Dream of the Poison King: A History of the Pontic Empire

[Nassirisimo]

Apologies for the very long time this update has been coming. Rest assured, this TL is most certainly not dead.

It's a weird but awesome world where the Pontic Empire feels more enduring than the Roman Empire.

Will these strengthening trade networks see a trade of ideas as well?

Indeed there will be a bigger exchange of ideas. The fact that Iran and Mesopotamia are part of an administratively effective Empire will also have a big impact on the formation of ideas too. Expect the religious and ideological landscape of the world to be rather quite different. The impact that Dharmic thought will have on the west will be interesting, as the Mediterranean will have a more sustained contact with Hindus and Buddhists.

And a world where the unlikely chance of a united Gallic state is a thing.

Unified Gaul is going to change a hell of a lot of things, far beyond its own borders too. The relationship with Germany will mean that the land beyond the Rhine may well be unrecognizable by a certain point in the future.

What are the names of the Pontic Royal cities?

Arkathiakerta is the only new city. The other four Royal cities are cities that have been there before. Babylon, Alexandria, Sinope and Ekbatana are the other royal cities. This set up will obviously change as time goes on, and it's not really an indication of the most important cities. Although Alexandria is the largest city in the Empire, cities such as Ephesos and Charax are definitely more important than Sinope and Ekbatana.

So Carthage never really re-rises, and Utica takes its place?

ME LIKE IT! Utica had so much potential that didn't happen otl!

I think a detailed map of the Mediterranean and north Europe would be useful to understand the current situation at this time. Perhaps even the populations of the largest cities in each "country".

What do the Gaels have to say about their cousins the Gauls now? (by Gaels I mean all British and Irish Celts)

Utica will be the domineering city of Roman Africa, which means that its prosperity could go on even longer. Anything is possible..

I'll try and make another map for Western and Northern Europe. I really need to give my map-making skills practice, and this would be a great opportunity.

As for the Britons and Gaels, there's not much they can say as they're too busy fighting each other. The sea provides them protection but also insulates them from the need for centralization. In light of this, Britain may well fall behind their continental cousins in terms of development, and the internecine low-level warfare between British chieftains can't really help with that.

And family name - don't forget family name. Clientage will be extremely important in this quasi-republic, and as Rome's empire solidifies, the patron-client networks will extend outward to the provinces as they were beginning to do by this time IOTL. Every provincial who has Roman citizenship, and even many who don't, will be plugged into the system through a particular senator, and some senatorial families' voting blocs will be enormous.

Speaking of which, did Caesar do anything to shift the balance of voting power away from the senators and toward the equestrians and, to a lesser extent, the second and third census classes? Given where his support came from, it would seem natural for him to give the middle classes a few extra voting centuries. Also, has he expanded the citizenship, and if so, how far?

Anyway, I'm not sure this system can last as long as the Principate, because an oligarchy based on competition between powerful families has a lot of built-in instability. But if the Principate could survive the Julio-Claudians and Domitian, then a reformed oligarchic system might last a century or two.

There has been a limited redistribution of votes, but it's still the case in some elections that the lower centuries don't even get a vote at all because the election has already been decided by the upper centuries. The growing middle classes are a bit more empowered, though it remains a political system dominated by the aristocracy.

Citizenship is slowly expanding, with a mastery of Latin and a certain amount of property being the main requirements. Caesar was unusually keen on integrating non-Romans into the state so it's likely under his system that this would be further encouraged.

Regarding the stability of the system, I really don't see it lasting as long as the principate. There may still be the desire among some to be the "top man", which is only implicitly recognized in this system in the form of the Italian consul.

 

[Nassirisimo]

Hafsa Bint Salman; Last Gasp of the Ancients: The Rise and Fall of the Pontic Empire (Aden Publishing Corporation, 2541)

The Reigns of Artaxerxes, Mithradates VII and Darius​

The Sixth Century was undoubtedly the beginning of the Golden Age of the Pontic Empire. The Fifth century had seen its formation, as well as a number of bloody civil wars. During the reign of Arkathias, this settled down as described in the previous chapter, leaving a Middle World that was for the first time in centuries enjoying peace. Ariobarzanes was succeeded by the king Artaxerxes, whose rule would be a short one due to his poor health. Although an intelligent man, a myriad of respiratory conditions meant that he was unable to govern directly. Despite this, he appointed a number of effective advisors which ensured that during his short reign there would not be much in the way of disruption. His reign saw the maintenance of the policies of Ariobarzanes, but little in the way of new policies.

