Augustus' Dream Empire

Originally I was going to do the map on this post however as I worked on the notes on what to look for in the future. I wrote so much that it will be better to just wait until Sextus' reign is over to do the map as right now Aulus' is technically got an occupation and not complete certified borders so the next map of the Empire will not be until next week anyways here are some of my notes for the future of certain countries and plans that obviously could change but are nice nods to events that will happen.

Kushan will collapse and a number of minor states will rise up. Parthia will gobble up many of them and as a result the concept of Persia moves eastward towards modern Persia encompassing East Persia, Pakistan and most of Afghanistan.

Germans will be split into two major groups. Those located East of the Vistula River will form minor Germanic kingdoms. It will only be around 1031CI that they actually unify to a united cultural body.(This amount of space in time will allow for Germany to become a very imperialist country subjugating many of the other ethnic groups around them stopping around OTL Moscow.)

The Other kind of Germans will be Scandinavian Germans who are essentially the same kind as their OTL counterparts with the only difference being they have access to more advanced weaponry and armor. Vikings will also occur however their targets are not frequently the Roman coast but rather those nations along the Baltic Sea or East Germans, Fins, and Slavs.

Slavs also experience a dual identity that being North Slavs and South Slavs. The North Slavs are Russians while the South Slavs are located around the region between the Aral and Caspian Seas(That is the suspected origin point of the Slavic tribes and in TTL is confirmed point.) South Slavs suffer a long period of disunity and then are conquered first by Parthia and then by Russia. They only recent to modern day gained their independence after a war between Russia and Rome and form the identity of the Eastern European countries after the Cold War.(Only in this case they are split three ways in owing an alliance to either Rome, Parthia or in rare cases back to Russia.)

Russia initially accepts Christianity as its religion however they experience a period in the late 800s where a new religion that has Judeo-Christian hints present and could technically be seen as TTL replacement for Islam but is not due to difference in beliefs as well will rise up leading a Russian Manifest Destiny of sorts over much of land West of Siberia.(Currently Siberia is a I dunno what to do with it land haha.)

The Celts are the only culture of all the previously mentioned that do not accept Christianity. They actually replace the Scandinavians in settling Vinland.(Their colony also lasts and comprises OTL Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Isle, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Axum evolves like OTL only with more Roman access and will become Christianized but also will adopt another religion that is also partially Christian but has heavy influences of Zoroastrianism as well. This religion runs rampant throughout Africa so that by the OTL of the Scramble for Africa this Axum religion is predominate in all regions besides Roman Africa.(In fact geopolitical speaking Roman Africa is more of seen as Europe.) A Scramble of Africa does not happen in this timeline rather the countries will only create Alliance spheres and client states.(The major powers in Africa will be Parthia, Rome, Germany, Russia, Axum, and a Khmer Empire like state.)

India will become the China of TTL. It will become unified under the Guptas and undergo dynasty changes but essentially remain India. During the era that the major powers gain an interest in Africa they also begin sphereing and carving up India.(The only difference from OTL China is that they make major territorial gains in India and the only thing independent is a rump Indian state on the Deccan Plateau.) India regains most of its territory after a specific event that will be a secret for now.(small city states that felt more allegiance to their great power that conquered them then India remain with the power and is a sore issue for India that it still does not own all its proper territory.)

China will split into 5 major dynasties around 300CI and never reunify. The five dynasties essentially create 5 variants of Chinese culture and by the time one of the powers gains the strength to conquer the others the conquering powers Chinese has almost nothing in common with the conquered. This results in a balkanized China. China's coastal dynasties will be mostly carved up by the Great powers but her inland dynasties will remain intact and when the great powers pull out of China the inland powers basically absorb coastal China regions and end up with two major China states left in the north and south.

Korea unifies early and with a fractured China avoids client state status and in fact will project its strength on the regions north of them.

Japan experiences a very similar role to OTL only her borders expand to include Sakhalin and Kamchatka and is considered one of the great powers that was spoken of earlier.

Indonesia remains Buddhist in this timeline and will also be divided and sphered primarily by the Khmer Empire but also by initially India and Parthia but later Parthia, Japan, and Axum and only unifies into major political bodies after the spheres end of sorts and the great powers endorse one state to annex the ones around it.

Finland will be settled by the Finns and will own modern day Finland but also some of Northwest Russia that is not taken by Germany and parts of northern Sweden.

The Americas will remain a secret for now but current plans are to have 1 Roman colony, as we know a Celtic Vinland, a Scandinavian colony, a Mali colony, a colony of exiles from one major tribe group in Rome that essentially refused to conform. The Romans will not find the Americas however their hegemonic role in the world does lead to their terming of the Americas reigning dominant in much of the world and the current plan is to have NA be called Borealis and SA Australis what does everyone think?

Australia is honestly unknown on what to do but I do like the idea of at least one aboriginal state there.

And thats just some of what to looked forward too in the future haha
 
So here's the first of the now weekly updates

Sextus Julius Caesar Augustus

Sextus was the son of Aulus and was born in 118CI. Sextus got his name from being the sixth Emperor of the Caesares.(The name Sextus is his actual name and not a nickname like Germanicus.)

