Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes III
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The 2016 Presidential Election in my timeline, "The Trump Era and Beyond".
ASB! ASB!
Good infobox.
Abraham Washington
Banned
Thanks!
Anyways, here's another infobox I have from a timeline in the works on another forum.
Anyways, here's another infobox I have from a timeline in the works on another forum.
The Fall of the Commodian Empire (index)
Maximus, Part 1
This guy.
Decimus Aelius Meridius Maximus (c.145 - 193; commonly known as "Maximus Decimus Meridius", or just Maximus) was a Roman general in the service of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus best known as the assassin of Commodus. His life history is generally attested to by the notoriously unreliable Historia Augusta, which contradicts itself on a number of points between the "authors" Caledonius [1] and Antonius Mannus [2] in their Life of Commodus, in addition to his tombstone and several miscellaneous communications sent from the front. Caledonius gives the credit of killing Commodus to Maximus whilst Antonius Mannus assigns it to his co-conspirator Gaius Livius Metellus; the inscription on his tombstone suggests Caledonius' account to be more accurate.
Early life
Maximus was born in Baetica (in modern Spain) during the reign of Antoninus Pius to a freedman Publius Aelius Meridius. The name "Publius Aelius" suggests that Maximus' father gained his freedom in the reign of Hadrian, thereby taking up his praenomen and gens. "Meridius" (lit. centre) may have been a translation of his native name. Maximus seems to have added his cognomen later in life, probably at some stage of his military career.
The consistently erroneous ordering of his names as "Maximus Decimus Meridius" in the Historia Augusta seems to derive from the formulaic endings of his dispatches:
Read in scriptio continua, one would indeed derive this word order, although the intent was that he preferred to be referred to as "Maximus". It is unknown why he omitted the gens of Aelia from his dispatches; perhaps he felt that it had been forced on his father by the naming conventions of the time, and thus prioritised his cognomen and agnomen instead. However, his name is recorded in full on his tombstone:
Little else is known about his upbringing, but he volunteered for military service at an early age, seeing it as a career pathway like many other young Roman men.
During his period of service, Ummidia Cornificia Faustina [3] the Emperor Marcus Aurelius' niece, was made to divorce her first husband, the senator Tiberius Claudius Gordianus [4], and was instead betrothed to Maximus; Claudius Gordianus was permitted to keep her dowry and retained potestas paterfamilias (power of the head of the family) over their daughter Annia Faustina. Ummidia Cornificia and Maximus had one son, Publius Aelius Meridius, whose name is attested to on their tombstone.
Military service
The Historia Augusta and Maximus' own tombstone note a dignified career record for Maximus, beginning from the campaign in Raetia during the Marcomannic Wars (161-180), then under the command of Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus, which would have brought him into contact with Gaius Livius and future emperor Pertinax.
Maximus rose steadily in the ranks during the essentially continuous period of warfare, eventually being appointed commander of Legio IV Flavia Felix with Gaius Livius as his chief of staff by the time Marcus Aurelius gathered his generals and family, including Ummidia Cornificia and Publius Meridius amongst many others, to his encampment in Vindobona, along the Danube frontier.
Heir to the Empire
At Vindobona, the Historia Augusta in both Caledonius' and Antonius Mannus' accounts states that Marcus Aurelius summoned Gaius Livius and Maximus, either separately or collectively, and informed them of his plan to divide the power of the Principate upon his death, given his worries about the ability of Commodus, who was now 18 years old, to be an effective sole ruler, given his temperament and subtle but evident rejections of his father's Stoicism and moderation.
Apparently, while Commodus would inherit the title of Augustus and the imperial estates, along with the imperium maius (authority over the Empire), the regular consulship and the rights of the princeps senatus to open bills and gain priority over all others in the Senate, the tribunician power would finally revert to the plebeians in the body of Maximus (who was technically of senatorial rank but had never sat in the Senate) and the rights of the pontifex maximus would devolve to Gaius Livius, who hailed from a notable patrician family. It is unknown who the other consul would be - Lucius Antistius Burrus, the emperor's son-in-law, may have been a possible choice. [5]
Elections for the these positions, collectively termed the comes Augusti (companions of the Augustus), would resume, although the Senate (still led by the Emperor, albeit with one other consul) would be given the power to veto any elected nominees - a crude precursor to the cabinet of a constitutional monarchy, in many forms. Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus was allegedly invited to the conference and offered the position of pontifex maximus or the co-consulship, but perhaps sensing the danger, opted not to participate in this scheme.