Artaxerxes finally died in the summer of 543 and was succeeded by his brother Mithradates VII. Records describe Mithradates as a king obsessed with the example of his great-grandfather. He was recorded to have a short temper and at time would descend into delusional episodes. Despite this, he was still regarded even by his detractors as an intelligent man. Upon his accession, he was already well aware that renewed war on Rome would not be a good move. There was little to be gained from such a war, and a whole lot to be lost. Mithradates instead looked north to the Steppe. Sarmatian chiefs had continued their attempts to raid settlements on the North Coast of the Pontic Sea, which provided him the perfect pretext to wage war on them.

However, as the Achaemenid King Darius found out, it was difficult to bring Steppe Nomads to heel. Without any settlements, there weren’t any clear objectives for the Pontic King to capture, which quickly led to the decline of morale among the Pontic army. They were able to hold forts along the major rivers of the Pontic Steppe, but more than a few kilometres away from these and the land was still under the control of Sarmatian Chieftains. However, the Pontic forts had an unexpected effect. Some Sarmatians learned that greater profit was to be had in helping supply the Pontic garrisons. Weaker Sarmatian chiefs settled in proximity of the forts, farming to supply grain to the Pontic garrisons while enjoying the protection provided by the army.

Although the weaker tribes of Sarmatians began to see the benefit of settled life, most Sarmatians preferred to roam the steppes and try their luck looting some of the more isolated villages. There was little the Pontic Army could do against these hit and run attacks but nevertheless their control of the river basins on the Pontic Steppe was becoming more firm. However, this occupation was a costly one. Much of the money that usually went toward public works was now funding an occupation that seemingly had no clear end goal, and this was something that turned many Pontic courtiers against the war. Even provincial notables complained that rather than the improvement of infrastructure in their provinces, their taxes were being poured to an unnecessary war in the Steppe.

However, Mithradates did not relent in his policy, and the war lasted until he died in 558. The war had lasted for thirteen years by this point, and had left the court of Pontus fully turned against the policy. Mithradates’ successor Darius quietly began withdrawing garrisons when he came to the throne, and by 562 Pontic control outside the Taurica Satrapy was completely gone. The Pontic withdrawal left a number of Sarmatian villages without protectors. The grain that they previously offered to the Pontic garrisons was now offered to Sarmatian chieftains in the hope that they would protect them against others. This arrangement was far from ideal even compared to that of Pontic rule, as these chieftains would often leave them high and dry, or would loot the villages themselves. Nevertheless, most of the agricultural villages found a way to survive, even if they were unlikely to prosper for quite some time.

Within Pontus itself, Darius reverted to the program of Arkathias. More money spent on border defences and public works rather than military expeditions. Whereas Mithradates VII’s expedition into Sarmatia had cost around one billion Pontic Stater overall, the amount spent on expeditions outside Pontus’ borders during Darius’ reign was around a hundred million, despite the fact that Darius reigned for almost twice the time Mithradates VII did. Road links connecting the Red Sea ports of Egypt to the Nile were improved, giving goods from the Indian Ocean easier access to Mediterranean markets. The growth in trade further encouraged the growth of Alexandria, which now pulled ahead of Rome to be the world’s largest city with a million inhabitants. There were now a number of cities with over two hundred thousand inhabitants in the Pontic Empire by the end of Darius’ reign, and the population living in large cities (cities with more than fifty-thousand inhabitants) may have numbered around four million by this point, making Pontus the most urbanized empire at this point in history.

