Imperium Sine Fine

Yes, if you can from the title this is yet another Roman Empire AH :). Mind you this is my first timeline so I'm still working the kinks and details out on the later bits, but either way here is the first part:

Imperium Sine Fine: Empire Without End

March 2, 177 AD, the Roman City of Vindobona

The day was bright and clear, not a cloud in the magnificent blue sky. The mountain peaks gleamed like pointers to the heavens, their snow capped peaks glistening under the crystal sun. Within the shadows of the daily market --bustling as always—walked Marcus Nonius Macrinus. There were places to go and people to see, and the common folk could not get in his way, as one later learned after being pushed out of the way by his large armoured covered body. Nothing kept the Emperor waiting when he requested your presence.


It wasn’t much of a walk to the Emperor’s temporary home –mansion—in Vindobona, seeming as he had only recently arrived, not to mention the fact the nobility was not as ‘rounded’ as those located down south. I wonder what he wants from me today, thought Macrinus silently to himself, just barely avoiding running into a girl carrying a large bag of various trinkets. It is not every day I am recalled from my post in Asia.

The crowds bustle and voice increased almost tenfold as Macrinus entered the main market, with everything from souvenir shops to food stores to the public bath all drawing attention from the large throng of people going about their daily business. Birds overhead eagerly eyed the cats and dogs that roamed free among the citizens, searching for the occasional handout or looking for that special someone to pay attention to them. Under the marble columned Roman houses conversations could be heard, the daily bustle of life that has gone uninterrupted for almost 200 years. Standing guard besides the house Macrinus was to enter stood 6 Praetorian guards, still as ever and appearing as cool, dull, lumbering masses under the shadows of the roof overhang.


His steps slowly became audible among the organized chaos as he walked up the stairs, careful to avoid the cat that sprang from cover to chase a scared mouse. Hope it gets away from that damned cat, trying to trip me like that, Macrinus thought to himself, walking up to the where the Praetorian guards were stirring.


“What is your business here solider?” barked the first guard, the shortest of the six. “Can you not see that the Emperor is very sick and has requested no visitors?” The sneer in his voice put no dent into Macrinus.


“I am general Marcus Nonius Macrinus and I have been requested by our Emperor Marcus Aurelius to visit him today”, Macrinus loudly spoke, stopping the short guard in his tracks and drawing the attention of the other five. “If you do not believe me you are free to ask the Emperor yourself, unless of course you feel you are exempt from his ‘no visitors’ clause”.


“No, no, you are expected”, stammered the shortest guard, barely hiding his white face. Insulting an officer of higher rank was not something someone did likely, even for the Emperor’s personal guard. “Please, follow Julius here”—his hand pointing to the guard standing by the door. “He will show you to the Emperor’s room”. The guard quickly backed out the way as the guard Julius started to open the door.


“No hard feelings meant my general”, the short guard quietly said, bowing his head down in shame as Macrinus walked swiftly by. “The Emperor has just been acting...strange since Commodus arrived here from Rome and has kept himself almost constantly alone in his room. He has specifically asked us to keep away all visitors until you have met with him”.


“Do not worry soldier, you were only doing your job”, Macrinus spoke to the guard before passing through door. Though I still wonder why he wants me of all people. I thought Marcus Aurelius was happy enough with me serving as the proconsul in Asia for the time being.


The tiled floor echoed the guard’s and the general’s footsteps as they passed through the house to what Macrinus guessed was the rear of the home. Potted plants lined the red walls, with the occasional picture gleaming under the light that entered through the open air windows. No door was open between the main entrance and the one at the far end of the hallway. Must be only the Emperor who inhabits this house at the moment, thought Macrinus to himself.


A quick knock on the door by Julius resulted in its creaking open by another guard behind it. Sitting in the bed beside the window sat the Emperor Aurelius, writing in what appeared to Macrinus to a large book.


