How To Screw the Late Republic: A Map TL

[Errnge]

Hey y'all. So I got very bored the other day, and started fucking around with some maps. I ended up making a series of maps that follow in 5 year intervals from the year 100 B.C. to 1 A.D.

The timeline itself is, admittedly, not as detailed or well thought out as my others. But I think it's fun. Just some maps, and a story that hopefully the AH.com populace can get behind. Here goes nothing.

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The year is 100 B.C.

The Roman Republic had just defeated Numidia in the Jugarthine War, and is still reeling from their war with the Cimbri, but on the whole, the Republic looks to be on the rise. Recently acquiring all the lands ruled by Pergamon, Roman power and influence spans the Mediterranean, from Hispania to Asia.

But a rival is on the rise. The powerful and charismatic king of Pontus Mithradates IV Eupator is gaining ground, recently subjugating Colchis and being the first Greek power to conquer the Crimea, adding the Bosphoran Kingdom to his domains. The stage is set for conflict.

This is the beginning stasis:

 

[Herzen's love-child]

Although of mixed Persian and Greek ancestry, I wouldn't describe his empire as Greek. Even if it was partially hellenized (especially in its more Western regions where there were significant Greek populations, Mithridates' empire generally is considered to be an Eastern-style polity, with all the significant forms of an Eastern empire.
As the Wiki article describes his family's aims and ambitions:

Its (Pontic) rulers tried to fully assimilate the potential of their subjects by showing a Greek face to the Greek world and an Iranian/Anatolian face to the Eastern world. Whenever the gap between the rulers and their Anatolian subjects became greater, they would put emphasis on their Persian origins. In this manner, the royal propaganda claimed heritage both from Persian and Greek rulers, including Cyrus the Great, Darius I of Persia, Alexander the Great and Seleucus I Nicator. Mithridates too posed as the champion of Hellenism, but this was mainly to further his political ambitions; it is no proof that he felt a mission to promote its extension within his domains.

 

[LSCatilina]

If I may : the map regarding Gaul is wrong.
Narbonensis is too small and distorted (too much on N-E) : Volcae should be included, but not Ruteni (not entierly, as Provincial Ruteni may have been appearing at this time) by exemple.
If we're talking details, Massilia should be represented as independent or client of Rome.

For Independent Gaul :
In 100, Arvern hegemony suffered quite a bit, both loosing domination on neighboring peoples and inner strifes. It's not clear if Ruteni and Cadurci were still under Arverni domination, I would think they weren't, at least for Ruteni.

If you don't mind, I can drawn it.

 

[Errnge]

If I may : the map regarding Gaul is wrong.
Narbonensis is too small and distorted (too much on N-E) : Volcae should be included, but not Ruteni (not entierly, as Provincial Ruteni may have been appearing at this time) by exemple.
If we're talking details, Massilia should be represented as independent or client of Rome.

For Independent Gaul :
In 100, Arvern hegemony suffered quite a bit, both loosing domination on neighboring peoples and inner strifes. It's not clear if Ruteni and Cadurci were still under Arverni domination, I would think they weren't, at least for Ruteni.

If you don't mind, I can drawn it.

Please do. I was using other maps I found as reference, so evidently they weren't that reliable

 

[Errnge]

Although of mixed Persian and Greek ancestry, I wouldn't describe his empire as Greek. Even if it was partially hellenized (especially in its more Western regions where there were significant Greek populations, Mithridates' empire generally is considered to be an Eastern-style polity, with all the significant forms of an Eastern empire.
As the Wiki article describes his family's aims and ambitions:

I guess Hellenistic is the word I should have used. But yes, you are correct.

 

[LSCatilina]

Please do. I was using other maps I found as reference, so evidently they weren't that reliable

Here the best approximation I can do.
I added the Armorican confederation, even if it's not a given it existed in 100 BC, as well the Veneti.

Now, I think it's less the source maps that are unreliable, than the basemap.

 

[Errnge]

Here the best approximation I can do.
I added the Armorican confederation, even if it's not a given it existed in 100 BC, as well the Veneti.

Well thank you. Adding in the other Gallic tribes will certainly help. I've got some editing to do on my other maps, but this truly was a help. Thank you.

And is there something wrong with the base map?

 

[LSCatilina]

Well thank you. Adding in the other Gallic tribes will certainly help. I've got some editing to do on my other maps, but this truly was a help. Thank you.

And is there something wrong with the base map?

That's nothing. Please notice that I put only the big confederations and hegemonies, and that not only these are made of different Gallic tribes, but you have others, as Pictons (that are Ruteni sized) I didn't depict because hard to label at this scale.

 

[Errnge]

That's nothing. Please notice that I put only the big confederations and hegemonies, and that not only these are made of different Gallic tribes, but you have others, as Pictons (that are Ruteni sized) I didn't depict because hard to label at this scale.

Oh I know. While I perhaps don't have as good a grasp on the geography of Gallic tribes, I do know quite a bit about them and their political workings in this period. It's funny, I seemed to have it in my head the Sequani were further north.

 

[LSCatilina]

It's funny, I seemed to have it in my head the Sequani were further north.

Maybe a confusion between Sequanii of Saone River, and the same root present in Sequana-Seine?

 

[Errnge]

Maybe a confusion between Sequanii of Saone River, and the same root present in Sequana-Seine?

