Imperium Aeternus
This timeline begins in March 44 B.C., days before Julius Caesar’s assassination in OTL. I have decided to make the POD Brutus deciding to tell Caesar of the plot to kill him because of the close relationship the two share (in OTL Brutus had been named Caesar’s heir after Octavian). The real reason for him turning on his co-conspirators, the Liberatores is that he hears that Antony has learned of the plot (which in OTL actually happened). Here is a link to the discussion https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=25430
The Ides of March
44 B.C. On March 13th Marcus Junius Brutus learns of Antony’s discovery of the assassination plot against Julius Caesar. Brutus warns the other members of the Liberatores (the group who is plotting to kill Caesar) about Antony’s knowledge of the plot, but the other conspirators fail to be deterred in their plans to kill the Dictator. Brutus decides to speak with Antony about the plot and help him convince Caesar to avoid the Senate meeting on the Ides of March. Brutus meets with Antony the next day and the two decide to intercept Caesar as he leaves to sign the fake petition written by the Senators. On March 15th as Caesar is walking towards the Senate forum, Brutus and Antony warn him of the assassination plot and Brutus admits guilt in the initial stages of the plot, but pleads with Caesar that he could not follow through with the plot because of his close relationship to the Roman Dictator. He and Antony suggest that Caesar be lenient on the punishment of the other members of the conspiracy so as to show the Roman people that he is an honorable Dictator, but harsh enough to avoid the possibility of another assassination attempt. They also suggest that Caesar immediately go before the Roman people and reveal the plot to get the people behind him. Caesar orders his guard to arrest all the conspirators pointed out by Brutus except Brutus who he pardons given that Brutus remains his advisor and swears allegiance to him, Brutus agrees. Caesar even decides to leave Brutus in his original line of succession (which will be changed later) out of personal gratitude to Brutus for stopping his assassination. On March 16th, Caesar speaks to the people of Rome and explains the assassination attempt and says he understands that the people and the Senate are worried about his powers as Dictator. He vows to the Roman people to be a just ruler and he will limit the powers of Dictator through law and guarantees that the power of the Senate will not be diminished (basically a very early and primitive form of separation of powers). He further promises to add to the glories of Rome by conquering many new lands for the Roman people, beginning with lands on the northern frontier and the wealthy domain of the Parthian kings (which he had already began planning for before the assassination attempt). The people rejoice at this news and basically endorse Caesar's rule by showing their extreme support for him. All others who may have thought of ousting Caesar are now completely discredited and most become huge proponents of Caesar. The conspirators are pardoned but stripped of all titles and powers they may have previously held. To compensate them Caesar gives them land to live on and a small amount of monetary compensation.
In April, the Senate votes and makes Caesar Imperator Perpetuus (essentially creating the position of emperor of the Roman Empire). Octavian (Caesar’s heir according to his earlier will) and the Senate begin working on the Great Law.
Three months after the failed assassination attempt, Caesar changes his will, announcing that his son by Cleopatra, queen of Ptolemaic Egypt, the two year old Caesarion (Ptolemy Caesar) will be his heir. He further decrees that in his absence, Octavian will act as the Imperator Interrex or interim /temporary emperor (a position the Great Law will expand upon later) and that next in line after Caesarion should he die would either be his son or Octavian, followed still by Brutus. Caesar’s will further stipulates that any assassination of Caesar, Caesarion, or his offspring, would automatically make null and void the succession of either Octavian or Brutus. Taking advantage of his popularity he explains that though Cleopatra is foreign she will not threaten Rome's power, and how Egypt and Rome can grow stronger together through a close mutual relationship. The people believe him wholeheartedly because he is so popular. In August, Caesar formally marries Cleopatra, making her the most powerful woman in Rome.
The first part of the Great Law is voted on in the Senate and brought into law in November, with Octavian showing a remarkable mind for revolutionary political concepts. Many historians are quick to note however, that it is actually Octavian’s tutor, the rather obscure Greek philosopher, Philipatos, who should be considered the brains behind much of the Great Law’s concepts.
