Aurelian's reign, though short, was an incredibly important step in the resolution of the Crisis of the Third Century - the political fragmentation of the Empire was reversed, the external threats were deflected, the Empire's political stability was superficially restored. But it was only a...
Get rid of Mohammed and the Arab invasion and the Roman Empire doesn't suffer catastrophic territorial collapse of the 7th century. Retaining control of Egypt, the Near East and North Africa, and having just inflicted a terrible defeat on the Persians, the Empire has at least momentary security...
Assuming no territorial bias in the government of this empire, the logical place for the capital would be somewhere in the German lands, probably close to the Danube or Rhine to exploit those trade and communication arteries. Vienna or Frankfurt, maybe.
Interesting idea. I guess the main advantages of the Rhine frontier compared to the Weser frontier are 1) the Rhine is more useful logistically since it reaches further inland and can accommodate a greater volume of shipping 2) the Rhine is closer to the important supply lines up the Rhone...
Domesticated dogs have such a diverse array of phenotypes because of artificial selection. Different lines have been consistently bred over many generations to emphasize and maintain certain traits. Unless you have artificial selection going on in human groups that level of diversity isn't...
You need to keep Siberia free of the influence of more populous and organized states. This is going to be very difficult, given that by the time the Khanate of Sibir was founded in the 15th century (the POD) Russia was clearly in the ascendant over the Tatars and the main obstacle to their...
All these posts claiming that the Romans could simply have consolidated their forces into more easily defensible lines are missing the point. By the 4th century the Roman state, particularly in the West where it had less 'Roman' manpower to draw on had come to heavily rely on Germanic barbarians...
Generally, we can expect the English economy to expand in the same way under the continuing native English kings as it did under the Norman and French kings. This will allow a similar expansion of power into other corners of the British Isles, for which there is a precedent in pre-1066 England...
Actually, as of 1066 England was relatively wealthy, boasting a well-developed administration with an effective system of taxation. As to the weakness of the forces available to the English, consider the fact that they very nearly repelled two foreign invasions within one year in 1066. From the...
Well, the most interesting possibility is that the fateful journey could be made by an explorer sponsored by some other European country, undercutting Spain's potential position in the New World and changing the entire basis of European economic and political climates. That would certainly be a...
This would depend on how entrenched the Muslim state in Iberia becomes. Visigothia had the resources to fund these expeditions because it had a secure position in the Iberian peninsula.
If this theoretical Muslim state manages to extend dominion over the entire peninsula and remain a cohesive...
Insignificant. Columbus' voyage wasn't a freak one in a million occurrence, the naval and navigational technology available to Europeans had reached a point where there was no way the New World would remain undiscovered for long, it was just a matter of time. Consider how far afield the...
The issue is this: although Malta is in a strong strategic position it has a very small population and very few natural resources. Malta could never, for example, field a real navy or army without outside aid, and thus empire building is impossible. Political influence cannot be sustained...