You know, I think why I thought that had to do with their conflict with Ariovistus. I suppose I made the assumption that the Suebi were further North, having not yet fully overrun the Boii yet, so I thought if they had a border with the Sequani then the Sequani must have been further north.

 

[tuareg109]

Hmm, an easier way to screw the Republic would to be to have the Cimbri win the German War!

Good start though. I can add to LSCatilina's help and say that the Libyan coast definitely did not belong to Numidia at this time. It was a rather anarchic place ruled more by far-apart villagers than by violent warlords; it had basically no goods and wealth except for dates and fish, which were present everywhere and which nobody was really crazy for.

 

[edvardas]

about the map. You have the Veneti in what became Brittany. I always thought they were in north east Italy where Venice is. And i didn't think the Amorici were a distinct people until much later, when people came in from Britain.

 

[LSCatilina]

Veneti, is used by a lot of peoples not always related
You have by exemple Veneti of Armorica, Veneti of Adriatic Sea, and the Veneti of Central Europe that would be slavized, eventually called Wendes.

It's not an isolated exemple, Volcae is used for many peoples as well in Southern Gaul, Central Europe or Galatia.

Regarding Armorica, you confuse the Brytonic people coming in the Tractus Armoricanus, a military region whom the name was directly taken from the old name of the region, Armorica, you can find since Caesar and Strabon.
Now, yes, as every Gallic hegemony or confederation, it is made clear in earlier post if you read them.

BTW, I took on myself to complete the map for Gaul with the corrections suggested in Africa (and correcting Hispania with Asia proper)

 

[Errnge]

And so it continues...

Over the next decade, Rome continues to bleed the Province of Asia dry for slaves, riches, and resources. But trouble at home breaks out when Marcus Livius Drusus, a Roman politician, was assassinated. Drusus had previously pushed for the Senate to grant citizenship to Rome's Italic allies, who had mostly been loyal clients to Rome for over a century, some even longer. They provided more than half of Rome's military, and this clear snub by Rome launched a frenzy of outrage. Called to arms by Italic leaders across several tribes, namely the Samnites, Marsi, Piceni, Frentani, Hirpinii, Lucani, and several others, war broke out. The Italic tribes intended to break away and create their own Federation named Italia, that would be largely based off Roman government and would function to oppose the Roman government. They quickly won several victories, taking Naples, Tarantum, and several other cities in the south of the peninsula. The Italians had won several battles against the Romans, and in 90 BC, it was unclear who would win the war.

Meanwhile, in Anatolia, Pontus continued to expand its influence. With Roman legions looking homeward, Mithradates took the opportunity to assassinate his nephew, the King of Cappadocia, and annexed the kingdom [POD]. He immediately received threats from Rome, but he largely ignored them. Cilicia fell out of Seleucid control, possibly through Pontic meddling, and quickly came to be controlled by pirate warlords, many of whom swore loyalty to the King of Pontus. Loyal to Rome, and also seeking claim to Cappadocia, the newly crowned Nicomedes IV declared war on Pontus.

The year is 90 BC:

 

[tuareg109]

You'll need an earlier and different POD to account for the fact that the Italians have taken all of Campania; in OTL they took about half, but didn't even come close to storming Capua.

Also, is this Nicomedes IV the King of Bithynia, or some other Nicomedes? Why would he declare war when it's so clear that Mithridates is powerful enough to defy Rome?

 

[Errnge]

You'll need an earlier and different POD to account for the fact that the Italians have taken all of Campania; in OTL they took about half, but didn't even come close to storming Capua.

Also, is this Nicomedes IV the King of Bithynia, or some other Nicomedes? Why would he declare war when it's so clear that Mithridates is powerful enough to defy Rome?

Like I said. This is not a well thought out TL. This was me screwing around with maps one day. You want to see a well thought out ancient timeline, check out my sig. But this... this is just me having fun.

 

[tuareg109]

Like I said. This is not a well thought out TL. This was me screwing around with maps one day. You want to see a well thought out ancient timeline, check out my sig. But this... this is just me having fun.

Oh, okay; beautiful (to me that means simple, informative, and proportional) maps though.

 

[LSCatilina]

Talking about maps, maybe you miss the last correction I proposed you (in my last post), or more probably just preferred to ignore it to avoid endless "hey I forgot that!"?

Waiting more, anyway.

 

[Errnge]

Five years pass.

The Social War rages on in Italia. The Italians have managed to hold their ground against Roman army after Roman army [butterfly]. After five years of relentless fighting, the Roman's are getting tired, and it is beginning to look as if the Italians might just win the war...

In the East, Mithradates Eupator used Bithynia's war as pretense to attack Roman Asia, which he invades handily, but only after the mass slaughter of all Romans and Italians in the region in 88 B.C. Estimates on the level of carnage range from 40,000 to 800,000, but either way, in modern terms this can easily be seen as an act of genocide. With only one Roman legion left in the province, and an incompetent boy-king ruling the only local power strong enough to check Mithradates' advance, Anatolia falls quickly. Galatia swears allegiance to the up and coming king, and is de facto absorbed into his realm. Across the Aegean, rebellion breaks out in Greece as pro-Mithradates factions rise up in Athens, hoping for liberation.

At the same time, Tigranes of Armenia annexed Sophene, Commagene, and Gordyene to his realm.