Caesar gathers an army and appoints Marc Antony as one of his commanders. He, Antony and Brutus will leave with an 80,000 man army for the northern border with Macedonia in preparation for an invasion of Dacia, Pannonia, and eventually Germany. Caesar's main goal is to be greater than Alexander the Great. He decides to commit most of the rest of his life to adding territory to Rome and leaving the administrative part of his rule to Octavian who already agreed publicly to give up power to Caesarion at the age of 18 should anything happen to Caesar before that time.
In December, while gathering an army for his northern campaign, Caesar is distracted and leaves for Egypt because of a revolt in Alexandria led by Cleopatra’s brother, Ptolemy XIV, who opposes the rule of his sister and the growing Roman influence and power over Egypt. Caesar and Cleopatra take an army of 30,000 and invade Egypt, defeating and killing Ptolemy XIV after a pitched battle in Alexandria. Caesar writes his Commentarii de Bello Aegyptico during this time, highlighting the Battle of Alexandria. Caesar is very careful not to damage Alexandria and tries to foster loyalty by allowing Cleopatra to command part of his army along with some of her loyal Egyptian followers. The strategy mostly works and by March, Caesar leaves for Rome and he and Cleopatra immediately integrate the Egyptian and Roman governments, basically annexing Egypt to Rome. In May, Caesar, Antony, Brutus and their army leave for Macedonia. Almost simultaneously, another general named Gaius Claudius Scipio is given authority by Caesar to finish the invasion of Britain with 25,000 men.
The Caesarian Wars
43 B.C. The Senate is completely reorganized in early Feb. in accordance to the Lex Legis Magnus (Great Law). Once again it is Philipatos’ influence that greatly helps create the new Roman Senate. Another important key figure in the organization of the new Senate and the Lex Legis Magnus itself is none other than Cicero. Though he had initially been frightened of Caesar’s Dictatorial and now Imperial powers, he saw Caesar’s attempt to establish a more balanced, efficient government as good for the Republic, even if it meant leaving a huge amount of power in the hands of one man. Cicero is elected the first Princeps Senatus (head or principle Senator) by the new Senate in early March and as a result his OTL Philippics about Antony are never written. Octavian takes on the powers of Imperator Interrex in March after Caesar, Antony, and Brutus leave for northern Greece. One of his first official acts is to commission the completion of the most famous of all Roman forums, the Forum of Caesar, which includes among other things the Curia Senatus (Senatorial Court), the home of the new Senate.
In late May, Caesar's army crosses the northern border of Macedonia and invades Thrace to begin his northern campaign. In June, Caesar engages a Thracian army at Larissa and utterly destroys them by flanking them after using a small force of 10,000 men under Antony as a decoy. This strategy will prove to be successful in future battles. Within 4 months most of Thrace is under control and Caesar rests his army for 4 months while planning the campaign into Pannonia and Dalmatia. Caesar decides to wait until March 42 B.C. to march into Pannonia because of the winter. While camped, his army builds Castrum Thracia, a fort in northwestern Thrace.
Lugdunum is founded in Gaul. The great Roman poet Ovid is born.
In India, Nagasena creates the Emerald Buddha, an important factor in the spread of Buddhism throughout the Roman Empire centuries later.
42 B.C. Caesar completes his Commentarii de Bello Thracico in which he grossly exaggerates the magnitude of the Roman victory at Larissa. He does this largely to increase his popularity and support among the Roman people just as he did years ago during his wars in Gaul. Cleopatra begins reading his commentaries to the Senate and to large crowds of people in Rome. Her reading of the commentaries and her speeches of Caesar’s greatness not only increase Caesar’s popularity, but also her own. The Roman people begin seeing Cleopatra as an adopted Roman rather than a foreign queen as in years past.
Cicero and Octavian begin working on the second part of the Lex Legis Magnus, which will deal primarily with the provinces and their governments. In preparation, the Senate passes the lex Senatus, a law stating that each province will have a local Senate based on the one in Rome. This law will later be incorporated into the Lex Legis Magnus.
