Yep, and unfortunately Aetius was killed when the rebellion brole out and the Emperor was freed.
A Difference Of Fate: A Late Roman Timeline
- Thread starter StevenIronside
- Start date
Yep, and unfortunately Aetius was killed when the rebellion brole out and the Emperor was freed.
Petronius Maximus and Heraclius like otl tried to turn Valentinian from Aetius, and in fact succeeded resulting in Aetius being imprisoned, which then resulted in the coup that put Majorian in power as Caesar. After these events They were both executed.
I think we can all agree that the Empire is better off with both of them being put to death for their crimes.
Also not to be underestimated how much Ricimer's hand may have been forced. Majorian was not all that popular with the Italian aristocracy to begin with, and guess who has to deal with their discontent while Majorian is putting out fires everywhere. While Majorian was winning Ricimer could keep it under control but then Majorian suffered a calamitous defeat. It may very well have been a "take the initiative in deposing him or get deposed along with him" situation by that point, and Ricimer, while I think he gets a bad rap, is nothing if not a survivor.
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Basically, only thing helping him is hes an old freind of the emperors,
I do have to agree, Ricimer is if anythng a survivor.
Well, at least Majoran went to the Imperial throne in conditions more favorable for him overall. The tensions with the Church and the rise of Ricimer are worrisome but for now with the Visigoths and the Vandals weakened the new Emperor has a lot of political capital to use. Let's see how it goes for the Empire...
I am actually skeptical of this.Majorian was supported by Western Roman warlords in other parts of the empire.An uprising by the Italian aristocracy could easily be put down if Ricimer didn’t play his role.Many of these western aristocrats don’t even serve in the military anymore, and whatever military force they could scrape together would be private guards from their own estates, which evaporated whenever Italy itself was threatened by barbarians.
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Why take your chances suppressing the Italian elite in favor of an emperor who just suffered a crushing blow that could lead to further discontent and possibly spawn a usurper, when you can get ahead of events?
Because the Italian elite doesn’t really hold a candle.Look at the way how they folded whenever Italy was invaded.There was no localized resistance by the aristocrats.They depended entirely on forces commanded by the warlords to act.They have no military force with which to launch a successful rebellion.They need one of the warlords (Syagrius,Marcellinus or Ricimer himself) to be on board in order to rebel.
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The atrophization of Roman Italy was surely one of the causes of the fall of the West. Rome built the Empire through Italy but then Italy relied over the provinces once the Empire was restablished...
Because is generally agreed in a WRE survival TL, one of the pivotal thumbs of rule would be Italy actively and decisively contributing again to the survival and the rejuvenation - economical as well - of the same Empire, Majoran has to work hard to reform the Italic society...
What is Avitus doing ITTL? Killed during the Civil War? A senior official in Majorian's government?
Just like this time Majorian will implememt reforms, hes already put a few in place. We will continue to see this for sure, including trying to make Italy hold its own weight. If he can get the rich to pay taxes and purge the corruption the empires taxes would increase massively.
Avitus otl was an official under Aetius and in Gaul. As well he was massively popular with the Visigoths. I havent brought him up so far in the timeline, however i will do so in the next chapter on the west. He is still alive though.
Good to know. Hopefully he will play a major role in this TL, even if he is relatively old.
He honestly wont play much of a role Avitus was older than Aetius, around 67 years old and really only had a few years left, however between he and his son Ecdicius Avitus, they are two of the wealthiest people in the empire, and more his son will be an active member of the imperial administration.
Hopefully they help ensure that the Empire is purged from its internal threats.
Finally caught up with this TL, good stuff!
Why is the church so against Majorian here when they weren’t IOTL.
Hopefully he purges the senate and aristocracy of these traitors. Could probably gain a fair bit of gold and land. And then fill the senate with more loyal men. Bonus points if they’re aristocrats from places outside of Italy, so they’re rewarded for their loyalty to him but don’t have a power base near the capital.
Why is the church so against Majorian here when they weren’t IOTL.
Hopefully he purges the senate and aristocracy of these traitors. Could probably gain a fair bit of gold and land. And then fill the senate with more loyal men. Bonus points if they’re aristocrats from places outside of Italy, so they’re rewarded for their loyalty to him but don’t have a power base near the capital.
Thanks glad to hear your enjoying it.
Well the awnser for the church part if quite simple. Majorians reforms that stopped alot of women from joining the clergy. Otl he did do the same reforms. However he was always on campaign and we never really got to see what the church thought of this reform. Majorian will have a quick solution for this, and give them some minor concessions, it wont turn into anything major really, however did think it important to show that the Church wouldn't be happy to just loose new members and money.
Majorian will probably do something along those lines we will have to see though there will definitely be some purging, and definitely some taking of wealth and land.