Roman Empire ends sooner.

[xelas2547]

Yes, you read it right!
So kill of WRE before 476/480 and/or
ERE/Byz before 1453?

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by xelas2547

Yes, you read it right!
So kill of WRE before 476/480 and/or
ERE/Byz before 1453?

Shoot, this isn't that hard; the wonder is that the Roman Empire lasted as long as it did .

Easy thought... what if Antonius had won the civil war with Octavius? Antonius didn't have the political sense that Octavius did and it is possible that without the central government under the Emperors that the Empire might have broken apart in the 1st or 2nd century.

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Bill

[Fabilius]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Shoot, this isn't that hard; the wonder is that the Roman Empire lasted as long as it did .

Easy thought... what if Antonius had won the civil war with Octavius? Antonius didn't have the political sense that Octavius did and it is possible that without the central government under the Emperors that the Empire might have broken apart in the 1st or 2nd century.

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Bill

True.

And after Augustus the Pods are really, really many.

Almost every emperor has the chance to goof. But I think you could easily find a POD before Caesar to get rid of even the last days of the republic.

[Maniakes]

ERE -- Callinicus of Heliopolis dies when his workshop burns down after a botched experiment (OTL, he invented Greek Fire). Without greek fire, the Romans are unable to break the Umayyad blockade during the First Arab Siege of Constantinople (674-678). The besieging army is kept amply supplied by sea, and the city is eventually starved into submission.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by Fabilius

True.

And after Augustus the Pods are really, really many.

Almost every emperor has the chance to goof. But I think you could easily find a POD before Caesar to get rid of even the last days of the republic.

True, but then we are stopping the empire in the first place . Though that might also be true if Augustus never takes power...

In any case, it always amazes me that Rome lasted as long as it did.


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Bill

[antisocrates]

Any combination of stronger Parthians/Sassanids and incompetent imperial leadership could do it, at least partially. All of Asia and perhaps Greece could very well go Sassanid. Then maybe a Roman civil war in the West could lead to Sassanid sack of Rome, but necessarily conquest of Italy. Even simple sack of Rome in the 3rd century could've possibly pushed it over.

[Zyzzyva]

Gah! Nobody's mentioned the obvious one: the third century crisis! The empire was so on the ropes it had friction burns! Frankly, Claudius and Aurelian pulled off a miracle - it would be almost trivial to kick the whole thing down in the 260s. Just put some other incompetant like Gallienus - say... Septimus or something, who's just compitant (or lucky) enough to take Rome but doesn't have the skills to put down the Gauls or the Palmyrines, and can't hold the line in the North well enough either. presto, Shredded empire by 300