At any rate, the entire plan was scrapped when Marcus Aurelius died, allegedly of the Antonine Plague, although Caledonius insists that Commodus furiously smothered him to death with a pillow (perhaps cribbing from Suetonius's De vita caesarem re: Tiberius's death) [6] when he learned that his autocritas would be lower than every Emperor before him, and Antonius Mannus suggests that he was killed not by Commodus but a cabal including Claudius Gordianus [4], who could not bear to see Maximus (ergo, his ex-wife's Ummidia's new husband) become tribune of the plebs, and future emperors Didius Julianus and Pescennius Niger. The latter two conspirators may have been additions to further establish the legitimacy of Septimus Severus in usurping both.
Antonius Mannus states that these men sought to influence the easily-swayed Commodus and saw Maximus and Gaius Livius as obstacles to such a goal. Their assassin was the blind eunuch Saoterus, who poisoned Marcus Aurelius with a knife with venom on one side, thus fooling the emperor into a false sense of security when Saoterus ate the other half. [7]
At any rate, the plan to dissolve the powers of the princeps died with Marcus Aurelius, and neither Gaius Livius nor Maximus opted to force the issue, knowing that Commodus' friends would instantly denounce them as traitors. Maximus offered his resignation to Commodus, offering to retire to Hispania with Ummidia and his son, once the new emperor decided to retreat from the front, but Commodus rejected his resignation, instead appointing him military governor over Pannonia Inferior to replace Pompeianus whilst his wife and son returned to Rome.
[1] Scott
[2] Anthony Mann
[3] A historical figure, and indeed the niece of Marcus Aurelius.
[4] Another historical figure; the plotters in Fall of the Roman Empire (FotRE) are named "(Didius) Julianus", "(Pescennius) Niger" and "Cl[o/au]dius", but Clodius Albinus's personality doesn't jive with a guy who would kill Marcus Aurelius, given that Marcus himself claimed that without Albinus he would have lost Britain to Avidius Cassius. There's a subplot in FotRE about Lucilla being betrothed to an Armenian king; "Gordianus" suggests he came from Cappadocia, which isn't too far away.
[5] Both Gladiator and FotRE state that Marcus Aurelius wanted to return power to the Senate, with the latter even claiming Obi-Wan Aurelius wanted to make the Empire a federation(!). Here's my take on it.
[6] Basically taken straight from Gladiator.
[7] This is taken straight from FotRE, although the eunuch is named "Cleander" there.
TO BE CONTINUED...
(Context 1, Context 2)
Maximus, Part 1
This guy.
Decimus Aelius Meridius Maximus (c.145 - 193; commonly known as "Maximus Decimus Meridius", or just Maximus) was a Roman general in the service of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus best known as the assassin of Commodus. His life history is generally attested to by the notoriously unreliable Historia Augusta, which contradicts itself on a number of points between the "authors" Caledonius [1] and Antonius Mannus [2] in their Life of Commodus, in addition to his tombstone and several miscellaneous communications sent from the front. Caledonius gives the credit of killing Commodus to Maximus whilst Antonius Mannus assigns it to his co-conspirator Gaius Livius Metellus; the inscription on his tombstone suggests Caledonius' account to be more accurate.
=
Early life
Maximus was born in Baetica (in modern Spain) during the reign of Antoninus Pius to a freedman Publius Aelius Meridius. The name "Publius Aelius" suggests that Maximus' father gained his freedom in the reign of Hadrian, thereby taking up his praenomen and gens. "Meridius" (lit. centre) may have been a translation of his native name. Maximus seems to have added his cognomen later in life, probably at some stage of his military career.
The consistently erroneous ordering of his names as "Maximus Decimus Meridius" in the Historia Augusta seems to derive from the formulaic endings of his dispatches:
HAEC·SVNT·PRAECEPTA·MAXIMVS
D·MERIDIVS
(These are the orders of Maximus.
[Signed] Decimus Meridius)
D·MERIDIVS
(These are the orders of Maximus.
