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The Emperor of China was an all- powerful figure with absolute control over the country and had the mandate of Heaven endowed upon them. The Mandate of Heaven existed from Xia onwards. Rome was a military empire, not a religious one so I can't see Divine Mandate happening.
Fair enough.That was the plan
Ewww, archprophet for leader of Rome? (Shudders)
Results of the vote
12 for Military Dictatorship
10 for Martial Republic
8 for Divine Mandate
8 for Despotic Empire
FTL travel :
22 for Hyperlanes
8 for Warp
7 for Wormholes
Given how Hyperlanes surpassed the rest and also because of some remarks the galaxy will only use Hyperlanes
Weapons :
18 for Missiles
10 for Lasers
9 for Guns
(the numbers might be a bit off but the overall trends are respected).
I'll install the game and publish my prologue chapters (nothing as big as Unione but well it should provide a little context to the story
) before the end of the week. Stay tuned!
I'm not experienced with hyperlanes, so that'll make things even more interesting. Can't wait for the prologue.
Here's hoping the hyperlane setup favours you, otherwise Rome is going to have a rough start.
Prologus (Part 1)
The City of Rome, the greatest city of the entire world, was created in 753 BC according to legends and was one of the numerous city-states of the Italian peninsula. Thanks to their military prowess the Roman legions conquered Italy and embarked on the conquest of the known world, defeating Carthago, submitting the successors of Alexander and bringing the various tribes of Gallia and Iberia under their dominion. Their assimilation of the conquered people stabilized the conquered territories. The troubles of the Civil War ended the Republic, with Octavian becoming the first emperor of Rome. The principate (from the title princeps bore by the emperors) was a Golden Age for Rome and the territories it controlled. The pax romana was extended to Britannia, Armenia, Dacia although most of Germania was lost after an ephemerous conquest. The Army became the major component of the State, legions making and unmaking rulers at their will in the 2nd century BC. The rise of Christianism, the pressure from the German tribes, and the division of the Empire in two proved a tough period for the state. But the Empire prevailed in the West thanks to an efficient integration from the German tribes who wanted to settle in the Empire with the system of feoderati (client kings) being used to curve the desires of the warlords. The Roman emperor of Ravenne was mainly a ceremonial figure, often less powerful than the long-haired kings under his dominion.
Ironically the revival of the Empire came from those same Barbarians, with the king of the Franks Carolus prevailing in the Crisis of the Four Emperors in 800. He reinforced his power, settling himself in Rome. The Saxons and the Thuringians were brought into the Empire, effectively recreating the old province of Germania Magna. The Caledonians and Hibernians were forced to pay a tribute after the successful campaigns of Carlomanus, brother of the Emperor. Ties with the Eastern Empire were recreated with a daughter of Carolus marrying the heir of the Isaurian dynasty. Carolus pursued a cesaropapist policy, avoiding any loss of power to the Papacy and other patriarchs. A great architectural planning was enacted in Rome to make the Urbs the greatest city of the Empire once again. He soon acuired the nickname of Magnus. His successors continued these policies, his heir Ludovicus reorganizing the administration to avoid corruption and bad stewardship, his great-grandson conquering the whole island of Britannia. The ultimate success of the Carolingian dynasty was the reunification of the two empires in 1054, following the inheritance of the Greek Empire by Valentinian V by his mother. Meanwhiile, Romanization progressed, along Christianity, with the Baltic reached around 950, and the great prince of the Rus’ marrying a Roman princess in 984. There was hardly threat of separatism : Latin was the standard (along with Greek after 1054) language of the Empire and most of local cultures were integrated or disappeared ; revolts occurred, but it was never for independence, except in provinces conquered recently. The population augmented and trade flourished thanks to the stability that the Empire maintained. Sure there were problems on borders : Vikings were only humbled after a great Naval effort which saw the Classis Septentrionis mastering the seas in Northern Europe ; a constant limes was needed in the East to counter Bedouins and Persians ; Avars and other nomads proved a resilient threat on the Danubes until the christening of the first Arpad king.
