What if Emperor Justinian installed a new Western Emperor in Italy after reconquering the west ?With a POD no earlier than 470 AD have the WRE survive the 5th Century and possibly beyond and reconquer.
That would likely leave the west even more critically short on troops than OTL unless the Italian war was much shorter and didn't result in the ruination of the Italian economy. Not at all impossible but it would probably require more troops at Belisarius' command.What if Emperor Justinian installed a new Western Emperor in Italy after reconquering the west ?
Italy has the alps and North Africa the sea, it's not that hard to defend the heartland, but yeah anything outside of that is goneAlso something to take into consideration is that the Western Empire was that it 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 Africa, abandoning the more northern provinces; or they could move to Gaul, establishing something similar to the Carolingian Empire early on.
I've heard this argument used alot, but I don't really agree with it. From a geographic standpoint the Western Roman Empire was in a decent position. Britannia and Gaul were probably a lost cause once things started getting serious, but Italy has the alps protecting it to it's north and sea on the other three sides. Iberia also has the Pyrenees to the north protecting it, and the sea on all other sides. In a way the Western Empire had more land to fall back on than the East as lands like Italy, Africa and Iberia had a relatively small border to defend on land and were protected by the frontier regions.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 Africa, abandoning the more northern provinces; or they could move to Gaul, establishing something similar to the Carolingian Empire early on.
pls do itI think the idea of Belisarius as Western emperor is very interesting. I might even write a timeline about it. The immediate problem is that Italy was in rough shape at that point...
Let's go. I'll start the thread.pls do it
Wouldn't the Kingdom of Odoacer and Ostrogothic Kindom of Italy pretty much qualify then? The state apparatus that was the WRE continued under Odoacer and Theoderic but the position of Emperor became vacant.To clarify this means continued survival no stops or hiccups of any sort with at best the throne remaining vacant but it still being the WRE.
No not really, especially since he assumed the title of Rex. I mean just the WRE in the sense that a layman would understand.Wouldn't the Kingdom of Odoacer and Ostrogothic Kindom of Italy pretty much qualify then? The state apparatus that was the WRE continued under Odoacer and Theoderic but the position of Emperor became vacant.
No not really, especially since he assumed the title of Rex. I mean just the WRE in the sense that a layman would understand.
Maybe but I mean the continuation of the polity that the layman would say ended in 476 and if you want to stretch it the one Nepos ruled but he would have to figure out how to get back into Italy somehow.Couldn't a surviving Ostrogothic Italy be considered a continued WRE by future historians?
Or does it have to be viewed as a continuation of the WRE by its contemporaries?