1 B.C. Caesarion installs Juba II of Numidia as king of Mauretania after King Kurtha dies to make Mauretania an ally of Rome. This action essentially makes Mauretania a vassal of the empire, especially as its economy comes to rely more and more on Roman trade. The Roman educated Juba II aligns his kingdom closely with the Romans, mostly to protect his new kingdom, and himself from Numidia. The Second New Senate (the first being the one elected after the attempt on Caesar’s life) is elected, and ironically, Livy is elected as the first Princeps Senatus. Xytopher Camillus is elected as the first President of the Senate. Caesarion is able to finally complete his comprehensive tax reform in early May. The law, the Lex Hispania makes all of the provinces of Hispania Imperial Provinces (explained in the Great Law, which I have changed and have not posted yet) and lowers taxes for Senatorial and even Military Provinces. This effectively gives full citizenship rights to all the inhabitants of the provinces put under the Imperial banner, plus the tax income actually increases because citizens pay greater tax for greater rights (trials, voting, etc.). Caesarion accomplishes this by changing the meaning of ius Latium through law, expanding the term to mean "the full citizenship rights enjoyed by the occupants of the city of Rome" rather than the second class status the term had always implied. Silk appears in Rome for the first time, probably brought by travelers from China traveling along Rome’s newly built roads throughout Parthia. Caesarion commissions the Aqueduct Ptolemia to help supply water to the ever growing city of Rome. Sharhus completes the design for Cleopatra’s Pyramid and workers and slaves begin laying the foundation of the massive tomb. The 15 year old Arminius joins the Roman army at Ptolemia Vicossinum. Arminius (in TTL) is a member of a highly respected and powerful family in Germania who aligned themselves quickly with Rome after Caesar’s conquest.
Heraios, clan chieftain of one of the three remaining Kushan tribes remaining north of Rome’s border in the east, unifies the tribes and establishes the Kushan empire with its capital at Kokand. During and after the Roman conquest of Parthia, two of the tribes were exterminated by Scipio and their territory annexed along with Parthia. The three remaining tribes were pushed eastward into the Hindu Kush. Heraios, a child when the mass migration east occurred, has grown into a man with an enormous hatred of Rome.
1 A.D. Caesarion leaves for Egypt to oversee the construction of Cleopatra’s Pyramid. The emperor will remain until the Pyramid is complete in 18, ruling the Roman world from Alexandria. He appoints Tarquinius Seva as Imperator Interrex in his absence. The Archelan Revolt begins in Judaea, as the ethnarch orders all "good and pious Jews" to resist the oppression of the Roman empire. Scipio the Younger slaughters nearly 238 Jews during a demonstration against Roman rule in the Temple of Jerusalem. Scipio the Younger orders the temple burned to the ground and institutes martial law throughout Judaea. Archelaus manages to escape Jerusalem with a small army and marches to Massada where he fortifies himself and his 1300 man army inside the massive fortress. Ovid writes Metamorphoses. Pharxes dies and Caesarion, in honor of both the old general and his mother, orders an Egyptian obelisk (OTL Flaminio) taken from Heliopolis to be raised in the Forum Julium.
Heraios’ first major raid into Roman lands. He manages to seize the border town, Samarkand in the process.
Start of the Yuanshi era of the Han Chinese, as Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty begins his reign at the age of 9 years old, but the real power behind the throne is the regent Wang Mang. Approximate date of the introduction of Buddhism in China.
2 A.D. Caesarion orders Scipio the Younger’s army to stop outside Massada in Feb and to negotiate with Archelaus to keep the revolt from spreading any further in Judaea. Caesarion offers Archelaus peaceful terms to end the revolt. He offers the ethnarch total clemency for himself and his followers (including his army at Massada) if they surrender Massada and call off the rebellion. He further promises to draft a law favorable to religions other than those practiced in Rome, particularly Judaism. Archelaus agrees, but only after meeting with Caesarion first. The first meeting between the emperor and the powerful religious figure occurs on April 2nd and after three days of negotiations, Caesarion officially pardons Archelaus and his followers. Archelaus surrenders Massada to the Romans and the massive fortress becomes an important base of Roman military power in the area. Under the agreement reached between Caesarion and Archelaus, known as the Edictum Massada, the emperor agrees to work with the Senate to make Rome more tolerable to other religions. Caesarion transfers Scipio the Younger’s command to Legio (Legion) 87 in Armenia. He decides to install Marcus Caerti as the military governor of Judaea, reducing the once semi-autonomous kingdom to a Military Province of the empire. According to the historian Strabo, lions become extinct in Western Europe.
Heraios defeats Imperator Herculus in the Battle of the Hindu Kush in early May, securing the area around Samarkand and Bukhara for the new Kushan Empire. Herculus retreats to Merv to rebuild his army. In August, Heraios invades the Roman Empire and advances toward Merv, besieging the important city just as the first snow of the year begins to fall in October.
Regent Wang Mang of the Chinese commissions an exploratory party to map the barbarian lands west of China. According to the imperial court scribe Loa Dwang, he was particularly interested in the legendary empire, Da Chin or Daqin (Rome) which was rumored at the time to have conquered the whole of Parthia, and wanted to find out about the power and extent of Rome.
3 A.D. Germanicus marries Merhnaza in a huge ceremony in the Forum Julium. Caesarion returns to Alexandria and begins drafting a more tolerable law governing religion throughout the empire, realizing that the empire must learn to accept different cultures and religions to rule effectively. Workers complete the massive foundation of Cleopatra’s Pyramid in June. Seva commissions the Via Seva in Britannia, with its beginning in Londinium. Publius Varus retires from military service and returns to Rome to work in politics for the remainder of his life.
Heraios captures Merv in January, killing Herculus in the process. The provinces of Bactria and Sogdiana revolt against the Romans and are annexed by the Kushans. Heraios continues south toward Damghan on the Caspian sea, besieging the city in May. Heraios captures this city during the Battle of Damghan Hill, but is almost defeated by the Roman general Antonius Jarthus. Heraios and Jarthus fight a series of skirmishes throughout northeastern Parthia, and by December, Heraios is pushed back to Merv.
Wang Mang’s exploratory party under general Hzu Pui leaves Ch’angan in March, and passes through the Gansu Corridor, travelling west toward the former Parthian border. The first Chinese census estimates a population of 57 million throughout the empire. Deng Yu, Chinese general and statesman, is born.
Approximate date for the founding of the Kingdom of Axum in East Africa.