Emperor Tiberius III, son of Maximilianus IV would initiate great expeditions to pursue the exploration of the lands discovered by the Normanii in the West, Vinlandia [1] , creating the Classis Occidentalis that soon reached the Elysian Islands[2] along with Hesperidia[3]. Conquest, colonization and Romanization of the Western World began after the foundation of Tiberia Occidentalis[4]
The empire soon controlled indirectly or directly much of Europe, Near-East, Africa and the New-World. The relative decentralization policies allowed the empire to be quite stable. The Emperors of the Ulpian dynasty (1278-1841) increased their powers and put the Army under their absolute control, with no emperors being couped by legions during the whole period. Trade flourished, with trade posts established all around the Globe. New ideas spread thanks to better education and the invention of printing, and popular sovereignty was experienced through the renewed Senate beginning in 1871. Christianity was the major religion around the Globe and the Emperor controlled effectively the Church with efficient Cesaropapist policies. Technological progress was slow but steady : steam engines were introduced at large scale in factories after 1870, the longesonus (more known by his Greek name, the telephone) was first experimented in 1930, the longevisia (in Greek, television) commercialized around 1976. By this date there was only one rival capable of stopping the Roman expansion : the Chinese Empire.
While the Roman Empire was more huge and could draw ressources from all quarters of the World the Chinese still had with their local tributaries an advantage in numbers and equipment. After the incident of the Marcus Paulus bridge near Bellbaca[5] the rivalry between the two Empires only strengthened and they both prepared for the upcoming war. The World War erupted in 2123 under the reign of the Emperor Traianus IV, following a massacre of Roman merchants in Shanghai. For 10 years would the weapons tear apart Asia : the Romans controlled the Sea and took control of Indonesia and Japan by 2128 ; the Indian Front was more static but saw the Romans slowly advance, with high losses on each side. Eventually the Emperor would decide to use the weapons developed by the “Project Typhon” against Chinese cities. The devastation of the nuclear weapons did not end the war but it surely helped the Romans advance throughout the Chinese defences. Victory, though, would have a bitter ending for whole mankind.
Weeks before the surrender of the Chinese Emperor, scientists in Shanxii made breakthroughs in biological warfare, creating a super virus to decimate their enemies. The disease known in Rome as the “serica pestis”[6] would be used by the Chinese in an ultimate act of defiance, and against the wishes of their hierarchy. The disease soon swept through China, India before reaching Rome and from there the rest of the World. This infection killed between a third and half of the whole human population and provoked great changes in the Roman State.
[1]: North America
[2] : Caribbean
[3] : South America
[4] : New-York
[5] : Bombay/Mumbai
[6] : Chinese Plague
P.S : Bear in mind that most of it is placeholder and that ID on't intend to have the most plausible TL for this RE
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Wow, that's a depressing prologue. A third of the world killed by a man-made virus... yeah, that would affect the way Rome is run.
The world sounds so much more peaceful with a unified Rome ruling for millennia.
When I saw that a world war was started in 2123, I thought for sure Earth would be reduced to a nuclear wasteland. A plague is much better, since only humans and not the entire world suffers.
When I saw that a world war was started in 2123, I thought for sure Earth would be reduced to a nuclear wasteland. A plague is much better, since only humans and not the entire world suffers.
The world sounds so much more peaceful with a unified Rome ruling for millennia.
When I saw that a world war was started in 2123, I thought for sure Earth would be reduced to a nuclear wasteland. A plague is much better, since only humans and not the entire world suffers.
Indeed. Was still a far better outcome for the world unification.
A stable and controlled world for many thousands if years, with a continued Pax Romana. Population must have been higher than in our reality, given the few wars and conflicts. I appreciated the little nods you inserted in the update by using some symbolic dates. However that World War between China and Rome does sound very deadly, and something that changes the fate of Humanity.
Was there a dynasty after the Ulpians, or is that where the military dictatorship was established?
There was to be a suitable explanation for the starting slum areas on Earth and other empty free slots on the surface popup.
Basically this for the ingame explanation. I'd have some problems explaining how the Earth is not overcrowded if not this cataclysm
As for nuclear warfare : in this TL, technology does not advance as fast as in our reality (the lack of competition for the Empire does not inspire a great number of initiatives that Western states encouraged to surpass their rivals). The basics of nuclear energy were only really developed with Project Typhon (you know that ugly beast that nearly overthrew Zeus and other Olympians). Chinese were nearly equal to the Romans but they spent most of their ressources on biological warfare hence the plague.
Didn't really bother with that but no the Military Dictatorship will be explained in next update. (finding names for Roman is already quite complicated)
Given that Europe was the least peaceful part of Earth since the End of the Western Empire, a United continent changes quite a few things
In other news I'm taking the name list of @cybrxkhan and enhancing it.
If you have suggestions of names be it planets, ships I'm open to them. (Do not suggest Roman provinces with Nova next to it, that has already been taken care of
)
Planet names: Stella Focum, Ulixes, Absit domum, Salutem, Romulus/Remus, Tegimen
Ship names: The Spes, The Rapax,
Ship names: The Spes, The Rapax,