AHC: Antiquity Europe Look Like This (see map)

Well the POD is the Mithridatic Wars. Having Tigranes take over Palestine isn't that hard since the area fell into civil war shortly after the POD IIRC. Ptolemaic Egypt is practically a client state of Rome in everything but name as it was OTL. The Arverni came close at times to uniting the Gallic tribes. Dacia was strong and united during Burebista around this time or shortly after the POD.

Mithridates had taken over all of Asia Minor at one point as well.

The problem is that while you could probably have something like Tigranes taking over Palestine, that doesn't mean it could lead to a lasting Armenian Empire from Armenia proper to Palestine.

That's going to be the tricky part - having this as a map of the situation in (say) 60 BC, but I'm not sure those empires could last with an ambitious Rome. Or Persia - more so for Armenia than the Pontic state.

Gaul being united is something I don't know enough about to observe how well it would work, but Rome is likely to try to disrupt that.
 
The problem is that while you could probably have something like Tigranes taking over Palestine, that doesn't mean it could lead to a lasting Armenian Empire from Armenia proper to Palestine.

That's going to be the tricky part - having this as a map of the situation in (say) 60 BC, but I'm not sure those empires could last with an ambitious Rome. Or Persia - more so for Armenia than the Pontic state.

Gaul being united is something I don't know enough about to observe how well it would work, but Rome is likely to try to disrupt that.

Exactly. Which is why I posted this.
 
Saying "It is doable." implies having a way it can be done, not just a challenge.

And frankly, a challenge that can't be responded to with "unachievable" is just a way of breeding ASBs.

Not all scenarios we can imagine are scenarios that have any plausible method of being made to work. The attitude that we should never say nay is a shortcut to implausible developments in response to random maps.

You're missing the whole point of an AHC. it is not the OP's job to come up with the how, that's why it's a challenge presented to the forum. If they did that, it becomes a WI.

If it is undoable, it's undoable. But that doesn't mean that forum members shouldn't give it a shot, discuss it, or think on what is possible first.
 
I don't get the naysayers, sorry.

Sure, Rome won't like this, but Rome doesn't have to be all-conquering. Rome had several civil wars, and the map says it's still a republic, so it seems that no one has been successful enough to become Emperor(equivalent). This suggests to me the possibility of Rome stumbling from one Marius/Sulla to another, with intervening periods of Senatorial control when no single figure is strong enough to impose his will. In that case, Rome could very well lose her Asian holdings, and any general strong enough to reconquer them might well be tempted, instead, to take Rome, herself, rather than outlying provinces.

Also, nowhere in the OP did I see any requirement that this be a PERMANENT situation.

If Rome and Persia are distracted for a generation, you could easily get something like this map. IMO. Even if Pontus and Armenia were swallowed up by one or the other later.
 
You're missing the whole point of an AHC. it is not the OP's job to come up with the how, that's why it's a challenge presented to the forum. If they did that, it becomes a WI.

If it is undoable, it's undoable. But that doesn't mean that forum members shouldn't give it a shot, discuss it, or think on what is possible first.

No, I'm pointing out that saying "It's doable." is saying that the OP thinks that there is some basis for it - not just a question to the forum whether or not THEY think it is doable.

If he didn't post that and stuck to "AHC: (stuff)", we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Dathi: Rome being all-conquering isn't necessary for these empires to have trouble, especially given that Rome's troubles don't hurt the Persians - the other thread to the Pontic and Armenian empires - at all.
 
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Rome would probably be the reason for the creation of the Gallic Confederation.
As has already been said, keep Rome busy with a simmering pot of crises and civil wars. Not only would it focus them on Italy but with would keep down the population. Add in some poor choices as Consul, men that were poor leader but were exceptable to the large and powerful families.
Have the persians be dealing with a large and continuing stept nomad problems. Maybe they are helping some of the eastern groups brake away from Rome as buffer states to give themselves some breathing space.
 
To keep the Parthians weaker, have some sort of relationship collapse between the Han and the Xiongnu earlier; maybe the Civil War spills over really badly into all directions complete with massive people displacements as the Han try to stop the problem once and for all :p

The Xiongnu now either put pressure on the Yuezhi, or else are so weakened they just migrate west and assimilate. With so many warriors now under their command, the Yuezhi move west. Or, driven by Xiongnu, Yuezhi move west, Kushan scenario a hundred years early, basically.

Parthia gets smacked around really bad and spends all of their resources trying to stem the catastrophe to the East.

This lets Tigranes have breathing space to consolidate his holdings, and, in alliance with Mithridates, they are able to diplomatically keep the Romans thinking they cannot commit troops.

Maybe have the Ptolemaics backed by the Romans try to use this opportunity to do something in Palestine or wherever, and fail spectacularly. The political fallout leads to another redivision of power among the Romans, maybe with some pretty intense rounds of proscriptions and coutner-proscriptions.

While the Roman elite is busy exterminating itself, the Averni have time to solidify somewhat. One of the generals who fell victim to the Roman Civil Nastiness maybe tried a Caesar a little earlier and gave the Gauls a serious scare. They will now take Rome very seriously.

....

I mean tenuous and not much detail but as a general outline, how's that?
 
To keep the Parthians weaker, have some sort of relationship collapse between the Han and the Xiongnu earlier; maybe the Civil War spills over really badly into all directions complete with massive people displacements as the Han try to stop the problem once and for all :p

The Xiongnu now either put pressure on the Yuezhi, or else are so weakened they just migrate west and assimilate. With so many warriors now under their command, the Yuezhi move west. Or, driven by Xiongnu, Yuezhi move west, Kushan scenario a hundred years early, basically.

Parthia gets smacked around really bad and spends all of their resources trying to stem the catastrophe to the East.

This lets Tigranes have breathing space to consolidate his holdings, and, in alliance with Mithridates, they are able to diplomatically keep the Romans thinking they cannot commit troops.

Maybe have the Ptolemaics backed by the Romans try to use this opportunity to do something in Palestine or wherever, and fail spectacularly. The political fallout leads to another redivision of power among the Romans, maybe with some pretty intense rounds of proscriptions and coutner-proscriptions.

While the Roman elite is busy exterminating itself, the Averni have time to solidify somewhat. One of the generals who fell victim to the Roman Civil Nastiness maybe tried a Caesar a little earlier and gave the Gauls a serious scare. They will now take Rome very seriously.

....

I mean tenuous and not much detail but as a general outline, how's that?
This sounds...amazing. Bravo.
 
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