AH Challenge: The Three Romes

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to have three different national entities called the Roman Empire existing at the same time. An example could be both Roman Empires surviving and the HRE being formed for some reason. Thus you have 3 RE: The WRE, the ERE, and the HRE. Now provide me with a POD where you could have a similar situation arise.
 
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to have three different national entities called the Roman Empire existing at the same time. An example could be both Roman Empires surviving and the HRE being formed for some reason. Thus you have 3 RE: The WRE, the ERE, and the HRE. Now provide me with a POD where you could have a similar situation arise.
This was OTL.

Romes:

Papacy (the Donation of Constanine gave them domination over the entire Roman Empire)

HRE (obvious)

Byzantium (obious)
 
This was OTL.

Romes:

Papacy (the Donation of Constanine gave them domination over the entire Roman Empire)

HRE (obvious)

Byzantium (obious)

Meh. I don't think this technically counts, as the Papacy wasn't actually known as such. I want three real empire with the same name. And they don't have to actually be OTL or even real Roman Empires.
 

Xen

Banned
Ive done this before

Belisarius actually accepts the Visigoths offer of Western Roman Emperor, restoring the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire is too busy fighting Persia to worry about their former hero in the west, by the time they can he is too well entrenched to do anything about.

Belisarius' Empire is able to survive to survive his death and lasts for many more centuries. Later there is a schism between the Pope and the Western Emperor, the Pope flees north to the protection of the Frankish Kings, he declares the King of the Franks as the true Emperor of Rome. This is the beginning of the Northern Roman Empire, the Franks invade Britain and conquer the Saxons at some time after this.

The Northern Roman Empire is found in modern day England, Northern France, the lowlands and wesetern Germany.

The Western Roman Empire is in Italy, North Africa, and the northern Balkans

The Eastern Roman Empire is in the southern Balkans, the Levant and western Anatolia.
 
What if after the Carolingian Empire breaks apart, both the ruler of the eastern Franks (who took the Holy Roman Emperor in OTL) and the ruler of the western Franks (who became the King of France in OTL) claimed to be the rightful successor to Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor? That would mean two "Holy Roman Emperors" in western Europe.
 
This was OTL.

Romes:

Papacy (the Donation of Constanine gave them domination over the entire Roman Empire)

HRE (obvious)

Byzantium (obious)

plus Muscovy which called itself the third rome, so there we have byzantium, HRE and Muscovy in the 14th century

or even still HRE, Byzantium and the Sultanate of Rum (Rum meaning Rome)
 
plus Muscovy which called itself the third rome, so there we have byzantium, HRE and Muscovy in the 14th century
Moscow's status as the "third Rome" wasn't claimed until the reign of Ivan III, who didn't come to power until several years after the fall of Constantinople. It was based, in part, on his marriage to Sophia Paleologue, the niece of the Constantine XI, last Byzantine emperor. So there were only two "Romes" at any given time during the fourteenth century.

Besides which, the "third Rome" claim was more symbolic than anything else. Neither Ivan nor any of his successors seriously considered Muscovy the heir to Rome (politically speaking) in any real sense. Moscow was supposed to represent a continuation of the culture of Constantinople, and occupied a somewhat similar position with regards to Eastern Orthodoxy, but it was still considered part of Muscovy/Russia, not the Roman Empire. So it's not exactly in keeping with the spirit of the challenge.

I think the most obvious possibility that has yet to be discussed is the fracturing of the Roman Empire during the crisis of the third century. Have the Gallic and Palmyrene Empires claim to be legitimate successors of the empire. As it is in OTL, both retained the trappings of the empire, with both Postumus and Zenobia claiming the title of Augustus/Augusta and retaining a roughly Roman social and political structure. The only real stumbling block was that both were regional entities at a time when "Roman" probably meant something vastly larger. Part of what distinguished the two empires from earlier Roman civil wars was that neither seemed to have their eye on Italia itself, and remained content with their own corners of the empire.
 
Sons of Constantine

Emperor Constantine divides the Empire amongst his three sons (as in OTL, but not with Constantine II and Constans sharing the West).

(Eldest) Caesar Constantine II establishes his capital in Massilia.
(Middle) Caesar Constantius takes the throne in Constantinople.
(Youngest) Caesar Constans is crowned in Alexandria.
Augustus Constantine retains the city of Rome, which he decrees now encompasses all of Italia and Sicily.

West Rome - Capital Massilia; Iberia, Gaul, Belgica, Britannia, Germanias, Illyricum
East Rome - Capital Constantinople; Greece, Macedonia, Moesias, Thracia, Anatolia (et al), Syria, Judea
South Rome - Capital Alexadria; Egypt, Africa, Mauretanias, Cyrenacia, Nubia, Arabias
Imperium Civitas Roma - Italy, Sicily

TriRoma.PNG
 
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