“Ah my dear general Macrinus”, said Aurelius proudly, looking up from his writing in a most eager way. “Please, please come sit down, we have much to discuss”. With a wave of his hand Julius and the other guard quietly exited the room, closing the door behind them.


“Now Macrinus you are probably wondering why I have called you away from Asia to see me here”, Aurelius said, closing his book and leaning over towards Macrinus. “I know your sense of curiosity and how it’s eating you from the inside out right now”.


“My Emperor, you have only the smallest idea”, replied Macrinus. “I was just to begin creating some new farms in order to bring several more communities back into the tax line. We have been running a very tight ship back there, barely getting tax money out of the people”.


“Yes, yes I know general”, Aurelius dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand. “Tell me, how much have you heard in terms of news in Rome?”

“Not much, I confess. Except for the occasional tidbit that reaches my ears I have not heard a thing”. Macrinus scrunched his face. “Does this have to do with the senate by any chance?”


“Not the senate, my dear Macrinus”, Aurelius said. “It has to do with my son, Commodus”. His head began to sag. “Ever since he arrived here from Rome I cannot seem to shake it from my mind. These feelings of...hesitation I have over him. It is like the gods have cursed me, in my dying hour, to worry over the heir to my throne”. Aurelius’ hands covered his eyes. “I do not even know if my decision I am making here today is the right one for the empire anymore”.


“My Emperor, what decision?” Macrinus asked, puzzled. “Why would you be concerned over the heir when he has proved himself already 3 years under your caring and watchful wing?”


Aurelius laughed out loud, a cackling cough that raised the hairs on the back of Macrinus’ neck. “Commodus may have my blood, but he does not have my mind, Macrinus. He is not caring or competent; he is arrogant and naive. When an emperor should put the empire above all else, to gain the respect of the people and their love, all he cares for is to get the empire to devote themselves to him, to put himself above the very creation he is to serve for. There is no sincerity in Commodus, nothing but a desire to gain power and have all else bow before him. My dear Macrinus, he even lacks the political experience! What am I supposed to choose, an Emperor by blood or an Emperor through ability?”


Macrinus backed up, shocked at this statement. “My Emperor, I do not know. I am in your service as long as you need me. I am not here to make the decisions but to carry them through for the glory of Rome”.


“Macrinus, you have spoken like a true Roman, if only the gods could truly hear you know, they would shine on you for a thousand ages”. Aurelius stood up, swaying slightly before he put a hand onto the general’s right shoulder. “Macrinus, Rome cannot ever be lead by an inexperienced Emperor, it would lead to nothing but ruin. An Emperor who leads through arrogance over selflessness is doomed to bring about the annihilation of the very foundations upon which our empire has been founded! Because of this I have a favour to request of you, a wish from a dying man to his one true son”.


“My Emperor, I am forever in your service”, Macrinus replied stoutly.


“Macrinus, I am asking you to become the new Emperor of Rome after my passing”, Aurelius said, looking into his eyes. “You have been by my side since I have become Emperor; you have the undying support of the legions through your victories in the east, and could command the senate in times of crisis. You know the challenges that face Rome and how the cutting of one string can lead to the unravelling of the whole robe. Will you lead Rome into her future after I am gone, for me?”


Macrinus felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him, as if the very ground he was standing on would come up and swallow him at any minute. “Aurelius, why me though? What about Commodus? Is there not anyone else who could take on this task?”


“My dear Macrinus, Commodus will heed the decision of his father, he was raised better than a child of the streets, for all my failures ignored”, Aurelius said, grasping Macrinus’ shoulder with his feeble strength. “You are the only one I trust to sit in my throne, to face Rome’s challenges with a cool head. Will you rise to the challenge, Macrinus, and become the son I have always wanted to have?”


Macrinus rocked back and forth for a few seconds, deep in thought before standing tall, the muscles rippling as his pose became hard as stone under Aurelius’ gentle hand. “My Emperor, I will”.



The POD as said above is Marcus Aurelius handing power to one of his advisors and friends instead of his son Commodus (yes i know its sort of a Gladiator rip-off :p)


My knowledge is quite general on all things Roman, so if there are any mistakes in the story please let me know (along with my story writing skills).


