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  1. JoshuaTheRoman

    A Destiny Realized: A Timeline of Afsharid Iran and Beyond

    Can't believe I just found this timeline; amazing writing.
  2. JoshuaTheRoman

    Challenge: How widespread can atheism become?

    Epicureanism, founded in 307 BC, was by far the most successful form of deism in the ancient world, which naturally spawned many atheists. However, it remained somewhat marginal until rendered extinct by Stoicism, Neoplatonism, and Christianity in Late Antiquity. IOTL, Epicurus directly told his...
  3. JoshuaTheRoman

    Entirely Original Alternate Ideologies?

    Does nobody notice that this thread is over six years old?
  4. JoshuaTheRoman

    Egypt revival 1st millennium BC

    The huge problem for Egypt at the time was that the country failed to reunify in time, which allowed empires based in Mesopotamia to expand into the Levant and unify the Fertile Cresent. The Third Intermediate Period lasted nearly four hundred years, which was extremely long compared to the...
  5. JoshuaTheRoman

    WI: Arabs conquer the Eastern Roman Empire, but not the Persian Empire.

    The state of Christianity in the West shouldn't be underestimated either, the Franks are on the rise and the formation of the Carolingian Empire is right around the corner. France and northern Italy would become the new center of Christianity; and whoever controls both would be viewed as the...
  6. JoshuaTheRoman

    WI: Arabs conquer the Eastern Roman Empire, but not the Persian Empire.

    Is there any other reason why some reformist sect would become so popular that the Emperor himself adopted it? The problem also arises of why Zoroastrianism never spread into non-Iranic regions while Christianity directly overtook the political center of the Empire.
  7. JoshuaTheRoman

    WI: Arabs conquer the Eastern Roman Empire, but not the Persian Empire.

    Whoops, I meant to say the Muslim-controlled parts (Taifas) instead of the entire peninsula.
  8. JoshuaTheRoman

    WI: Arabs conquer the Eastern Roman Empire, but not the Persian Empire.

    To answer OP's question, I would have to agree with @History Learner that Islam would be significantly influenced by Neoplatonic philosophy, best embodied in the current-day Ismai'ilis. Likewise, they'd be significantly much more influenced by Greek customs and culture. Since the politics of...
  9. JoshuaTheRoman

    WIF Muslim Kievan Rus

    As much as I'd like to see a Muslim Russia, I'd have to agree with the fact that Vladimir adopting Orthodox Christianity was inevitable. The Byzantines were coming close to their absolute apex as an empire at this time (Macedonian dynasty and Basil II), and it's hard to see the Rus not choosing...
  10. JoshuaTheRoman

    Julian reforms Roman Hellenism

    The huge problem with this is that the Greco-Roman world had been moving to monotheism gradually since the time of Plato (5th century BC), which arguably led to the inevitable adoption of Christianity. Everyone regarded the myths as exactly that--myth and superstition. At best, they were...
  11. JoshuaTheRoman

    AHC: Western Roman Survival

    Also something to take into consideration is that the Western Empire was positioned horribly to defend its holdings. Evidently they tried to fix this IOTL by moving the capital to Ravenna, but it didn't work in the long run. They would either have to expel the Vandals and move over their base to...
  12. JoshuaTheRoman

    Could the Muslim invasions of India lead to centralization of Hinduism

    Interpretatio Romana is exactly what you described: Romans equating foreign gods, such as Woden and Thor, with their own, Mercury and Hercules. The problem with that is that these gods have clearly conflicting roles, relations, and the mythologies in general were wholly incompatible with one...
  13. JoshuaTheRoman

    Question: mythology preservation

    The problem is that in Celtic cultures, druids were prohibited from writing down any oral tradition. In the case of the Slavs, written language basically arrived with Christianization, which results in the same problem.
  14. JoshuaTheRoman

    Which Roman provinces would be the most interesting splinter state or secondary empire?

    Although it overlaps with the Palmyrene Empire, I've never heard of a Romano-Egyptian breakaway establishing its independence with the capital itself in Egypt rather than Syria.
  15. JoshuaTheRoman

    POLL: Most 'evil' states in history

    The most evil state was clearly the Assyrian Empire; they were built solely on fear. Many Assyrian kings had monuments erected gloating about how they flayed captives and burnt their children alive.
  16. JoshuaTheRoman

    Sex seen as a sacred act of getting closer to God in Abrahamic religions

    The Romans had easy access to prostitutes and slaves in the capital itself long before the Empire was established. The idea that they went to war over sex is the most absurd theory I've ever heard.
  17. JoshuaTheRoman

    Could Suez, the Taurus and the Zagros have been a plausible stop-point for early Muslim expansion?

    Egypt would be fine in this case; a good comparison would be Late Period and Ptolemic Egypt in which they co-existed for centuries with empires that controlled the Fertile Crescent.
  18. JoshuaTheRoman

    Could Suez, the Taurus and the Zagros have been a plausible stop-point for early Muslim expansion?

    As another said, it's very improbable that an empire based in Constantinople to maintain control over Egypt without a land connection. Throughout history you'll see that if the Levant fell, Egypt came right after.
  19. JoshuaTheRoman

    Could Suez, the Taurus and the Zagros have been a plausible stop-point for early Muslim expansion?

    I think an independent Coptic Egypt based in the south would be a better option for this specific scenario
  20. JoshuaTheRoman

    What makes an area good for ancient civilization?

    Something interesting I noticed is that the region surrounding narrow sea passages are also another important centers for civilization; almost acting as an alternative to river valleys. Ancient Greece (Aegean and the Bosphorus) along with Indonesia (Straight of Malacca and the Java Sea) are the...
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