In March Scipio's army lands in Britain and begins moving north. Within three weeks he fights 3 major battles with unorganized natives and marches all the way to Caledonia within two months. He is proving to be an excellent military commander, actually much better than Caesar himself. Scipio tries to foster cooperation from the native population by offering able-bodied men riches if they join the Roman army and by not destroying local villages. He also buys a couple of thousand mercenaries to help fight the tough Caledonians. Scipio advances north and fights a major battle, the Battle of Vuvidenum against the Caledonians which sees 28,000 Roman soldiers versus 18,000 natives. The Romans narrowly win even with 10,000 more troops. After this battle however, the Romans basically control all of Britain and Caledonia. Scipio's army begins to build roads and other internal improvements and a provincial capital for Britain, Londinium. The small Roman encampment built during Scipio’s campaign in Caledonia, Campus Caledonia will eventually become Caledonum, the provincial capital of Caledonia.
Also in March, Caesar marches almost unopposed through Pannonia and Dalmatia and conquers everything along the Danube river, but does not cross into Dacian lands yet. The Dacian king, Comosicus, begins calling up an army to counter Caesar's moves in Dalmatia but he still feels relatively safe behind the Danube where he believes the Romans won't be able to cross without major trouble. As a result the Dacians only call up 25,000 men and don't really prepare for a major battle. Comosicus also sends an ambassador, Duritista, to conclude a peace treaty with the Romans in late October. Initially, Caesar seems receptive to Duritista’s offer, but actually, according to the Roman historian, Livy (who is traveling with the army), Caesar is stalling for time so as to keep the Dacian king complacent until he can figure out a plan for crossing the Danube. Caesar begins to build forts and other fortifications along the Danube to protect the border while scouting for a suitable place for a bridge...
41 B.C. Octavian establishes a primitive mail system so as to communicate with Caesar better and move information around the empire much faster than in the past. The Epistula Equinus, or mail system devised by Octavian consists of stations within and between the major cities of the empire to help the government better communicate with the provinces and the army. The bill Octavian introduces to the Senate becomes the lex Epistulus in Feb. The mail stations house several horses and mail men who carry a message on horse back to the next station, then hand over the message to the next man at the next station. This way, messages about invasions, decrees, revolts, etc. can reach Rome and then the area it needs to go to next much quicker. The mail system remains a private system of communication for the government and some prominent Romans for centuries to come. In early April, the Senate votes into law the second part of the Lex Legis Magnus. Philipatos becomes Ptolemy Caesar’s tutor. Cleopatra’s popularity among the Roman people continues to grows as she regularly attends public meetings and can often be found at the bath houses discussing politics with prominent patrician citizens. Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus becomes the first president of the new Senate.
Caesar's army and the newly captured slaves from Thrace and Pannonia/Dalmatia continue to build roads and defenses along the Danube. After the second part of the Lex Legis Magnus is passed, Caesar explains the law to the former leaders of the newly conquered lands in Pannonia/Dalmatia and Thrace (Scipio does the same in Britain). For now most tribal leaders agree that it is in their best interests to cooperate with Rome (especially since Rome has done some good in the past year like building roads and aqueducts within their cities, etc Caesar manages to raise an army of 6,000 men from the new territories and buys an additional 4,000 mercenaries.
In early June, while Scipio is helping oversee the construction of Londinium, he hears rumors of an island to the west. He decides that after Londinium is complete he will invade this strange new land and add further to his glory and growing popularity. In July however, before Scipio can prepare fully for an invasion of Hibernia, Caesar's messenger, Arturus Vatiaus finally reaches Scipio and tells him to leave Britain in charge of a subordinate and return to Gaul with his army in preparation for an invasion of Germania. According to legend, Scipio became so angry that he nearly killed Arturus where he stood by shooting an arrow around his head (if the arrow had hit him, then it would have been a bad omen for him to leave Britain, if not he should leave) for even suggesting he leave behind his dreams of conquering Hibernia. Many historians doubt this story however, as nothing in the historical record indicates that Scipio would blatantly disregard an order of Julius Caesar. Regardless, the phrase "ad exspecto arbitratus sagitta" or "to await the arrow’s decision" is still a familiar saying within modern Roman popular culture, and generally applies to someone making a difficult decision, often associated with marriage. Arturus further tells Scipio that Caesar wants him to build several forts to house his army along the eastern border with Germania and wait until Caesar is ready to invade from the South. Scipio leaves behind Lucius Antonius (Antony’s brother) as military governor of Britain and Caledonia.
