Derek Pullem
Donor
Could be worse - Commodus, Perennis and Cleander spring to mind.
Ulpius Marcellus is another reasonable candidate.
Ulpius Marcellus is another reasonable candidate.
Hadrian's Consolidation - reboot
- Thread starter Hecatee
- Start date
Since Avidius Cassius was OTL just the son of an equestrian I wonder how the Senate would confirm someone with zero senatorial background to be the next emperor... Was his father raised to the Senate by Hadrian? Why did Aurelius choose him? The age gap between Marcus Aurelius and Cassius is only 10 years.
Academia Militaria Practica, Via Appia, Rome, November 171
Hecatee
Donor
Academia Militaria Practica, Via Appia, Rome, November 171
Aelius Prigonus Cicero walked down the halls of the Academia, everyone giving him right of way. As the new head of the institution, he was the master of the place.
Marcus Aurelius had been looking for a replacement for the previous head for a few months when news of Prigonus Cicero’s achievement had reached him in Germania and he’d immediately decided to promote the man to the rank of camp prefect without assigning him to a legion, before he’d promoted him again to the rank of praefectus machinatorum, the highest rank someone like him could achieve. He was still staggered by how sudden his promotion had been and how high the office was.
Only six men in the empire held such an exalted rank without being of senatorial rank, and this he had achieved by killing a barbarian chief in single combat… After his victory the inhabitants of Alauna Civitas had spontaneously awarded him the Crown of the Preserver, a distinction that had distinguished for many centuries those soldiers that had shielded and saved civilians from direct peril. It was a most unusual award, as communities usually did not award such distinctions, but the son of the centurion Tiophorus had heard of the award from his father and thought it appropriate. The Emperor himself had approved the honor, making it official.
Alauna Civitas had also named Prigonus Cicero officially as patronus of the town, its protector to which its citizens would go in case of need in Rome or against the authorities, something rather unusual for someone of the equestrian class.
In another time he would have been awarded the Spolia Opima, but that award had only been given three times in the history of Rome, the last potential candidate having seen his triumph refused by the divine Augustus because he was not the supreme owner of the imperium, that privilege being the Emperor’s only.
Given that while Prigonus Cicero had been the highest ranking man present at the time and the commander of the defense while not being the highest ranking man in the province nor the emperor, he could not pretend to that honor. But that had not prevented Marcus Aurelius from granting him a corona civica, the second highest award of the Empire after the grass crown and a title few but the emperor himself wore.
It should have granted Prigonus Cicero immediate access to the Senate, but he’d declined the honor. In the senate he would have been nothing but a poor backbencher with little influence, one of those military glories that faded in the dust raised by the talks of others. He prefered to remain active and that was what had landed him in this place where he’d been trained in his younger years and where he now ruled with a power that only the emperor himself could countermand.
He was of course giving courses now, but he also followed as many lessons as he could from the other teachers, both to know how good they were and to learn new things. He’d discovered about things the civilian machinatorum had been doing in the empire, being especially interested in the experiments made with eolipyle and steam. After all if steam could move something, maybe it could fire a projectile at a target ? Was there not something in one of Archimedes’ treaties ? Or was it the pneumatic ballista ? No, that one using compressed air in cylinders with pistons was described in Philon of Byzantium, in the Belopoica, saying he was only following Ctesibius of Alexandria... He really should commission a compendium of all the ideas ideas of the alexandrian scientists up to Hieron…
Aelius Prigonus Cicero walked down the halls of the Academia, everyone giving him right of way. As the new head of the institution, he was the master of the place.
Marcus Aurelius had been looking for a replacement for the previous head for a few months when news of Prigonus Cicero’s achievement had reached him in Germania and he’d immediately decided to promote the man to the rank of camp prefect without assigning him to a legion, before he’d promoted him again to the rank of praefectus machinatorum, the highest rank someone like him could achieve. He was still staggered by how sudden his promotion had been and how high the office was.
Only six men in the empire held such an exalted rank without being of senatorial rank, and this he had achieved by killing a barbarian chief in single combat… After his victory the inhabitants of Alauna Civitas had spontaneously awarded him the Crown of the Preserver, a distinction that had distinguished for many centuries those soldiers that had shielded and saved civilians from direct peril. It was a most unusual award, as communities usually did not award such distinctions, but the son of the centurion Tiophorus had heard of the award from his father and thought it appropriate. The Emperor himself had approved the honor, making it official.
Alauna Civitas had also named Prigonus Cicero officially as patronus of the town, its protector to which its citizens would go in case of need in Rome or against the authorities, something rather unusual for someone of the equestrian class.
In another time he would have been awarded the Spolia Opima, but that award had only been given three times in the history of Rome, the last potential candidate having seen his triumph refused by the divine Augustus because he was not the supreme owner of the imperium, that privilege being the Emperor’s only.
Given that while Prigonus Cicero had been the highest ranking man present at the time and the commander of the defense while not being the highest ranking man in the province nor the emperor, he could not pretend to that honor. But that had not prevented Marcus Aurelius from granting him a corona civica, the second highest award of the Empire after the grass crown and a title few but the emperor himself wore.
It should have granted Prigonus Cicero immediate access to the Senate, but he’d declined the honor. In the senate he would have been nothing but a poor backbencher with little influence, one of those military glories that faded in the dust raised by the talks of others. He prefered to remain active and that was what had landed him in this place where he’d been trained in his younger years and where he now ruled with a power that only the emperor himself could countermand.