Any feedback is greatly welcome, as I hope to include as much information as I can into this TL. Thanks in advance guys, hope you like it.
 

Sachyriel

Banned
I would like to read more. I want to know more of a general thing though, I'm sure it's not totally ripping off Gladiator.

And it took me a bit recognize that it was Gladiator, but by the time he started talking about his unworthy son, I had a handle on it.
 

Sachyriel

Banned
Do you mean more about Marcus Macrinus?

No, like a big-picture thing. A map, timeline, a reference to how big the empire is, how many people are there...you know, the little things that make it 'alternate' history.

Maybe...maybe I shouldn't have been so general about what I meant when I posted earlier XD
 
Ahh its alright, I was just confused was all :p. I am planning to start working on a timeline here soon, so far I only have an idea up to about 200 AD (not much time atm for myself).

The Roman empire right now is the same size as it was just after Marcus Aurelius died, though the new Emperor will be undertaking some conquests, most likely Bohemia and parts of Germania.

I don't plan on this becoming a "Rome conquers all" timeline, and want to keep this as realistic as possible, which is why I am hoping for as much input as possible so I dont stray too far off the path of realism XD. (If youre wondering I am hoping to carry this up to about the cold war...yes I may have a few screws loose lol).

Maps will be forthcoming, i'm already working on the one just after Emperor Macrinus finishes his first conquests, so yes updates will be coming, if not tomorrow the day after :).
 

General Zod

Banned
For a comparison reference, I'm going to quote The "Romanitas" novel trilogy. It uses a very similar PoD (Pertinax surivives the conspiracy instead of Commodus being removed from succession) and it ends up in a modern tripartite world, with the Roman Empire, China, and Japan divvying up the world and a serious superpower rivalry between Rome and Japan. The Roman Empire holds Europe, the Middle East, Western Central Asia, India, northern Africa, South America, and 2/3 of North America. Japan holds Korea, Australia, South East Asia, and Northwest 1/3 of North America. China is the buffer empire between the the main superpowers, southern Africa managed to escape assimilation. Technologically it seems to be as advanced as OTL (television, computer, tanks, helicopters, mag-lev trains). Politically, it is still rather backward, with the empires being absolute monarchies and widespread slavery still around (which I find the less plausible aspect of the setting; one would expect that with the creation of a modern affluent middle class, some kind of power sharing would emerge, and chattel slavery would tend to die out). As it concerns religion, monotheisms largely died out, and a hybrid Hellenic-Indian polytheism seems to be the main world religion.
 
Part 1: Heir to the Throne


177 AD


Marcus Macrinus is announced by the dying Emperor Marcus Aurelius as his successor to the throne, instead of his widely anticipated son Commodus. This choice sends shockwaves not only through Aurelius’ family, but much of the Roman community at large, who –though stunned at the decision—are not angry at with it (except for a few higher class members tied directly to the imperial family).


The decision has an almost immediate response out of Commodus, who confronts his father, and in the heat of the moment considers murdering him, but backs down after some consideration. Instead, Commodus packs up his caravan and immediatly sets out for Rome, hoping to convince the senate that Macrinus is an illegitimate choice for Emperor and that the throne can only belong “in those whose hearts are of pure blood”. What he plans to do after convincing the senate is unknown, since the senate did not hold much power over the imperial family.


After the death of Marcus Aurelius, Macrinus accepts the throne and begins plotting a move into Germania to take advantage of the defeat the Germanic tribes suffered the year before under Aurelius. Close servants have told him of Commodus’ goal to convince the senate to do something over his taking of the throne, so Macrinus plans to gain another victory (and province) for Rome to solidify his legality of being Emperor by ‘providing the people with a victory they can remember for the ages’.


178 AD


3 Roman legions are mobilized under Macrinus’ direct control and begin the march to the Danube. Macrinus’ plan involves sweeping into southern Bohemia and taking the territory in a quick and short invasion that would allow him to be back in Rome before the end of the year.