This was made possible in the most urbanized areas by a sophisticated system of canals, filling up the shortfalls in natural river transport. In an age where it was cheaper to send a sack of grain across the Mediterranean by sea than it was to send it to the next city by land, canals were vital. In a move that would be mirrored in China centuries later, king Darius constructed an enormous canal around two hundred and fifty kilometres in length. The canal connected the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean by way of Arkathiakerta, the Pontic capital. This linked Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean but also provided access from the Indian Ocean. The decline in trade this brought about in Egypt would be offset by the later canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea, it nevertheless proved to be a boon for Syria and Mesopotamia.

Darius also made refinements to the Pontic system of law. It was still enforced by the same system created by Arkathias, but now tended to stay away from the harshest of punishments. Executions now tended to be based around beheadings rather than crucifixions, and exile began to be more favoured as a punishment for lesser crimes such as thievery. Where the impetus for these changes came from was unknown, but it has been theorised that changes within the Zoroastrian religion were responsible. If true, this would be the first strong influence of religion on the Pontic state, something of a milestone in its history. The official relationship between the state and religion seems to have been static throughout the whole of the sixth century, with the state maintaining support for a number of temples around the Empire. The temples that received state support were quite varied, and ranged from Egyptian temples to Zoroastrian ones.

Darius’ relations with the Romans improved somewhat, and the two powers even cooperated in fighting piracy in the Mediterranean. Envoys between the two powers travelled to one another on a yearly basis to discuss matters of mutual interest, but private citizens led the way in communicating with one another. As many as five hundred thousand Romans made their homes in the Pontic Empire, setting up businesses that sold silverware to Pontus and shipping silk, amber and spices back to Rome, not to mention Pontic grain. Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean near their peak in the sixth century, and this attests to the massive growth in trade.

Darius died after a fairly long reign, leaving the throne to his son Kambyses. The challenges that began to rear their head during the reign of Kambyses would prove to be the dawn of a transformation in the Pontic state…

 

[hasdrubal barca]

Don't worry about the time between updates, its well worth the wait.

 

[B_Munro]

Good update, but by what route does this canal reach the Mediterranean? My impression taking a quick look at the map is that there's no route to the sea that doesn't require crossing mountainous or at least quite hilly ground.

 

[Stark]

Nice to have you back

 

[Nassirisimo]

Don't worry about the time between updates, its well worth the wait.

Well, that's good to know. I'll try and make updates more common regardless.

Good update, but by what route does this canal reach the Mediterranean? My impression taking a quick look at the map is that there's no route to the sea that doesn't require crossing mountainous or at least quite hilly ground.

For the most part, the canal uses rivers to make the route. The actual artificial part of the canal is short, and can only be used by river barges. When we talk canal here, we're not talking about something sea-going vessels can traverse. Nevertheless, this form of travel is far more effective than roads for transporting goods and is a boon to trade at any rate, even if goods may go on several different boats on their way from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean.

Interestingly enough, in OTL the first fully artificial canal wasn't completed until the mid 18th century.

Nice to have you back

Well, I won't be going anywhere at least for the time being.

 

[Nassirisimo]

Kharda Gobuzan; World History Revisited (Dzarzyn Intellectual's Academy Press, 2524)

Gaul in the Reign of Sintorix​

After the Romans left, the tensions which had been temporarily buried in the face of Roman aggression now rose once more. However, this time there was a very different element to the equation, namely that one tribe, the Arverni of Vercingetorix, were significantly more powerful and prestigious than the rest. In theory at least, Vercingetorix ruled Gaul as the High King, the ultimate authority in the Gallic Kingdom. Despite the high-mindedness of this arrangement, Gaul remained ultimately decentralised. The revenues collected by the High King were miniscule compared to the Roman Consuls or Pontic King. While the Gallic King could count on huge levies in the event of invasion, there was realistically little conquering he could do as Gallic men did not concern themselves with conquest.

The exception of course, was with the nobility. Homicide amongst the nobility of Gaul remained shockingly high, as nobles turned to the sword more than the king to settle disputes between themselves. Vercingetorix tried throughout his long reign to impose law and order on Gaul, imposing death by torture as a penalty for murder. He was recorded as keeping ghastly trophies of his laws in his great hall at Gergovia as a reminder to all who would engage in violence in his kingdom. Despite the harsh penalties though, fighting among Gallic nobles remained high during the reign of Vercingetorix. More than harsh laws were needed in order to stop the Gallic nobles from fighting each other.

