Ideas for a Byzantine Timeline

Personally, their early history fascinates me, when the Byzantines were still "proper" Romans (ie speaking some Latin, ruling much of the Mediterranean, squabbling with the Sassanids). So how about these possible PODs?

1. Justinian and Theodora have a son and heir.
2. Belisarius is able to complete the reconquest of Italy in 540, rather than having it drag on until 553.
3. The Plague of Justinian "burns out"; it decimates one or two towns, but so quickly it does not spread to the main cities of the Roman Empire.
4. Maurice is a bit less mean, ensuring his soldiers are happier, and there is no revolt by Phokas.
5. Heraclius, after recieving his letter from Muhammad, orders an audience with the Prophet at Jerusalem. I just made up that last one on the spot, but it could be very interesting...

What do you think of these ideas?
 

Nikephoros

Banned
1. Never really liked Justinian, but could be interesting to see if it would lead to a more stable Roman Empire, one that might not lead to a disasterous war with Persia, but Islam would be butterflied anyways. Arabs could still possibly unite though.
2. War in Italy still strains Roman finances (not nearly as much as OTL though), but perhaps Italy remains under Roman control, maybe even to today. Interesting to see how Papacy evolves in such a situation.
3. Any good PODs for this. How did the plague spread?
4. Maybe wars with Persia take a turn in a different direction? Maybe Khoesros 2 doesn't attack. He probably would though.
5. I like that idea, but I don't know if I would do it.

Thank you Basileus.
 
Last edited:
3. Any good PODs for this. How did the plague spread?
This would actually be really easy. Just alter the temperature in Axum and the Nile River Valley by a few degrees and the plague's stopped.

Basically, though, IIRC, the way it spread went something like this:

Yersinia Pestis, the plague virus, happens to develop a mutation that allows it to live without killing its host, the flea.

Y Pestis and its hosts, because of an alteration in Ethiopia's temperature, make their way north to Pelusium.

The flea attaches itself to the overly large rat populations that surrounded the Roman granaries of Egypt.

From Egypt, Y Pestis hitches a ride in the flea, which is on the rat, which is in the ship, and it taken to every corner of the Roman world.



Another idea for a timeline: Julian takes Ctesiphon in 363 and thus isn't killed at Maranga. Paganism's majority is stabilised.
 

Nikephoros

Banned
Leo VI the Wise

I will eventually start writing this timeline.

I have a collection of PODs involving Leo VI, Basil I's heir.

EDIT: Not sure of that. I am currently unaware of how I want it to progress
 
Last edited:
This would actually be really easy. Just alter the temperature in Axum and the Nile River Valley by a few degrees and the plague's stopped.

Basically, though, IIRC, the way it spread went something like this:

Yersinia Pestis, the plague virus, happens to develop a mutation that allows it to live without killing its host, the flea.

Y Pestis and its hosts, because of an alteration in Ethiopia's temperature, make their way north to Pelusium.

The flea attaches itself to the overly large rat populations that surrounded the Roman granaries of Egypt.

From Egypt, Y Pestis hitches a ride in the flea, which is on the rat, which is in the ship, and it taken to every corner of the Roman world.
Err... Bubonic plague (Y.pestis) is, of course, a bacterium, not a virus.

I had thought that there is some reason to doubt that Justinian's plague was bubonic, but apparently Procopius specifically mentions buboes, so it should be bubonic. (Note that some doubt that Black Death was actually bubonic plague (it certainly didn't behave quite like today's bubonic plague).)
 
Top