40 B.C. Several stations of the Epistula Equinus are completed along the Appian Way. Octavian proposes a bill to the Senate to expand the Appian Way throughout the rest of Italy and Europe so that the empire will have a central road with which to place the Epistula Equinus and to aid the movement of the army. The lex Via Appia is passed in Feb. The Senate moves into the completed section of the Curia Senatus in May. Marcellus dies, leaving Octavian's sister, Octavia Minor, widowed. Her daughter, the future wife of Ptolemy Caesar, Claudia Marcella, is born.
In March, the Dacian king Comosicus sends Duritista back to the Roman camp for the third time to secure a peace agreement with the empire. Caesar has Duritista executed by crusifixion and his corpse raised along the Roman side of the Danube. Caesar now puts into action Antony's plan to conquer Dacia. The conquest of Dacia highlights the use of what modern military historians and strategists refer to as The Antonian Method, which basically involves tricking the enemy into believing your army is larger than it actually is while taking a larger army at a different location to catch an opponent from behind. He sends Antony with the 10,000 men to northwestern Moesia near Viminiacium across the border from Dacia to build a bridge across the Danube as fast as possible (just like Caesar did years ago when trying to intimidate the Germans during his Gaullic campaign). Caesar moves along the newly constructed roads to the northeast of Moesia and begins building a bridge almost simultaneously. Within 10 days both bridges are built to the astonishment of the Dacian king, Comosicus. Comosicus mistakenly believes that Antony's force is larger because Antony lights more camp fires than he needed for his men during the construction time of the bridge. The Dacians put the majority of their now 30,000 men (about 22,000) near Antony's bridge. The rest of their army was further south but not along the border with Moesia where Caesar is at this point. Comosicus believes that Caesar is further south because two days before he could see the Roman camp fires, which were simply the product of Antony's idea to leave a small group of soldiers behind to light camp fires every night while Caesar quickly marched his army to the northeast so that he could build a bridge unknown to Comosicus. Antony crosses his bridge into Dacian lands and is immediately met by the large Dacian army. A largely inconclusive battle, the Battle of the Danube occurs in the forest and Antony withdraws to the bridge and starts evacuating his forces to lure the Dacians to the river. Antony's archers in the forts along the Danube prepare for a Dacian assault. Antony evacuates his forces and the Dacians who are very confident by now, rush the bridge as Antony's archers, ballistas and catepults begin hurling flaming arrows and stones onto the bridge. Some of the initial attackers break through but are badly mauled by Antony's forces. Many die on the bridge as it burns and then falls. The Roman artillery continues to harrass the Dacians from across the river. All of these events occur in a five day span. The romans loose about 1,900 men, the Dacians about 5,000. By the end of the battle, Caesar has already invaded from the northeast 3 days earlier. Within two weeks he engages the army of 8,000 Dacians who thought he was across the river still. He badly defeats them, killing or capturing all 8,000 men in the Battle of Drobeta, which also results in the capture of the town by the same name. The Dacians to the north finally hear of the defeat a week later while still watching Antony's forces across the Danube. They leave for the south to meet Caesar's army, which has moved east to take several Dacian towns. In July, Antony rebuilds his bridge and crosses mostly unopposed, advancing quickly toward the Dacian capital. After several smaller battles with Caesar in OTL modern Ukraine, Comosicus retreats north to the Dacian capital, Sarmizegetus, which Caesar and Antony approach from opposite sides in mid-October. The Romans rest and prepare for the winter until next Spring.
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus begins his campaigns in northern Spain to finish the Roman conquest of Iberian Peninsula. In Athens, Athenodorus, a philosopher, supposedly encounters a ghost. This legend is seen as the first historically recorded poltergeist story.
King Orodes II of Parthia, seeing Rome distracted with wars of expansion, decides to support Antigonus' proposed invasion of Judae. The Parthians invade Judae and the Roman supported ruler of Judae, Herod the Great, flees to Rome to seek Roman support in ousting his rival Antigonus and defeating the Parthians. Antigonus is crowned king of Judae.