He was of course giving courses now, but he also followed as many lessons as he could from the other teachers, both to know how good they were and to learn new things. He’d discovered about things the civilian machinatorum had been doing in the empire, being especially interested in the experiments made with eolipyle and steam. After all if steam could move something, maybe it could fire a projectile at a target ? Was there not something in one of Archimedes’ treaties ? Or was it the pneumatic ballista ? No, that one using compressed air in cylinders with pistons was described in Philon of Byzantium, in the Belopoica, saying he was only following Ctesibius of Alexandria... He really should commission a compendium of all the ideas ideas of the alexandrian scientists up to Hieron…
Donald Reaver
Donor
Time to make his real mark on history, pushing the Roman Industrial revolution. The one who future historians will look back and proclaim him one of the founders.
Interesting to see an almost proto-scientific revolution happening.
With Rome enjoying a longer period of stability and growth than OTL I’d be interested to see how much Romanizing and urbanizing is happening in “core” territories like Spain and North Africa. Might these areas start to come be viewed like Italy.
With Rome enjoying a longer period of stability and growth than OTL I’d be interested to see how much Romanizing and urbanizing is happening in “core” territories like Spain and North Africa. Might these areas start to come be viewed like Italy.
In OTL that was the case even more so in this timeline I think! the best example today would be the white (sorry) dominions of the British empire OTL in 1900-1920
Hecatee
Donor
Right now they are indeed. There is little pressure going westward, but the Goth will be meeting strong defenses both at the entrance of the Crimea and at a somewhat northerner roman border which has more rivers to defend in depth. Yet I don't expect anything to happen there for some decades yet...
Spain does not have that much prime land in the eyes of the Romans, and no significant change from OTL has touched it until now, so nothing very different. As for Africa, it has received a number of settlements from the captured jews and barbarians in the time of Hadrian, and those are growing nicely, mostly in the rich plains of Algeria under the protection of the legion at Lambaesis. For the rest there has not been a Severian dynasty yet to embelish the lybian cities, so no Leptis Magna as we know it, no accellerated imperial developpement. So globally we are roughly on par with OTL. The places the demographic changes have been the most important are Britain (mainly from forced settlers and their prosperity, although urbanization remains on a small scale) and Austria (due to new food production technologies and new metalurgic technologies, the province produce an outflow of settlers going into Hungary)
Presumably the whole Pannonian plain is drastically changed in the east too due the Roman colonies.
Hecatee
Donor
Presumably the whole Pannonian plain is drastically changed in the east too due the Roman colonies.
Yes in the sense that it is more settled but not with many cities : you have a number of rather large domains, which do host a few dozens workers (slaves and free) each, with wheat fields and horse-growing areas, a few dozen villages, mostly settlements that appeared next to road stations, and larger towns around the military bases present in the area, which serve as dispatching centers for the products of the villae and logistical centers to forward the wheat to the legions up north on the Tisia river.
Still it is less populated than before the wars that conquered it.
Hecatee
Donor
And I've mostly kept to OTL scientific achievements until now, following in large part Rossi & Russo's "Ancient Engineers Inventions", even for things as outlandish as pneumatic rifles !
Hecatee
Donor
Logistics prevent that, they would need about 3 hundred years of naval progress to do thatGreat timeline my friend! Looking forward for the future updates! I want Roman colonies in India or something similar if possible
Beside I've decided to have a middleman find a new calling between Rome and India (and China) so colonies would kind of ruin that Not everyone can be as great as Xénon
Donald Reaver
Donor
A critical point if his kingdom or proto empire survives past him. If his heir can hold it together and expand is the question.
Logistics prevent that, they would need about 3 hundred years of naval progress to do that
Would this perhaps be a kosher gentleman and extended family prehaps?
Hecatee
Donor
Well... I won't say anything, but an update planned for the week after next should provide some informations on the topic
Another germanic-related question: could it be possibile for a group like the Vandals, which in the second century were settled in modern Poland, to establish a Kingdom there? (They moved in Pannonia and Dacia during the OTL marcomanni wars, but they can't do that obviously and to the SE there are the Goths)What may the roman view be on that? An armenian style- buffer or a threat?
I assume the romans will try to reach the Elbe, so the question doesn't really apply for the Cherusci, but it could for the Suebi (currently between the Elbe and the Oder) or the Angli and Saxons (Denmark, could be funny to see an anglo-saxon kingdom there).
I assume the romans will try to reach the Elbe, so the question doesn't really apply for the Cherusci, but it could for the Suebi (currently between the Elbe and the Oder) or the Angli and Saxons (Denmark, could be funny to see an anglo-saxon kingdom there).
Hecatee
Donor
Romans don't have a very precise view of things that far north, so they keep to a simple policy : quiet and security. They have a rather good defensive position right now, what with the mountains and the rivers protecting Bohemia... So they will have diplomatic contacts and try to trade. A big difference with other Germanic tribes is that the Vandals will be able to trade directly in amber given that they control the beaches where it lays, so they will have an incentive for stable trade roads that could lead to the idea of settlements in ways that other Germans could not come too as they had no ressources worth it. Yet it would be hard to really build a state and Rome may get angry in case of raids.
Further West, the policy is different. The Cherusci have been allied to the Romans in the recent war and allowed to grow, they are becoming more romanized, especially as they are now in more contact with Roman civilization through their western, southern and eastern borders. I could see them becoming a state that would get absorbed in the 3rd century. Further north the Romans have no real need to expand yet, so they will keep their OTL policy for now. until when they get a better knowledge of the area. But when they'll move they'll do it completely up to and including Danemark's mainland, if only to allow for more sea and river trade.
I’d think that the Bosporus kingdom also might get a boost, just because of the greater reliance on on this Roman Empire horses. Where will you find better pastures?
Edit: mmm it’s not showing up here:
http://www.academia.edu/8115899/Feeding_the_Ancient_Horse
Edit: mmm it’s not showing up here:
http://www.academia.edu/8115899/Feeding_the_Ancient_Horse