leads to a vicious civil war in Austria-Hungary. This ultimately leads to the Great Powers picking a side in the conflict, eventually encompassing all of them. The Central Powers (Germany, Austria, the Alpine Republic) attempt to squash the Hungarian rebellion, while the Allies (Russia, Byzantium, France and the UK) back the Hungarians. The Allies win, Hungary gains independence as a republic. A broken Austria declares permanent neutrality. Russia falls to the Communists, although the Royal family flees to Constantinople. Germany is partitioned and Poland is recreated. The Alpine Kingdom becomes a republic.
- World War II happens in the same way. Byzantium joins the conflict in 1942 after the Germans aid the Italians in their attempt to take Sicily. The Allies ultimately win again.