Commodus arrives back in Rome and begins seeking out senators, trying to paint a picture of a half blooded barbarian upsurping the throne from him and ‘planning to ruin the empire through trickery and arrogance’. His calls go largely unheard though, because news of Macrinus’ invasion of Bohemia has reached Rome at this time, and many are hinging their first impressions on him as to how well he does in the attack. This frustrates Commodus, who retreats to his home in Rome and is seen spending larger and larger times alone, seemingly muttering incomprehensible phrases and plans.


In early summer Macrinus’ legions cross into Bohemia from the Danube. The attack goes swifty taking several lesser tribes by suprise and encountering only scattered resistance in the southern areas. Scouts, however, soon find a large tribal force made up of Marcomanni and Boii massing around the northern area of the region, leading to the largest battle of the invasion some 14 days later. In 3 days of fighting, the Roman army manages to defeat the tribal force, though not after having some 4,500 casualties inflicted upon them. The Germanic tribal army suffered around 5,000 casualties.


Emperor Macrinus, after witnessing the battle, deems the invasion successful and begins the travel back to Rome, leaving 2 legions in place to pacify and occupy the area. By the late fall he has arrived back in Rome and declares a week of celebrations over the victory, firmy uniting the population behind him.


Rome180AD.jpg

Roman Empire after the occupation Bohemia- Green represents newly aquired Bohemia


179 AD


Commodus mysteriously disappears from Rome. Senators find him missing after searching for him to request his acceptance of the position of proconsul of Asia (Marcus Macrinus’ former position) on the advice of the Emperor in order to quell down the anger he has recently been unleashing. It is believed he had travelled to Greece, but no one can confirm this rumour.


In Germania Major a young tribal leader by the name of Voldemar begins preaching for a campaign against the Roman empire after learning his brother was killed in the battle of Bohemia by Roman forces the year before. His requests go largely ignored, however, because many of the tribes do not feel another attack is worthy from the sound defeat they suffered. This leads Voldemar into a rage that is systematically transformed into a conquering of the other tribes in the region, beginning with the Chervsei. In a huge brawl the Chervsei chieftan, Gerlach, is killed, leading to the tribe being controlled by Voldemar. By the end of the year almost all tribes west of Bohemia have either been assimilated into Voldemar’s ‘confederacy’ (as he called it) or else had allied themselves to him in order to save their independance.


The territory of Bohemia is made into a Roman province upon word that all remaining resistance has been quelled by the occupying legions, giving Macrinus a huge wave of new support from the western Roman Empire. The new Emperor now looks to settle down and begin the basic state running of the empire, figuring all wars with the areas in the north are over with.


180 AD


Macrinus begins a tour of the Roman Italy, visiting many small communities in the south in hopes of garnering more local support for the legions (and secretly to weigh the support he has for a possible tax increase to fill the coffers in Rome). His touring leads many to start calling him “Macrinus the Noble”.


Voldemar completes the subjugation of the western Germanic tribes with the overthrow of the Fristif(t) chieftan, uniting almost all of Germania Major under him, although rather loosely. His success leads him to start becomming overconfident in his abilities, and by late summer begins marching to the Rhine in hopes of beginning his invasion by spring of the next year.


181 AD


Germanic tribes begin making unexpected raids into Germania Inferior and Superior, looting and pillaging several border villages and kidnapping many local high class civilians. Roman border guards are increasingly unable to deal with the raids because the Germans do not stay around long enough to be caught (on orders of Voldemar). This leads to mass panic and an exodus of peoples from the Rhine area, attracting the attention of Macrinus, who orders the movement of several legions from southern Gaul into Germania Inferior and Superior to help deal with the situation.


