2021 Turtledoves - Best Ancient Timeline Poll

[Gwrtheyrn Annwn]

Horus Triumphant - an Alternate Antiquity timeline; @phoenix101

Roma Renovata Est by @FLAYvian1310

The Darling of the World - A Persian TL; by @Vinization

The Burning Cauldron: The Neo Assyrian Empire Defended; @John7755 يوحنا

The (Native) American Dream; @JSilvy

A New Carthaginian Age: Trade, Politics, War and Treachery in the post-Roman World; @RiseofBubblez

Light of Africa - a Jewish Ethiopia TL; by @Ebanu8

 

[Vinization]

I can't believe that one of my works, especially one I haven't updated in ages, is popular enough to not only be nominated, but also to currently lead the poll, even if only by a single vote (EDIT: it's now 6 votes behind). Therefore, I'll provide a brief summary for it.

The Darling of the World - A Persian TL

I decided to write this work after noticing that the overwhelming majority of TLs set in the time frame in question (the Third Century/late Antiquity) are focused on either Rome or its immediate surroundings. This TL's 'protagonist' as shown in the name, is the Sasanian Empire, which slowly becomes the Middle East's dominant power in Rome's place after it collapses in the Third Century and is later reborn in a much more decentralized manner, similar to the HRE. Other noteworthy 'characters', which bring about all sorts of changes, are:

• The Celestial Empire (China) which is reunified after the Three Kingdoms period almost three decades earlier than OTL;
• The Palmyrene Empire, which lasts several decades and is much more successful;
• The Kingdom of Aksum, which takes Rome's place as the main sponsor of Christianity ITTL;
• The Gupta Empire, which lasts much longer than OTL since the Hunnic invasion of northwestern India is butterflied away.

I'll probably spoil the story too much if I say anything more, and that wouldn't be fun now would it?

 

[FLAYvian1310]

Wow, I'm shocked. It is amazing that not only has my first timeline been nominated for a Turtledove, but as of the time of writing this, it is tied for first place. Thank you all, you so kind for the love!

So, in the same vein as my good colleague @Vinization, I'll be providing a brief summary of the TL

Roma Renovata est( : A Roman TL)

I decided to write the TL when I noticed the lack of in depth TLs about arguably the most interesting emperor of the 5th century, Majorian. Those that seemed to be going for long and detailed TLs had stopped posting, so I decided to just do it myself.

I was also inspired by other Late Antiquity TL's, such as From Exile to Triumph by @Flavius Iulius Nepos and especially The Reign of Romulus Augustus by @Romulus Augustus, which got me into Alternate History.

The TL itself is about Majorian and the army discovering the betrayal that doomed the expedition to North Africa IOTL. As a result, he is able to successfully land in North Africa and battle the Vandals that had made their home in the former Roman lands. From there we see the effects of this change reverberate around Western Europe and the Meditteranean.

I won't say anymore about the story, as then that would involve spoilers for the story, and as @Vinization points out, that is no fun for anyone.

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

Not one of the authors, but I'm gonna plug The Burning Cauldron. Assyria is a part of ancient civilization that doesn't often appear here - in fact, I think Burning Cauldron may be the only Assyrian-based ATL we've ever had - and the author delivers it with an incredible level of detail and plausibility. He has an obvious knowledge of and love for ancient Assyria, and he's written a story that I've both enjoyed and learned a great deal from.

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

Not one of the authors, but I'm gonna plug The Burning Cauldron. Assyria is a part of ancient civilization that doesn't often appear here - in fact, I think Burning Cauldron may be the only Assyrian-based ATL we've ever had - and the author delivers it with an incredible level of detail and plausibility. He has an obvious knowledge of and love for ancient Assyria, and he's written a story that I've both enjoyed and learned a great deal from.

Thank you most kindly! I do try my best to create a world that is plausible and also alien to most readers.

My tl is based as the forum readers may have noted from the survival of the Assyrian kingdom during the reign of Sinashrishkun (627-611 BCE otl). In otl, the Assyrian kingdom was faced with a series of downturns in the later reign of King Assurbanipal (669-631 or my view, 669-627) who was due to malaise on his part, negligent in his governing and ruling the kingdom in his later years, His negligence led to the defeat of the Assyrian army by a Scytho-Cimmerian army within modern Armenia in the years 632-630 BCE. These defeats were followed up by massive raids and pillages by the Scythians who pushed into Assyria in 630 BCE and ravaged the countryside according to the Babylonian 'Unbroken Chronicle.' The result of this defeat was the weakening of Assyria's position and a coalition of rebels formed, the Medes, Urartu, Scytho-Cimmerians, the Chaldean kingdom in Babylon, Elam and Arab tribal confederates rose armies to crush Assyria.

The divergence, is the critical Sumerian war and campaign between Assyria and the Chaldean Babylonian kingdom. In otl, this area was a bogged down war that led to a narrow Chaldean victory and Assyrian loss, likely due to a successive series of palace rebellions against Sinsharishkun, which slowed the transfer of supplies to the southern province. In atl, this palace revolt is defeated faster and Sinsharishkun is able to gather reinforcements for his field armies, whilst in a position of power there, signs an alliance with the Medes, who become embattled by the Scythians who attack them from the north in raids. Assyria thus, defeats the Chaldean kingdom and successfully restores Assyrian hegemony in Mesopotamia and proceeds to rebuild and reassert itself.

The tl is called the Burning Cauldron in order to describe the way in which I envision the Assyrian state as a nexus for causing disturbing political developments across the Mid East during the Bronze Age and the succeeding Iron Age. Rapidly causing the growth of new governments and militaries where prior only tribal confederations existed. This process of inducing change into the world through pressure of military threat, is the main theme of the timeline.

A big thanks to any and all you have voted for my timeline and have taken the time to read it!

 

[phoenix101]

I'll guess I'll also give a quick summary of the premise of my TL:
OTL Nectanebo II was Egypt's last native pharaoh, the final Lord of the Two Lands until the domination by the Greeks and the Romans and the gradual change away from traditional Egyptian culture. Despite that he and his dynasty, the Thirtieth, were not hapless rulers reigning over a declining country. Several attempts at reconquest by the Achaemenids were defeated, Egypt went on the offensive in the Eastern Mediterranean, although not to great effect. Temples were restored and new ones built, outside of the great Ramesses II no other pharaoh has left his mark over so many sites in Egypt. OTL this remarkable dynasty's rule came to an end when Artaxerxes III gathered a vast army and finally, after certainly 5 attempts over as many decades, reincorporated Egypt into the Achaemenid Empire. Nectanebo fled to Nubia, Egypt spent a decade in turmoil until the arrival of Alexander. In my TL Nectanebo gets a lucky break when Artaxerxes falls of his horse and dies during the campaign, after which Persia falls into a succession crisis. Egypt sets up a sphere of influence in the Levant while Philip of Macedon, whose enemies no longer can count on Persian gold, manages to unite the Greeks ahead of OTL.