Sextus would be the first Emperor to take the throne following Aulus' reforms and there were questions about whether they would succeed under the new emperor. Sextus had a handful of knowledge on the reforms as it was during the years 136-138CI that he actually ran the Empire while his father was in Parthia.

When Sextus assumed the throne in 144CI the war with Parthia was entering the final stretch. Sextus planned to have the war end by 150CI and be in Ctesiphon for the negotiations. The war however did not end in 150CI but rather in 153CI. Delays in gaining control of the other Parthian capital city of Susa forced Sextus to delay the peace negotiations.

Finally in 153CI the Emperor met in Ctesiphon still technically the proper capital of Parthia and made a proper peace with the state. The terms made Parthia surrender all of her territory west of the Karun River.(Along with the borders being settled midway along the river.) along with Parthia being rendered a client status under the Emperors with Gaius Julius Caesar being declared Shah of Parthia.

This victory in Parthia was declared a national celebration throughout the Roman Empire. Parthia would remain a client state of the Empire for the next thirty years and only declares her independence as a result of the Imperial Civil War between Emperor Titus and his younger sibling and rebel leader Septimus. The Caesares would actually remain on the Parthian Throne until the Parthian Revolution in 1456 which established the Parthian Republic.(This Republic was short-lived and the events of the Republic and its successor state can be considered to the early stages of the French Republic and Reign of Terror only the goals in the reason for the republic are different.)

The reason the Caesares lasted so long on the Parthian throne is due to the large control they held over the military of Parthia. When Gaius Julius Caesar, Shah of Parthia assumed the throne he knew that his family would not last long controlling the state if he did not control the military. Another reason was due to the close relations the Parthian Caesares held with the Arscaids, the former ruling dynasty of Parthia. To legitimize the sons of Gaius he married Osroes I's daughter and killed all her brothers to ensure that his child would be the only legitimate child of Osroes. Osroes I was not killed in order to prevent a complete rebellion in Parthia but was placed under house arrest in Ctesiphon and under close Praetorian Guard to ensure he does not escape. Osroes would die in 174CI after being allowed to return to Parthia by Emperor Titus.

Parthia's defeat by the Romans effectively shattered morale within the country and their client status made them very wary that they would eventually be annexed into Rome like Armenia and the Bosphorus. While politically Roman-Parthian relations were now at an all time high within Parthia the common citizen would kill a Roman walking down the street if they could. When the Kushan Empire collapsed in 160CI the Parthians saw that as the perfect time to expand their territory. Within three years the Parthians overran much of the former Kushan territory establishing a border in midland Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Back in the Empire Sextus was enjoying a high approval rating with the entirety of the Empire. What shatters the blissful reign of Sextus is the death of Empress Aelia and a massive plague that breaks out in much of the Empire. The death of Aelia was due to giving birth to her third son Marcus in 167CI and the plague began the following month. Sextus was so traumatized by the death of his wife that he effectively withdrew from running the Empire and cut relations off with his sons.(This would have an effect on Titus who is regarded as a cruel father to his son Caelus.) When the plague broke out in Neapolis the Emperor completely ignored the problem and continued to mourn in isolation the death of Aelia. The Senate would take up the work of quarantining and stopping the spread of the plague and the plagued grain.(The Grain from Aegyptus would later be the source of the plague after an inquest was requested by the Senate and approved by the Emperor.) Public Approval of the Emperor sank to low levels unseen of since the days of Gaius. The Emperor only snapped out of his state of misery in 169CI after barely surviving the plague himself.

After surviving the plague the Emperor began to take back is role in the government and effectively combat the plague so that by 171CI the plague was finally beaten but the consequences of his uninvolvement until such a late date resulted in 5 million deaths throughout the Empire with the largest deaths being located in Neapolis who lost almost 300,000 citizens.(Neapolis would only return to pre-plague levels in the 310CI census.)

A side-effect of the Emperor removing himself during the plague and leaving the Senate to handle the matter was a greater public trust in the Senate and an unintended release of Imperial powers to the Senate making the Senate once again an effective voice in the Roman government.

Sextus' last two years were uneventful other then the adapting of the new Senatorial powers that strengthened the once weak legislative body of the Empire.(The Senate during Titus' reign would be at the strength of the American Congress today.)

Sextus dies in 172CI with his son Titus taking the throne. Titus is regarded as the most brutal and potentially insane of the Emperors and as a result of his rule the Emperor's never named their sons Titus again.
 
Heres the map at the death of Sextus. The many colors north of India and east of Parthia are all minor states that will be annexed by Parthia by the end of Titus' reign and thus they will not be named.

The Celts, Germans, Slavs, and Finns locations are now all in their proper spots the colors to represent them do not mean there is a centralized state there but just the location of all their tribes.

In India the Gupta have begun their rise and are the dark green color the rest of India is under minor states with some being so small it was just easier to color them all one color to represent a minor land.

Roman Empire 172CI.png
 
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