39 B.C. The foundations of the northern section of the Via Appia are laid and the Senate votes to name the new section of the road, and hence the remainder of the road that will eventually extend into Europe and beyond, the Via Julia, named after Caesar. Cicero writes his Nova Respublica, his dissertation on the Great Law and the reorganization of the republic. The Roman Senate declares Herod the Great "King of the Jews" and promises to provide military aid to Herod after he explains his situation to the Senate. Octavian and the Senate begin deliberating on the draft of the third portion of the Great Law. Octavian also takes Caesarion under his wing as his protégé, teaching him the ways of running the empire.
Caesar and Antony defeat Comosicus in the Battle of Sarmizegetus, taking him prisoner in the process. The Roman empire annexes Dacia in May. Caesar positions his army south of Germania to prepare for an invasion, leaving Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa as military governor of Dacia. Various German tribes by this time have been preparing for quite some time for the Roman invasion, especially those that witness the massive building projects across the border built by Scipio during the past several months. The various tribal armies consist of nearly 200,000 men who have been assembled over the past few years under the leadership of the Chatti chief, Valitinius. Caesar conscripts 10,000 Dacians and receives an additional 80,000 troops from the empire. Scipio has been gathering an army of 130,000 Romans, almost half consisting of people from Gaul. The tribes of Gaul have become quite used to the Roman presence by this time, basically due to some of the internal works that have been built by the Roman military for the past 10 years plus the level of local autonomy enjoyed by the people of Gaul. In September, Caesar invades southern Germany from Noricum with 120,000 men split up almost equally between himself and Antony. Antony goes towards the Oder and Vistula Rivers while Caesar cuts north towards the Elbe and modern day Denmark. Scipio invades across the Rhine after impressing the Germans with yet another quickly built bridge. Scipio initially does well as he has several tribes surrender without a fight after witnessing the engineering marvel of the Romans (the bridge). He promises them riches beyond their dreams and relatively independent rule after Rome conquers Germania. He pays 30,000 German warriors from his spoils from Britain. Caesar is immediately met by a huge German force in the Battle of Arviticum and forced to retreat 20 miles back to a German village called Tervi . Caesar sets up defenses and plans for another offensive after defeating the German advance. The town is on a series of hills and Caesar orders his army to build a defensive ring around the town using spikes and digging trenches. His army completes this feat in 3 days right before the German army reaches the town. Caesar's troops are exhausted, but the defenses handle most of the battle for them. The Roman archers, ballistas, and catepults fire relentlessly at the advancing Germans. Many German warriors fall into the camouflaged trenches. The Germans suffer nearly 53,000 casualties in the course of the 4 day Battle of Tervi according to Livy. Valitinius almost takes the town but is finally defeated after failing to completely hold the center hill. Caesar rests his army for a week while Valitinius and the remainder of his army retreat into the forests. Many modern historians believe that it is the Battle of Tervi which leads to the relatively quick Roman conquest of all of Germania. According to Livy, had Caesar not fortified himself within the town the way he did, the superior generalship of Valitinius may have led to a total Roman defeat. Antony's force encounters two small German armies led by the warlords Gerus and Fedi (Marcomanni and Vandali respectively) and smashes them rather quickly initially, but is ambushed and nearly defeated at the Battle of Teuterum. Within 2 months, Antony has subdued the Marcomanni and his troops are at the Vistula building fortifications along the river for the future eastern border and for a place to lodge for the winter. The first fort is completed in October just as the snow starts to get bad. Caesar manages to defeat Valitinius once again before winter but finds a village to camp in during the winter time and is unable to completely destroy the Chatti and Cherusci tribes. Scipio shows his remarkable skills as a commander by crushing a much larger German force at the Battle of Frisii and after marching nonstop to the Elbe, begins to build a fort along the river to prepare his army for the cold northern European winter. In all, Caesar’s campaign to conquer Germania lasts 4 years during which time many near battles are both won and lost by the Romans. Most historians agree that in the end, it was Scipio’s mastery of the Roman art of war, Caesar and Antony’s unorthodox tactics and the Battle of Tervi which ultimately lead to such a quick Roman victory. The Roman army rests for the winter starting in late October and Valitinius prepares his now shattered army for another year of war against the empire.