The Second Germanic War (182 to 186 AD)


The Second Germanic War (or the conclusion of the Germanic Wars as it also known) was the large scale invasion of Roman Germania Inferior and Superior by Voldemar’s Germanic army. After the subsequent raids conducted by his forces, and upon learning of the weak resistance encountered by the Roman border guards, Voldemar orders his entire tribal force across the river and calls for “conquering on a scale never seen in our lifetime; we will leave no Roman alive”.


At the same time the Roman legions ordered by Macrinus move up into the two contested provinces, and instead of playing border guard run head on into Voldemar’s army of some 18,000 tribesmen. Though Roman forces heavily out-equip Voldemar’s forces, their numbers force the Romans back, forcing them to abandon Colonia Agrippina along the Rhine and retreat down as far as Trevert in Belgica Province. By this time however Voldemar’s forces have run out of steam, and are now more concerned with plundering the newly conquered land rather than pushing deeper into Belgica (and possibly Gaul). This enables the Roman legions time to regroup and reform their plans.


In 184 Emperor Macrinus arrives in Belgica from Rome, hoping the site of the Emperor will give his legions the courage needed to push back the Germanic tribes. Along with his presence he also brings several more legions from Roman Italy, bringing Roman troop numbers up to the level of Voldemar, virtually eliminating any advantage they had the year before. In several large scale battles Macrinus’ presence and the additional legions show their worth, leading to the Roman victories at Trevert and Ardennes Forest, in addition to forcing the retreat of Voldemar from Germania Superior entirely. The war was now going in Rome’s favour.


185 saw Roman forces retake Colonia Agrippina and reach the Rhine once again. After a month’s respite and rest, Macrinus ordered his legions over the Rhine ‘to bring the battle to Voldemar himself and destroy the barbarian threat once and for all’. Roman forces, although gaining several victories along the Rhine, were unable to meet Voldemar’s forces in any major battle, as he kept moving them around and using them to launch raids on the Roman rear columns. Not only did this distrupt legion supply but it started eating into the moral of Macrinus’ troops, who started to increasingly blame the new Emperor for not delivering them a new victory. To fix this dilemma, Macrinus ordered the moving of legions from Bohemia into Germania Major to trap Voldemar.


By mid-186, Roman forces controlled much of the east bank of the Rhine, and after several insignificant raids by German tribes, finally surrounded Voldemar near present day Hamburg and forced him to battle. It was nothing short of a bloodbath. Voldemar and much of his tribal force was killed or seriously wounded, experiencing casualties around the 8-9,000 mark, almost three-quarters of the remaining 12,000 men (the high casualty rate is believed to have occured thanks to Voldemar being surrounded on three sides). Roman casualties, although lighter, still ran around the 4,000 mark. With the defeat of Voldemar the Germanic tribal unity dissolved, leading to nthe disintegration of several tribes and the moving east of the rest, fearing being taken over by Roman forces. The end result was the entire east bank of the Rhine being annexed to Rome by Macrinus, calling it “the solution of the barbarian problem’. The Germanic Wars were officially over.


Rome190AD.jpg

Roman Empire after the conclusion of the Second Germanic Wars
Green represents the new territory annexed to Rome east of the Rhine.
 
Good timeline. :)

But the "bank" of a river is about as big as the blue line on your map. And you had already said they controlled the east bank of the Rhine, so why would they re-annex it? I think you mean the territory between the Rhine and the.....eh.....European geography escapes me! >.< Confound getting up this early!
 
But the "bank" of a river is about as big as the blue line on your map. And you had already said they controlled the east bank of the Rhine, so why would they re-annex it? I think you mean the territory between the Rhine and the.....eh.....European geography escapes me!

You are right Seryozha, my mistake on not elaborating further upon that :p. By annexation I mean after the war they annexed the region. Before that time, when Rome actually invaded the region, they simply occupied it. The only difference basically being they would make it a province after annexation whereas it would simply be a mandate/protectorate if occupied.

As for the river bank part, you can blame me for not giving more detail on that, i should've said 'from the Rhine to (insert river name here)' XD.
 
I looked it up. It's the Elbe (I think....)

