Divergent Longitudes: an East-West swap scenario

1662453652715.png

This scenario aims to create a world
in which the geopolitics of Europe
and Asia are swapped. By the present
day, while Asia's dominance grows
dimmer and dimmer, a new power
emerges from Europe's core, a power
to threaten the balance of nations.

Welcome to Divergent Longitudes.

We shall embark on this journey
together.

1662453674374.png
 
I — E pluribus unum
1662454362763.png

1662455697251.png

Romulus and Remus, suckling on the teats of the she-wolf.

“To this very day, Europe is one of the states most
enriched with history. The tale of the European
peoples stretch for thousands of years, from the
humble Minoans of Crete, all the way to the
multicultural People's Republic. However, Europe's
history is commonly taken to have started with the
rise of a small kingdom in the city of Rome in 0 AUC [754 BCE].”
— Manchu-European author, Dale Wieyang, 2775 AUC [2022 CE]

The story of Europe is the story of the Romans, for as much as the demographics of Europe have changed since then, the Romans have been the guiding and dominant force throughout Europe, and it is safe to say that both are heavily intertwined.

Rome's origins are unknown, but it is believed that the kingdom arose from local tribes uniting into a single polity around 5 AUC [748 BCE]. The more retold version of their origin comes from European mythology. There were once two brothers, named Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned as children, but raised by a she-wolf. This shared bond quickly eroded once they grew into men, and devolved to constant arguments and in-fighting between the two. When Remus proposed the construction of a city, the brothers disagreed on where to place the foundation, and Romulus ended up bludgeoning his brother. It is here where the city of Rome gets its name.

The city would grow to encompass more of the surrounding peoples, ultimately transforming into a monarchy. This monarchy would be overthrown in 245 AUC [509 BCE], creating a republic on the Italian Peninsula and Hispania[1], which would persist until the early 8th centurion AUC [44 BCE]. It is at this point that a conspiracy surrounding general Julius Caesar would boil over into a failed assassination attempt[2]. From here onward, it seemed as if Caesar's mind was different from his mind before the attack, and far more insane.

Caesar would wage war against the other generals, even going as far as to unify Gaul under his command. He would succeed in this massive endeavor, starting the Caesarean dynasty of the Roman Empire, which would exist in various different forms until 2665 [1912 CE], when it would become a democracy yet again.

To those interested in Roman history, this origin is well-known. We will skip over much of the details, moving straight to the end of the Warring Generals and the assassination that changed Roman history.


[1] While unmentioned here, European history begins to diverge from our own after Rome and Carthage sign a peace treaty during the 3rd century BC, thus averting the Second Punic War. Rome remains within Italy and Hispania, while Carthage falls into a relative period of decline.

[2] Another divergence from our timeline comes during the assassination of Julius Caesar. The conspiracy goes as in our timeline, with other senators enraged at Caesar's dominance over the Senate. One of the conspirators' blades strikes Caesar in the skull, altering his personality to become more belligeric. This culminates with him causing a Roman Civil War against the other generals of Rome, creating his own dynasty, and waging a war of conquest against the Celtic tribes of Gaul. He will be a parallel to the Dragon Emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
 
Last edited:
Someone finally decided to do this concept!
I seriously hope you can continue this, its already a pretty strong start and Im so excited
 
[2] Another divergence from our timeline comes during the assassination of Julius Caesar. The conspiracy goes as in our timeline, with other senators enraged at Caesar's dominance over the Senate. One of the conspirators' blades strikes Caesar in the skull, altering his personality to become more belligeric. This culminates with him causing a Roman Civil War against the other generals of Rome, creating his own dynasty, and waging a war of conquest against the Celtic tribes of Gaul. He will be a parallel to the Dragon Emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
considering his power base came from his actions in gaul i do think it's interesting that the details get fudged due to the different dominant powers. clever!
 
I am SO unbelievably happy that someone is finally going to do this as a serious timeline. I always wanted to see something like this, and you look like you'll do it justice
 
I am interested what the equivalents would be to the Turks and Mongols? Maybe Slavs could be equivalent to the Jurchens/Manchu as the Jurchens/Manchu were largely forest-dwelling farmers as opposed to nomadic herders.
 
Very nice! Just a minor triviality, though: by Asia, do you mean the entire continent, or just some specific subregion of it?

Because I'm a bit skeptical of Europe overtaking Asia as is constituted as the entirety of the Middle East, India, China, etc, combined - you'd require a Europe far more economically advanced and productive per capita than Asia, and well, that's essentially OTL!

(Or are you referring to the traditional east-west swap - as in East Asia becoming the "Europe" analogue?)
 
Also, if we're talking about POD that results in a world with a seriously depowered Europe (at least compared to the OTL one that conquered all continents - and three as permanent Western-cultural outposts), well, we might not have the concept of "Asia" and "Europe" in general, since, it, after all is a mostly European concept! The division of the world would then be decided by which region(s?) overlords dominate the world - a Chinese dominated one, for instance, might consider Europe as just some far-west subcontinent of Asia, sort of like India.

(Not that roughly analogous terms similiar to Europe necessarily won't exist, only that it's not an inevitable possibility: there are after all different fairly existent-and-used subdivisions of Asia even OTL, and if Rome for example remains a power of some note, the overlords' from another region might still adopt Europe as a term in using it to frame their overall geographical frame of understanding of the world... since, well, it did exist by the time of the Empire.)
 
I feel like the fear of Europe(which I guess in this case Rome being revived time and time again) surpassing Asia refers specifically to East Asia(China & co) mimicking OTL fears of China surpassing the West(refering specifically to the United States and/or Europe)
 
I feel like the fear of Europe(which I guess in this case Rome being revived time and time again) surpassing Asia refers specifically to East Asia(China & co) mimicking OTL fears of China surpassing the West(refering specifically to the United States and/or Europe)
And on that note, I am interested what would be the Korea and Vietnam to Rome's China as Britain is most likely the Japan equivalent.
 
I think Armenia works, Rome kept occupying it for fucking forever and it always was the disputed place they couldnt always hold down
I wonder what role Judea would fill...
 
Will there be an Eastern version of Vikings terrorizing Northern Asia? Like the new series. Who will be the France/England equivalent in the East?
 
All I know is that Denmark is Korea; it's just right across from Britain and also peninsular.

Now we figure out the Scandinavia equivalent...
 
If Denmark is Korea will Greenland end up as some sort of western Australia that Japan dumps their prisoners? :p
 
If Denmark is Korea will Greenland end up as some sort of western Australia that Japan dumps their prisoners? :p
Greenland is far more inhospitable than western Australia; it's actually the equivalent of Alaska.
What would Rome's equivalents to the Tibetans and Uighurs be?
Possibly Romania for the Uyghurs and Anatolia for Tibet, due to the Carpathian Mountains and Anatolian Plateaus.

I'm thinking of having India and the Middle East just be carried along without any major reversal equivalents, since India has a far-more tropical environment for kingdoms than Arabia does.
 
Top