38 B.C. Publius Isauricus dies and Marcus Terentius Varro becomes the new president of the Senate. Cleopatra leaves for Egypt to begin building an army for Caesar’s future war against Parthia. Agrippa defeats a small Dacian uprising led by the warrior Klicese, but is recalled to Rome by Octavian and the Senate in July to deal with Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great, who controls Sicily, and thus controls much Roman trade in the region. He arrives in Rome in November and begins building a fleet with which to attack Sicily.
Caesar looses the Battle of Burvi Pass to Valitinius in April and is forced to retreat south to Chatti lands. Caesar finally finishes the subjugation of the Chatti and Cherusci tribes in late September, ending with the capture and execution of Valitinius. Valitinius’ son, Brevonus takes over the leadership of the small Germanic confederation that has developed as a result of the Roman invasion. Antony remains in the east, destroying several large tribal towns, culminating in the Battle of Norvunm in July in which Antony utterly destroys the berserker army of Venedi warchief, Celetius. Scipio completes his campaign for the year by defeating and then allying with the Saxones, who aid him in the next year against the Langobardi.
The Parthians, led by general Pacorus, invade Roman Syria, but are defeated by Publius Ventidius. Orodes II of Parthia dies and Phraates IV becomes the Parthian king.
37 B.C. Agrippa creates the Portus Julius in the modern day submerged town of Puteolus as a result of the massive naval fleet he is assembling to attack Sicily. Late in the year, he sails for Sicily to defeat Sextus Pompey. Philipatos contributes one of the most important ideas to the incomplete third portion of the Lex Legis Magnus, the idea that the law can be amended with a majority vote at any time in the future, or the Principle of Emendabilus as it is known today. Cleopatra and a small Egyptian/Roman army of 15,000 men destroy the small Parthian army based in Judae. The Roman Empire officially annexes Judae in September after the Egyptian commander Pharxes crushes the Parthian army at the Battle of Be’er Sheva and occupies Jerusalem. Herod the Great becomes the King of Judae. Parthian King, Phraates IV accepts a cease fire with the Roman Empire.
Antony campaigns up to OTL Baltic Sea to the mouth of the Vistula River where he builds Castrum Vistulus, an important Roman fort and sea port, which in modern times houses the largest European store of Roman nuclear weapons. Antony fights several small battles against the Rugii and Gepidi tribes, finally annihilating the Gepidi tribe, while allying with the Rugii in July. One Rugii chief in particular, Gaerti, swears allegiance to Antony and Rome and begins campaigning with the Roman army along the Oder River later in the year. Scipio uses his Saxon allies to defeat the Langobardi in the Battle of the Cold Hills in mid-December. Scipio is the only Roman commander up to this point to campaign extensively during the winter. This, according to Livy is one of the main reasons for his swift, crushing victories in Germania: Scipio surprised many of the Germanic chiefs who did not expect to see a large campaigning Roman army in the middle of winter. The Battle of the Cold Hills sees a crushing victory for Scipio in which he completely destroys a 45,000 man army of the Langobardi, but does suffer large casualties himself. Caesar campaigns north toward Scipio’s army most of the year, finishing the destruction of smaller Germanic armies and towns. By the end of the year, nearly 100,000 German slaves are either following Caesar’s army or are returned to Rome to be sold. Caesar stops along the Elbe to rest his army until the Spring.
36 B.C. The Via Julia now extends into the provinces of Aquitania and Terraconensis. The road includes several stations of the Epistula Equinus. Cleopatra and Pharxes’ army begins to grow in Judae in preparation for Caesar’s invasion of Parthia several years later. Agrippa defeats Sextus’ navy off the coast of Sicily in the Battle of Naulochus Cape in May. Agrippa lands in Sicily and manages to conquer the entire island by September after the spectacular Battle of Messina in which he utterly destroys Sextus’ much larger force and executes him. Agrippa sends Sextus’ head back to Rome where it is displayed in the Forum Julium. Lepidus completes his campaign in northern Spain, annexing the rest of the Iberian Peninsula to the Roman empire in August.