Vercingetorix’s reign lasted almost forty years, though there was not a huge change in the way that Gallic society worked. Most Gauls remained tied strongly to their tribal identities and to their personal loyalty toward their chief. There wasn’t really a sense of a Gallic people outside nobles and chiefs. Gauls remained tied to the land, and Gallic cities remained relatively small, with more or less all Gallic cities having fewer than fifty thousand. While this number would be considered huge for settlements in Britain or Germany, compared to the urbanised Mediterranean region, these cities were positively miniscule. Trade in Gaul was tiny in volume compared to trade in Pontus and Rome, and the economy was overwhelmingly agrarian.

Vercingetorix died a very old man in 530, leaving the throne of Gaul in question. His sons had all pre-deceased him, and his nephews and grandchildren began making their case for the throne. A long Civil War was avoided when Sintorix, a grandchild of the king ruthlessly crushed his competitors in a number of battles and installed himself on the Gallic Throne. Sintorix had spent some time in Italy, and his admiration for the civilization of the Romans was apparent in his many policies. Once again he wanted to open more trade with the South, representing the wishes of many Gauls who wanted to leave the Roman-Gallic war in the past and focus on the business of acquiring luxuries. With knowledge of trade goods from the East such as silk and spices starting to become known in Gaul, the desire of noblemen to acquire these grew during the sixth century.

At the same time, Sintorix had to balance the increasing desire for valuable trade goods with the existing tendency for the nobility to feud amongst themselves. Sintorix hit upon a remarkably crafty way to satisfy both the desire for luxuries and the desire for war. In 535, the first massive slave-raid into Germania began, led by Sintorix himself. The Germans were primitive compared to the Gauls, living mainly in small villages, many of which were not permanent, but they had a fearsome reputation as warriors. The Gallic noblemen considered the Germans to be worthy foes, but the Gauls were able to triumph. Although there was very little in the way of loot, the Gallic Chronicle states that around fifty thousand slaves were taken in this giant raid. This would be the first of many which would keep the Mediterrenan awash with Germanic slaves and Germania itself relatively unpopulated.

As slaves captured by the Gauls made their way down the Rhone River to the port of Massilia, one of the last independent city states in the Mediterranean, money flowed back north. Although the average Gaul still lived in conditions of horrendous poverty, Gallic noblemen were now enjoying wine from Italia and Hispania, as well as more exotic spices and silk from the East. Gaul was now integrated into this first world-system, with goods from as far as the Yellow River finding their way to the Loire Valley. Although the economic growth of Gaul on a per-capita basis was practically zero, the population during the sixth century may have grew from four million to seven million, representing a huge increase in general prosperity.

The changes in Gaul’s economy were not mirrored by changes in the political system. Gaul remained a relatively disunified country, held together by the personality of Sintorix rather than any loyalty to the Gallic state. The Gallic King remained weak in comparison to other rulers in the civilized world. There were not even many feudal obligations tying the fighting noblemen of Gaul to the Gallic King’s army. Outside a retinue of a few thousand men, the Gallic king was forced to rely on whoever decided that they wanted to come along on the campaign. For Sintorix, this was not a problem as the wars of his reign consisted almost entirely of profitable raids into neighbouring lands, but would prove to be poor at responding to invaders.

Gallic society began to see shifts as the economic situation improved. Merchants from Rome and even Pontus found their way into the largest cities in Gaul. Although Gaul was not highly esteemed among merchants familiar to the Mediterranean due to its relative backwardness, the fact that merchants travelled to do business there spoke to Gaul’s increasing importance to the outside world. Although Gauls had been found throughout the Mediterranean as mercenaries (and in the case of Galatians, as a state) for centuries, the number of Gallic merchants saw an increase, so much so in Pontus that Alexandria was reputed to have had a Gallic district.