And no problem. :p I just imagined a Roman soldier taking two steps past the river and having a bloody glorious ceremony on annexing the great banks of the Rhine to Rome whilst the Senate looks on in perplexed confusion. ^.^ I had a laugh.
 

General Zod

Banned
As it concerns the final, stable Eastern European of the Roman Empire after the Germanic Wars, and a century of two afterwards, the natural optimal border would be the Vistula-Carpathians-Dniester line.

See this map:

attachment.php


(Ignore expansion in other areas for the moment, although I expect a Roman Empire that successfully assimilates Germania-Bohemia-Dacia, to wrest Armenia and Mesopotamia from Parthia next, to conquer Nubia, as well as to seize Hibernia and Caledonia as a minor mop-up action to achieve natural optimal borders in all directions).
 
Thanks General Zod for the info. For now Macrinus is done his conquering in Germania Major. Since the tribal forces have largely been decimated, an invasion into the rest of Germania might occur later after he takes care of some state business (after all, Rome won't be suffering from an attack any time soon in that direction ^.^).

The reason behind this will be seen in the next section, because the eastern Roman Empire is about to get brought into the equation, along with Commodus once again. Lets just say a war on another front will remove the emphasis to continue conquering in Germania for the time being ;).
 
I like this. Replacing that bonehead Commodus is a good first step. I hope somewhere down the line, your Romans take another bash at recovering Mesopotamia that Hadrian was forced to give up?!
 
Emethyst

Interesting idea but I think your numbers are far too low for the German war forces. Given that at least some of the Germans had formed quite powerful and well organised confederations by this time, most famously the Macromanni [sp] in Bohemia their forces were a lot larger than say 18k. Similarly even earlier with the Gauls and fighting other opponents of the empire. [Admittedly Cesear probably considerably inflated the size of the Gallic forces he defeated in conquering that region but they would have been a lot larger]. Similarly two legions, with auxiliaries were about 15-20k men I think while Macrinus bringing in several more legions the following year would have dwarfed that force considerably. As such probably expect in total 5-10 times as many Germans in total, although not all available at the same time and probably 50-80k in total Romans and allies would have been easily manageable. Don't forget at this point the Rhine and Danube were the main military frontiers and occupied the bulk of the Roman army.

Judging by your map I think the border of the new German province is the Weser. The Elbe would actually make a better border, as it would link in more closely with the new Bohemian province but is a bit further east. Its the next river to the east along the coast on your map, with its mouth just south of the Jutland peninsula. Agree with General Zod that ultimately the eastern border he mentioned would probably be the best although logically, once the Elbe was obtained the next place to advance would be filling in the gaps to the east and moving up to the Carpathians pretty much along their length. Borders for the Dacia province vary somewhat but it was rather exposed by most accounts.

Of course the danger of this set-up is that one get one relatively short line of fortifications against the eastern barbarians. Good for security against them but means that whoever commands those legions is potentially a threat to whoever's in charge in Rome. At least with the northern legions along a much longer Rhine-Danube border generals and factions could more easily be played off against each other.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing more when I get the chance. [Don't normally have time to check out the pre and post 1900 forums that regularly].

Thanks

Steve




 
Thanks Stevep, I wasn't able to find much information on the size of the Germanic tribes, so I simply guessed a number, with 18k being my figure ^.^. You are right about their force size dwarfing the Romans, but I figured that would be spread all over Germania Major, so I simply assumed they would be much less in terms of numbers than if Voldemar had 'united' the whole of Germania Major instead of just the west. A simple problem to fix, so thanks for pointing it out.

The border lines have been issues for me since I started searching up information, as I have found conflicting maps so I averaged several of the ones for Dacia and simply plugged it into my map.

As for Rome's border in the west atm, it will largely remain unchanged, for Macrinus will be having to deal with something else here soon enough to make him put Germannic expansion on hold ;)
 
Part 2: The Commodian Conspiracy

Commodus’ Flight (179 AD to 182 AD)

During the precedent and beginning of the Second Germanic War, Commodus mysteriously disappeared from Rome, his whereabouts unknown to everyone who knew him in the city. In truth, Commodus slipped out in the middle of the night and boarded a ship to Greece, a new plan formed in his head.

