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Greetings gentlemen. I was reading a thread here a few months ago where someone was comparing Han China to the Roman Empire. He commented that China had remained unified because the idea of a "United China" had become, over two millennia, cemented in Chinese culture. Well, what if such an idea had developed in the west for the Roman Empire? What if a common cultural belief that there "Must always be a Roman Empire" had developed amongst the peoples who inhabited the OTL lands of the Empire?

Your challenge here is to make such an idea take hold in the west, where the idea of a United "Roman World" is seen as necessary for the preservation of peace and prosperity. It must also have expanded to at least the borders presented in the map beneath this paragraph by OTL 1500 AD. This is just the mainland Empire and surrounding islands. I'll leave whether it has any overseas colonies or not up to you, though I personally doubt it. Given it's easy access to Indian trade, there wouldn't be much of a reason for them.


Roman Empire 1500. The eastern borders, especially the Persian border, is highly subjective. The northern border and Svalbard is also a bit much, but yeah...

In addition to these requirements, the Roman Empire must also be Christian, including it's Arabian territory. Islam never develops and so there is no Arab attack upon the Roman world. The exact form of Christianity however I'll leave up to you. Whether it is similar to OTL Christianity or is greatly different is in your hands, just so long as it stays true the basic tenets and teachings of Jesus, who himself must remain the same as OTL as per the Gospels.

Otherwise, your POD can be any time after the rise of Augustus. I would personally prefer a POD around the death of Marcus Aurelius however. Perhaps a more competent Commodus? In any case, stabilizing Imperial succession at some point is a must. Perhaps this alternate Commodus institutes reforms in the early 3rd century, officially codifying rules of succession for the throne, where the Emperor's son is to always succeed him, be he biological or adopted. That is my personal suggestion, you can choose to run with it or not.

Anyway, good luck! Also, I'd love to know what your opinions on Sino-Roman relations throughout the ages would be. I don't see a lasting Roman Empire butterflying away China as it already existed, so I would imagine they would interact with each other with increasing frequency over the centuries.

Edit: Ah, and any discussion on how you believe technology within the Empire would develop in this alternate timeline is also, of course, welcomed and encouraged. :)
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