The reign of Sintorix was seen as the golden age of the first Gallic Kingdom, because of the stability and increased prosperity of Gaul. Although this trend would continue after his death, the personalities and policies of a number of his successors would tarnish their reputation whilst improving his. Despite this, Sintorix does not seem entirely deserving of his great reputation. During his long rule, little was done to improve the position of the High King, leaving him as the “First among equals” in an unstable system. He did not clarify the rules of succession, which led to a civil war upon his death, and appeared to have no inclination to provide the kind of public works and services that the governments of Rome and Pontus did.

 

[hasdrubal barca]

Germania is really getting wasted in this timeline....

 

[Shevek23]

Germania is really getting wasted in this timeline....

Indeed, and Gaul is not doing much better. Perhaps despite the warning that the High Kings are all downhill from this none-too-inspirational peak, the important historical role of Gaul will not so much be as an imperial state as a cultural region; perhaps under this rickety aegis of the High Kingship, developments in civil society will make Gaul something more than a mere postponement of Roman conquest.

I used to assume the Romans would incorporate Gaul, and now I wonder if they won't be doing so just a couple centuries later.

As for what is happening to Germania---I wonder what the long-term result would be. Short term, apparently the raids have been so massive that the lands across the Rhine are depopulated. If so, the economic boom for Gaul that comes from slave exports will fail, due to difficulty in following up the old "harvest." Meanwhile--the survivors in Germania are those who either laid low, were overlooked, fought off their attackers locally, or retreated eastward. Perhaps some fraction of the huge numbers enslaved and apparently sold "down the river" to transpose an apt phrase from Mississippian America, to Roman and Pontic buyers, will escape or be freed and make their way back to their forested homeland.

Thus, the transRhenic lands that I'm guessing are called "Mirkwood" by its decimated inhabitants are becoming a backwater refuge of those much-abused by the existing three Mediterranean powers (counting Gaul as one of those) yet might be picking up important arts from them--via returning ex-slaves, or if there are none of those to speak of, direct contact with the Gauls. The raiders have created a no-man's-land but the Germans move through it with freedom; it is the three Med Civilizations that are operating blind.

Population will recover among the Germans. Perhaps the Gauls will simply harvest them right down again every generation or so, but I would expect the Germans are adapting in various ways. One defense is not to resettle the zones the Gauls eviscerated the first time; to travel there and hunt there (to keep up familiarity with their lost homes) but not settle. That would mean the Gauls would have to invade through unknown territory which the Germans know better to reach German settlements worth raiding--and indeed might not know these eastern holdings exist. But of course leaving western Germania fallow is a costly solution to their problems and not as gratifying as inflicting revenge on the Gauls! Germanic agriculture, other crafts, and war crafts ought to all advance even with their only indirect contact with the southern civilizations.

Seeing Gaul as the enemy, the Germans might seek an alliance with Rome (never mind that Rome was the market that purchased their kin and gave the Gauls the incentive to trade in enslaved Germans) and propose a pincers movement, in which they conquer and hold the north and the Romans round out their holdings around the Med in the south. Or knowing that the Romans are as much their foes as the Gauls, they might build up power, building a state/alliance system to the north and east that the Med powers are ignorant of, to create a mighty "Barbarian" federation aimed at attacking both Western Med powers. And possibly Pontus too, if parallel events around the Black Sea are victimizing local populations there.

It is a question of how much the shock and challenge of Gaulic predations on the Germans will be coupled with German insight into their situation, and their access to sufficient force to take an effective revenge. But if they cannot take revenge, I think they can at least withdraw from contact, and if the Gauls don't have populations to raid for slaves, what will they do next to shore themselves up?

Start slave raids on Britain perhaps?

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

Germania is really getting wasted in this timeline....

On the other hand, when Gaul descends into civil war, the Germans may see it as a chance for revenge - or maybe opportunity, if any of the Gaulish factions recruits German mercenaries.

 

[hasdrubal barca]

On the other hand, when Gaul descends into civil war, the Germans may see it as a chance for revenge - or maybe opportunity, if any of the Gaulish factions recruits German mercenaries.

Perhaps Arminius will show up at some point.

 

[Donald Reaver]

While there may be a Arminius type show up at some point to unite the Germans, I would say he has been butterflied away. However if the Gauls continue to raid the Germans, one possible response will be the Germans forming some type of confederation of tribes to resist them.