rome screw

While there are many threads on this site about how Rome could remain pagan (with most devolving into rants about Christianity was always going to win out because reasons) I have a more reasonable challenge. Simply have some form of roman paganism survive as a religious minority, similar to...

Marcus Aurelius' reign was marked by hardship from beginning to end: Syria was invaded by a Parthia that got its act together (however briefly), plague ravaged the Roman Empire's population, and barbarian peoples invaded Dacia and even Italy itself, laying siege to Aquileia. What if Marcus, who...

Imperator Germanorum: The Legacy of Arminius Prologue “The boy is something else. He will go places, just like his father.” – Flavus, Brother of Arminius I, Liberator of Germania *** Excerpts from ‘The Son of Arminius: Limits of an Empire’ by Andreas Adrikonos. “In order to truly...

In 753 BC, Rome was a small city, overshadowed by larger Etruscan and Latin cities within it's own neighborhood. Nobody would've expected that one day this collection of villages around seven hills would grow to become one of the largest and most influential empires in history, forming the basis...

So in 218 BC, the Second Punic War started after Rome allied with Saguntum, in violation of the treaty with Carthage that Rome was to remain north of the Ebro river, and Hannibal besieged and took the city. He continued, eventually crossing the Alps, where he lost much of his army and his...

As we all know, the Roman and Carthaginian states fought the three "Latin Wars" nearly 2200 years ago. Carthage won, incorporated the city of Roman and all her holdings into the empire, and continued on to dominate the greater Mediterranean for centuries to come. But what if Rome had won the...

With a PoD between the Year of The Four Emperors (69 AD) and the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 AD), what could be the worst case scenario for the integrity and stability of the "late Principate" Roman Empire? For a bit of context, OTL's 2nd Century AD saw a few invasions of Roman territory...

The Dacian Wars (80's-100's AD) were one of the many wars, famous or obscure, fought by the romans in their drive for expansion. These in particular were fought against the Dacian tribes of modern-day Romania, led by the king Decebalus. As Domitian's reign followed through, Decebalus amassed a...

What are your favorite Rome-screw scenarios? Basically, the ones in which Rome's supposed favour amongst the gods fails them at crucial moments in military and political history? Covering the period between the founding of Rome (753 BCE) and the fall of the city to Odoacer (476 AD). I'll throw...

So, assume that the Roman "barracks emperors" are even less competent at defending the empire from the Germanics, Persians, and other usurpers, and the whole thing collapses into multiple squabbling states sometime around the 270's AD. One of the Germanic tribes, led by their king, estabilishes...

IOTL, there seemed to be a large rebellion in the Roman province of Illyria and its vicinity, at the time of Augustus' late reign. It was commanded by two tribesmen, both named Bato, who led an alliance made up of Dalmatians, Daesitiates, Breuscians, and other Illyrian groups. They attacked...

What if the Roman Republic lost most of the key battles of the Cimbrian War (maybe through Gaius Marius dying in his fight against Jugurtha of Numidia), in the late 2nd century BCE? What would happen next? Could the Cimbri and the Teutones invade the italian peninsula and sack Rome? Could they...

A very short TL, based very much on this discussion thread, on a subject we often return to: what if Rome had been broken early on? This question can have many answers, based on countless variables. The exact cause of Rome's defeat or destruction not least among them! In this instance, I'll...

(I already made a thread on the Battle of The Catalaunian Plains a few months ago, but i think it's already too old to be bumped.) What if Attila, The Hun, had managed to defeat Flavius Aetius and his germanic foederati allies at the Catalaunian Plains in 451 AD? Would this spill an earlier end...

I know that this is something of a blasphemous question given how many Byzantophiles there are on this forum, but how early could the Byzantines/ERE have been destroyed?