Interesting timeline. Some thoughts:
-How are these Bulgarians? Seems in this world they are not quite Bulgarians but Bolghars culturally, i.e. the nomadic elites did not assimilate into the local Slav population and kept their horse culture. And this being seemingly true, how do they look ethnically? Are they basically Bolgharized Slavs who have adopted the nomad way of life, or is there still a small core of Asiatic horsemen ruling over local Slavs/proto-Romanians?
-What is the status of the Avars, weren't they basically in terminal decline at this point?
-Not sure if I like the rise of the Berbers. It feels fairly unrealistic, what with having a few generations of brilliant leadership and success. Seemingly these semi-barbarians can rival Rome in a fairly short time, that their navy is worth half a damn and raising numbers of troops as high and higher than Romans seems especially silly.
This ties in with the bit where you love to make references to our timeline, some make sense like the Alt-Tours battle (though should Martel even be alive, wasn't he born post-PoD). Some like with the Berbers do not, as I feel you wanted an alternate Caliphate (though I did notice your Muhammed reference in the new Hijaz Kingdom ) which takes advantage of a weakened Rome to cause rapid collapse of vast swaths of land. And I feel this is not needed, as history clearly shows Rome is not perfect and setbacks will happen but ones as massive as this are unlikely. Ultimately I hope Rome can recover Mare Nostrum eventually.
-What is the religious state of the various powers in Europe and Africa? Seems to me the main opposition to Roman rules comes from heretics and their rivals would seek to adopt non-Orthodox versions of the faith to have another tool of power against Roman domination. Seems most Arabs are Nestorian, some maybe Monothelite. The Berbers also seem to be Monothelite. Especially interesting is the situation in Western Europe, they should follow the Papal lead and adopt Orthodoxy but their main rival are the Romans. What is the state of Christianity there? Lastly, how is the the process of maintaining this new Orthodoxy going on in Roman lands? Where has there been successful adoption, where is the resistance?
-I feel you went way overboard with the early deaths of the Emperors, probably as an overreaction to the long reign of Constans. The early death of his son Constantine makes sense since he would be relatively old himself given how long his father reigned. So okay the first regency but then immediately after a second one... at the very least that is one quick death too many. Historically obv. such things happened but narratively it is meh at best.
-So the Heraclian dynasty is finished? Why is that? Did Tiberius have no children? What about Heraclius Jr. did he have children or his brother before he died? Seems odd to just give up the imperial crown just like that. Maybe anything but a son of Tiberius was not possible because of the influence Leo's family had. Anyway pity to see their end.
-As I said I love your timeline idea, and I can tell you know a lot about history. Which is probably the only reason I stuck to this timeline since as you are aware your English is less than optimal to say the least. That is the key difference, some timelines have awful English but the story is not strong enough or believable enough to hold my attention, you certainly succeeded in that regard. While I will keep reading your work regardless maybe consider getting an editor?
All in all an interesting and reasonable timeline, it is great and keep it up m8 : )
-How are these Bulgarians? Seems in this world they are not quite Bulgarians but Bolghars culturally, i.e. the nomadic elites did not assimilate into the local Slav population and kept their horse culture. And this being seemingly true, how do they look ethnically? Are they basically Bolgharized Slavs who have adopted the nomad way of life, or is there still a small core of Asiatic horsemen ruling over local Slavs/proto-Romanians?
-What is the status of the Avars, weren't they basically in terminal decline at this point?
-Not sure if I like the rise of the Berbers. It feels fairly unrealistic, what with having a few generations of brilliant leadership and success. Seemingly these semi-barbarians can rival Rome in a fairly short time, that their navy is worth half a damn and raising numbers of troops as high and higher than Romans seems especially silly.
This ties in with the bit where you love to make references to our timeline, some make sense like the Alt-Tours battle (though should Martel even be alive, wasn't he born post-PoD). Some like with the Berbers do not, as I feel you wanted an alternate Caliphate (though I did notice your Muhammed reference in the new Hijaz Kingdom ) which takes advantage of a weakened Rome to cause rapid collapse of vast swaths of land. And I feel this is not needed, as history clearly shows Rome is not perfect and setbacks will happen but ones as massive as this are unlikely. Ultimately I hope Rome can recover Mare Nostrum eventually.
-What is the religious state of the various powers in Europe and Africa? Seems to me the main opposition to Roman rules comes from heretics and their rivals would seek to adopt non-Orthodox versions of the faith to have another tool of power against Roman domination. Seems most Arabs are Nestorian, some maybe Monothelite. The Berbers also seem to be Monothelite. Especially interesting is the situation in Western Europe, they should follow the Papal lead and adopt Orthodoxy but their main rival are the Romans. What is the state of Christianity there? Lastly, how is the the process of maintaining this new Orthodoxy going on in Roman lands? Where has there been successful adoption, where is the resistance?
-I feel you went way overboard with the early deaths of the Emperors, probably as an overreaction to the long reign of Constans. The early death of his son Constantine makes sense since he would be relatively old himself given how long his father reigned. So okay the first regency but then immediately after a second one... at the very least that is one quick death too many. Historically obv. such things happened but narratively it is meh at best.
-So the Heraclian dynasty is finished? Why is that? Did Tiberius have no children? What about Heraclius Jr. did he have children or his brother before he died? Seems odd to just give up the imperial crown just like that. Maybe anything but a son of Tiberius was not possible because of the influence Leo's family had. Anyway pity to see their end.
-As I said I love your timeline idea, and I can tell you know a lot about history. Which is probably the only reason I stuck to this timeline since as you are aware your English is less than optimal to say the least. That is the key difference, some timelines have awful English but the story is not strong enough or believable enough to hold my attention, you certainly succeeded in that regard. While I will keep reading your work regardless maybe consider getting an editor?
All in all an interesting and reasonable timeline, it is great and keep it up m8 : )