[Signed] Decimus Meridius)
Read in scriptio continua, one would indeed derive this word order, although the intent was that he preferred to be referred to as "Maximus". It is unknown why he omitted the gens of Aelia from his dispatches; perhaps he felt that it had been forced on his father by the naming conventions of the time, and thus prioritised his cognomen and agnomen instead. However, his name is recorded in full on his tombstone:
D·AELIVS·MERIDIVS·MAXIMVS·P·F·MERIDVS[...]
(Decimus Aelius Meridius Maximus, son of Publius [Aelius] Meridius)
(Decimus Aelius Meridius Maximus, son of Publius [Aelius] Meridius)
Little else is known about his upbringing, but he volunteered for military service at an early age, seeing it as a career pathway like many other young Roman men.
During his period of service, Ummidia Cornificia Faustina [3] the Emperor Marcus Aurelius' niece, was made to divorce her first husband, the senator Tiberius Claudius Gordianus [4], and was instead betrothed to Maximus; Claudius Gordianus was permitted to keep her dowry and retained potestas paterfamilias (power of the head of the family) over their daughter Annia Faustina. Ummidia Cornificia and Maximus had one son, Publius Aelius Meridius, whose name is attested to on their tombstone.
P·A[ELIVS]·D·F·P·N·MERIDIVS[...]
(Publius Aelius Meridius, son of Decimus, grandson of Publius)
(Publius Aelius Meridius, son of Decimus, grandson of Publius)
=
Military service
The Historia Augusta and Maximus' own tombstone note a dignified career record for Maximus, beginning from the campaign in Raetia during the Marcomannic Wars (161-180), then under the command of Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus, which would have brought him into contact with Gaius Livius and future emperor Pertinax.
Maximus rose steadily in the ranks during the essentially continuous period of warfare, eventually being appointed commander of Legio IV Flavia Felix with Gaius Livius as his chief of staff by the time Marcus Aurelius gathered his generals and family, including Ummidia Cornificia and Publius Meridius amongst many others, to his encampment in Vindobona, along the Danube frontier.
=
Heir to the Empire
At Vindobona, the Historia Augusta in both Caledonius' and Antonius Mannus' accounts states that Marcus Aurelius summoned Gaius Livius and Maximus, either separately or collectively, and informed them of his plan to divide the power of the Principate upon his death, given his worries about the ability of Commodus, who was now 18 years old, to be an effective sole ruler, given his temperament and subtle but evident rejections of his father's Stoicism and moderation.
Apparently, while Commodus would inherit the title of Augustus and the imperial estates, along with the imperium maius (authority over the Empire), the regular consulship and the rights of the princeps senatus to open bills and gain priority over all others in the Senate, the tribunician power would finally revert to the plebeians in the body of Maximus (who was technically of senatorial rank but had never sat in the Senate) and the rights of the pontifex maximus would devolve to Gaius Livius, who hailed from a notable patrician family. It is unknown who the other consul would be - Lucius Antistius Burrus, the emperor's son-in-law, may have been a possible choice. [5]
Elections for the these positions, collectively termed the comes Augusti (companions of the Augustus), would resume, although the Senate (still led by the Emperor, albeit with one other consul) would be given the power to veto any elected nominees - a crude precursor to the cabinet of a constitutional monarchy, in many forms. Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus was allegedly invited to the conference and offered the position of pontifex maximus or the co-consulship, but perhaps sensing the danger, opted not to participate in this scheme.
At any rate, the entire plan was scrapped when Marcus Aurelius died, allegedly of the Antonine Plague, although Caledonius insists that Commodus furiously smothered him to death with a pillow (perhaps cribbing from Suetonius's De vita caesarem re: Tiberius's death) [6] when he learned that his autocritas would be lower than every Emperor before him, and Antonius Mannus suggests that he was killed not by Commodus but a cabal including Claudius Gordianus [4], who could not bear to see Maximus (ergo, his ex-wife's Ummidia's new husband) become tribune of the plebs, and future emperors Didius Julianus and Pescennius Niger. The latter two conspirators may have been additions to further establish the legitimacy of Septimus Severus in usurping both.
Antonius Mannus states that these men sought to influence the easily-swayed Commodus and saw Maximus and Gaius Livius as obstacles to such a goal. Their assassin was the blind eunuch Saoterus, who poisoned Marcus Aurelius with a knife with venom on one side, thus fooling the emperor into a false sense of security when Saoterus ate the other half. [7]
At any rate, the plan to dissolve the powers of the princeps died with Marcus Aurelius, and neither Gaius Livius nor Maximus opted to force the issue, knowing that Commodus' friends would instantly denounce them as traitors. Maximus offered his resignation to Commodus, offering to retire to Hispania with Ummidia and his son, once the new emperor decided to retreat from the front, but Commodus rejected his resignation, instead appointing him military governor over Pannonia Inferior to replace Pompeianus whilst his wife and son returned to Rome.