Antony builds a small fleet on the Baltic Sea at Vistulus and uses it to subdue the small islands of OTL Denmark. He also subjugates the rest of the peninsula. Caesar and Valitinius’ son, Brevonus finally engage in battle on May 24th 36 B.C. at the Battle of Germanii Delirus (Latin for crazy Germans). Modern historians have coined the battle "crazy" because of the account of the battle by Livy which constantly speaks of the pandemonium faced by the Roman army. The original battlefield name is Draesidnum, but historians prefer Delirus because of the events of the battle. Caesar is first ambushed by two separate armies led by Brevonus (on the right) and Friedius (behind Caesar’s army). Friedius’ army mostly consists of berserker warriors who rush the back of the Roman army, disorienting the back of the Roman line. Brevonus waits until most of the Roman army has turned to face the berserkers before attacking from behind the trees onto the Roman right flank. Caesar barely escapes being wounded, but manages to rally his troops and repel the initial attack. The Germans retreat into the forests as the Romans frantically try to take high ground and fortify what they have with what is available. Caesar sends a messenger to Scipio to ask for his help . The Romans wait for nearly 16 hours hearing nothing but the sound of German warriors screeching through the night. In the early morning, the unnerved Roman army is attacked again from two different sides, this time left and right. The Roman army is forced to retreat, fighting the entire way nearly 2 miles south. Caesar manages to defeat the third German onslaught with a Pyrrhic victory. The fourth German assault comes and Caesar attacks as the Germans appear to be retreating and is caught between two sides of the Germanic army once again. Just as the Roman army is almost routed from the field, Scipio and his large mixed army of Germans, Romans, and Gauls attacks Friedius’ left flank, completely destroying Friedius’ army, killing him in the process. Brevonus’ army now turns and faces that of Scipio and attacks head on, driving the Romans back. Scipio decides to employ a fake retreat and does so by retreating into the forest and setting his archers in between the thick trees. Brevonus gives chase and his army is struck with the Roman arrows from all sides. Caesar attacks Brevonus’ army from the rear, and Scipio and Caesar together finish the encirclement. After nearly two more hours, the entire Germanic army is either dead or taken prisoner. Brevonus is executed in front of his remaining men. The Romans continue throughout the rest of the year defeating small Germanic tribes and finishing the subjugation of the most remote northeastern tribes. By October, most of the remaining tribes have either sworn allegiance to Rome or are sent off as slaves. Rome annexes all of Germania up to the Vistula. Antony continues to campaign south of the Vistula, building defenses and establishing the Roman border between the Vistula and Dniester rivers. By 35 B.C. Antony is campaigning extensively throughout the Carpathian Mountains.
The Battle of Zhizhi is fought in China between the Han and Zhizhi Guduhou Chanyu, resulting in Han victory and half a century of peace between the Han and the Xiongnu.
35 B.C. Caesar begins his journey back to Rome in the Spring, leaving Brutus (who has campaigned with him throughout Germania) as the military governor of all of Germania. Caesar arrives back in Rome in August, claiming power or Postulo Imperium from Octavian, who willingly resigns (temporarily) the powers of Imperator Interrex. Postulo Imperium is a legal term in Roman law meaning that the emperor can "claim power or empire" back from the interim emperor, and though the emperor already is over the interim emperor and assumes his power upon returning to Rome anyway, the ceremony of Postulo Imperium is still performed to this day as a symbol of submitting to the emperor. The opposite of this process in Roman law is Impertio Imperium, or to "bestow power or empire" to the interim emperor. Cleopatra returns to Rome and leaves Pharxes to build a large army for Caesar. Illyria becomes a Roman province, along with Pannonia and Thrace. Caesar bestows the title "Virtus" on Scipio for his bravery during the Germanic campaign.
Antony continues to campaign throughout the Carpathians, subduing several tribes in the process and building fortifications along the mountains.
34 B.C. Octavian and the Senate finally draft the third and final part of the Lex Legis Magnus. Cleopatra gives birth to Caesar's daughter, Julia Cleopatra Caesar. The Via Julia now extends to Lugdunum in Gaul. Caesar begins preparing for his most daring project, the invasion of Parthia. He sends a message to Antony to begin preparing for an invasion of Armenia from the Carpathians where he is currently campaigning. Sallust, Roman historian of the fall of the Roman Republic dies. Caesar replaces Antony with Scipio as his Master of the Horse or Magister Equitum (the emperor's main lieutenant).