Ancient history: Is this a wank? Or ASB?

I don't know if this TL shouldn't be moved in the ASB forum...

Ok here we go:

1. A little Latin city can liberate without foreign help from a prosperous civilization, the Etruscans.

2. This little Latin city gets, by chance (?), a stable constitution, avoiding revolutions and civil wars.

3. The little republic is some centuries later besieged and sacked by Celts; however, Roma manages to conquer the whole Italian peninsula within around 100 years, using a unique combination of arms and tactics unknown to the ancient world.

4. The little republic, inexperienced in naval warfare, builds a superior fleet within some years and defeats the leading seafaring of the era. It also manges to defeat a military genius without loosing it's empire or even parts of it.

5. Rome, almost unchallenged, conquers everyhing.

6. Three civil wars, a big slave rebellion and a war with the main allies, beeing equal in military ability, do some damage, but the empire is meanwhile capable to conquer a huge territory (Gaul) in only 8 years and nobody mances the empire seriously during this crisis.

7. A man creates a republican monarchy and stabilizes the empire for 200 years.

8. Rome conquers more than everything.

So... divine intervention? ASB? Or a very very wanked TL?
 
I don't know if this TL shouldn't be moved in the ASB forum...

Ok here we go:

1. A little Latin city can liberate without foreign help from a prosperous civilization, the Etruscans.

2. This little Latin city gets, by chance (?), a stable constitution, avoiding revolutions and civil wars.

3. The little republic is some centuries later besieged and sacked by Celts; however, Roma manages to conquer the whole Italian peninsula within around 100 years, using a unique combination of arms and tactics unknown to the ancient world.

4. The little republic, inexperienced in naval warfare, builds a superior fleet within some years and defeats the leading seafaring of the era. It also manges to defeat a military genius without loosing it's empire or even parts of it.

5. Rome, almost unchallenged, conquers everyhing.

6. Three civil wars, a big slave rebellion and a war with the main allies, beeing equal in military ability, do some damage, but the empire is meanwhile capable to conquer a huge territory (Gaul) in only 8 years and nobody mances the empire seriously during this crisis.

7. A man creates a republican monarchy and stabilizes the empire for 200 years.

8. Rome conquers more than everything.

So... divine intervention? ASB? Or a very very wanked TL?

Why did it take them so long?

1. Small insignificant tribal state regarded as semi-barbarians by the civilized world is defeated by Thebes and a puppet king is installed in BCE 370.
2. The heir apparent is taken as hostage
3. By 359 the heir was now King and defeats the Illyrians, Thracians and Athenians to stabilise his country
4. He creates the most disciplined force of infantry and cavalry yet seen in Greece using a radical new weapon.
5. In 352 in occupies Thessaly as hegemon
6. In 338 he defeats the rest of Greece (apart from a brooding Sparta)
7. In seven years between 333 and 326 his son as his successor conquers an empire larger than Rome's at its peak

Less than 50 years to go from nothing to world dominance - what was keeping those Roman fellows ;)
 
Real life is stranger than fiction. Certainly Rome's rise is an extraordinary tale, but then so was that small island off the west coast of Europe which spread its empire across all corners of the world. The prophet Mohammad's extraordinary territorial expansion also would not have been predicted if it didn't actually happen.
 
Real life is stranger than fiction. Certainly Rome's rise is an extraordinary tale, but then so was that small island off the west coast of Europe which spread its empire across all corners of the world. The prophet Mohammad's extraordinary territorial expansion also would not have been predicted if it didn't actually happen.

Indeed reality doesnt have to be "realistic".

But truthfully in reality, small advantages that the average person doesnt think about can accrue into big ones. Throw in some good fortune being at the right place at the right time and suddenly you can have a cascade effect.

I personally think a big part of Rome's expansion was simply that they had better concrete than their neighbors.
 

Gaius Julius Magnus

Gone Fishin'
Still got nothing on this group of nomads who one day decided to be world conquerors and unleashed hell upon most of the Eurasian continent.
 
It turns out people are just horrible at defending themselves from new threats that overturn the status quo. :)
 
and everything that happned to the anglosaxon world isn't borderline asb either?
both the rise of britain and the us have lots of almost asb element in it
 
Why did it take them so long?

1. Small insignificant tribal state regarded as semi-barbarians by the civilized world is defeated by Thebes and a puppet king is installed in BCE 370.
2. The heir apparent is taken as hostage
3. By 359 the heir was now King and defeats the Illyrians, Thracians and Athenians to stabilise his country
4. He creates the most disciplined force of infantry and cavalry yet seen in Greece using a radical new weapon.
5. In 352 in occupies Thessaly as hegemon
6. In 338 he defeats the rest of Greece (apart from a brooding Sparta)
7. In seven years between 333 and 326 his son as his successor conquers an empire larger than Rome's at its peak

Less than 50 years to go from nothing to world dominance - what was keeping those Roman fellows ;)

You should however, in Rome's defence, add that the empire fall apart within 20 years, while Rome's empire lasted from around 150 BC until 476 AD.
 
Look at the US! A small former colony, which almost broke into 13 different nations, within 175 years is the most powerful and most advanced nation the world has ever seen.
 
Look at the US! A small former colony, which almost broke into 13 different nations, within 175 years is the most powerful and most advanced nation the world has ever seen.

And their population goes from 2.5 million to 320 million. To do that you'd need millions and millions of people boarding small wooden ships and crossing the Atlantic and then have super large families with low mortality rates. The weird convergence of so many factors needed makes it total ASB.
 
Indeed reality doesnt have to be "realistic".

But truthfully in reality, small advantages that the average person doesnt think about can accrue into big ones. Throw in some good fortune being at the right place at the right time and suddenly you can have a cascade effect.

I personally think a big part of Rome's expansion was simply that they had better concrete than their neighbors.

That and they had this sort of proto-nationalism thing where they didn't accept the standard ancient rules of when you were beat.
Lose an army? Screw it keep making new ones until you win. Basically they were doing the real life equivalent of save scumming.
 
That and they had this sort of proto-nationalism thing where they didn't accept the standard ancient rules of when you were beat.
Lose an army? Screw it keep making new ones until you win. Basically they were doing the real life equivalent of save scumming.
I always knew I had something in common with the likes of Caesar, Octavian and Trajan. I also save scum a lot, unless I play on Ironman mode, they I just say "Screw this, done with this BS game, so many hours hours wasted, never again." only to be back the next day.

Always had the feeling it was greatness hiding all this time, not butthurt and bitter stubborness. :p
 
I always knew I had something in common with the likes of Caesar, Octavian and Trajan. I also save scum a lot, unless I play on Ironman mode, they I just say "Screw this, done with this BS game, so many hours hours wasted, never again." only to be back the next day.

Always had the feeling it was greatness hiding all this time, not butthurt and bitter stubborness. :p


"Oh hey, I've been playing this game for a year now, I think I can try ironman mode!"
Chooses France, turns on ironman mode

Wins 100 years war "Oh this is gonna be easy!"
Castile, Burgundy, Austria, the HRE, Poland, and Truce Breaking England declare war. France and Scotland and Aragon against Ehrope.

*hits escape, clicks exit to menu, plays a cheating game with Genoa, conquers Mediterranean, feels fulfilled*
 
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