=
[1] Scott
[2] Anthony Mann
[3] A historical figure, and indeed the niece of Marcus Aurelius.
[4] Another historical figure; the plotters in Fall of the Roman Empire (FotRE) are named "(Didius) Julianus", "(Pescennius) Niger" and "Cl[o/au]dius", but Clodius Albinus's personality doesn't jive with a guy who would kill Marcus Aurelius, given that Marcus himself claimed that without Albinus he would have lost Britain to Avidius Cassius. There's a subplot in FotRE about Lucilla being betrothed to an Armenian king; "Gordianus" suggests he came from Cappadocia, which isn't too far away.
[5] Both Gladiator and FotRE state that Marcus Aurelius wanted to return power to the Senate, with the latter even claiming Obi-Wan Aurelius wanted to make the Empire a federation(!). Here's my take on it.
[6] Basically taken straight from Gladiator.
[7] This is taken straight from FotRE, although the eunuch is named "Cleander" there.
TO BE CONTINUED...
(Context 1, Context 2)
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shiftygiant
Gone Fishin'
Some notes if you do plan a TL: The best bet for an Alliance Victory is to avoid the Falklands Conflict, have the economic recovery be hindered in some way, and for Thatcher to call the election early around April/March of 1982, when the Conservatives were regaining their ground in the Polls but the Alliance still ranked higher than Labour. Other factors that will be important is also the position of Foot; if you remove him and replace him with Benn or Shore (not hard considering he very nearly resigned IoTL), then you could see Labour sink further, giving the Alliance an edge.
Also, the Prime Minister would have been Roy Jenkins. The agreement was that, as the SDP had more experience in Goverment, then the Gang of Four would lead the subsequent Goverment, with Steel as Deputy. Sort of like how Baldwin had MacDonald be Prime Minister.
The wikibox to go with an electoral map I made a couple of days ago.
Somehow the Democrats completely split, their votes splitting evenly between the existing popular vote from OTL of the Dixiecrats and the Progressives. While the Dixiecrats have a higher popular vote than the Progressives, this just goes to show how heavily concentrated their support is in the South, with some states being won on over 90% of the popular vote. The Progressives on the other hand, are more dispersed and crucially fight where they can win. While the Progressives lose out in some respects, they actually win a couple of contests the Democrats lost IOTL. Somehow, despite coming third in the popular vote, the Progressives get a majority in the electoral college and now Henry Wallace is President...
Somehow the Democrats completely split, their votes splitting evenly between the existing popular vote from OTL of the Dixiecrats and the Progressives. While the Dixiecrats have a higher popular vote than the Progressives, this just goes to show how heavily concentrated their support is in the South, with some states being won on over 90% of the popular vote. The Progressives on the other hand, are more dispersed and crucially fight where they can win. While the Progressives lose out in some respects, they actually win a couple of contests the Democrats lost IOTL. Somehow, despite coming third in the popular vote, the Progressives get a majority in the electoral college and now Henry Wallace is President...
Follow the sig to follow the course.
.I'm not gonna do a full writeup but I'll do one about the controversial sale of Bethlehem Steel FC to Dollar Financial Group tomarrow.
Thanks for the advice.
I know Roy Jenkins was PM designate, but if the Libs had more MPs (which they probably would in this scenario) they could have had the leverage to move Steel as Prime Minister. It would probably have gotten a bit messy, though. Also I just used the OTL leaders here (which is why the Tories shift leaders so many times for no reason and Blair and Kinnock stay on so long even though they do badly).
I wish I had some backstory for this, but I don't.
*Gonzo intensifies*
No if it was you Corbyn would be dead last, and there would be at least two more parties (both a Social Nationalist, and a Social Conservative one).
The real tragedy here is the missed opportunity for a "Social Socialist" Party.
I like the Social Credit UK. That's incredibly Gonzo. Because Social Credit is the best party to have ever existed, just because it's so strange. It's like a successful Canadian Share Our Wealth.
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