Commodus, during his time in Rome, was loathsome of Macrinus. He hated him for the very reason of ‘stealing’ the throne right from his grasp. His mental problems only added to this anger, which lead him to develop several conspiracies as how to remove Macrinus from the throne so he could gain it back. The final plan Commodus settled on was his Parthian Strategy.

Commodus’ Parthian Strategy was his plan to travel to the Parthian Empire and convince them of Macrinus’ ‘weakness and corruption’, and his ‘inability to lead Rome’. Commodus hoped to convince the Parthians that an attack on the Roman Empire was worth their while. After getting them to invade the Roman Empire and, as Commodus put it ‘destroy the very fabric that holds the mortared foundation together’, he planned to travel back to Rome, announce Macrinus had failed Rome, and steal the throne from him, becoming the new Roman Emperor. To end the war he had started he planned on giving away almost all Roman land conquered by the Parthians (though how he knew how much land they would actually take is beyond anyone’s reasonable guess).

After reaching Greece he started meeting up with likeminded people who disliked Macrinus for the very reason he was not ‘one of the noble class’ and managed to recruit several into his plan, taking them with him to his next stop in Syria. There, however, his entire course of action would change after he met a man by the name of Sohaemus.

Sohaemus was the Roman puppet king installed onto the Armenian throne after Marcus Aurelius achieved victory in his Parthian War. During the early 160’s, however, Sohaemus was usurped from the throne by the Parthians and replaced with Vologaes II of Parthia. Sohaemus fled to Syria not long after. After meeting him and learning his story, Commodus’ mind began to whirr, coming up with a new strategy based upon the information he had just learned. The Commodian Conspiracy had just begun.

The Commodian Conspiracy (182 AD to 186 AD)

The Commodian Conspiracy is the name of the plan Commodus came up with to ultimately gain the Roman throne back from Macrinus. His plan was complex and had 3 different parts. The first part called for the invasion of Armenia by loyal ‘Commodian’ (the name Commodus would give to all forces he controlled, named after himself) troops and the usurping of Vologaes II from the Armenian throne, replacing him with Sohaemus for his ‘help in removing the vicious tyrant of Macrinus from the most holy of thrones of the Roman Empire’. After securing the Armenian borders part 2 would begin where Commodus would kill Sohaemus and take the Armenian throne for himself (a taste of the real thing he would later come to call it). Having now the entire Armenian kingdom under his grasp, Commodus then planned to send out his newly acquired forces to secure the southern border with Parthia, knowing full well an attack would take place. After the attack would take place (and beaten off), the largely guessed third part would take place.

In part 3 Commodus predicted a Parthian attack on the Roman provinces in the south over their `sudden invasion of their territory`. He assumed Parthia could (or would) not wage a 2 front war, so planned to use this time to expand his control to the east, and later to the west as Rome busied itself with a war that it had no intention of fighting. This is where Commodus went the most insane. He figured that this war would destroy the foundations of Rome, and show the ineptitude of the Macrinus, hoping then to `come to the people`s rescue by going on a crusade across the provinces and arrive back in Rome to meet the cheering crowds`, when in fact no proof was offered of this, or proof that the people would revolt against Macrinus. By this time though Commodus was tainted by his anger and believed fully his own exaggerations on the `villainy of Macrinus`.

In 184 AD, upon hearing of German tribes under Voldemar reaching into Belgica, Commodus began his recruitment drive in Roman Syria and Arabia. By this time Commodus had control of Sohaemus` legions (leaving out part 2 of his plan to Sohaemus, however) as well as several mercenary groups he managed to hire from nomadic areas around the province. It would be another year and a half though until Commodus deemed his force ready to begin putting his plan into action.

185 AD

Roman forces retake all land lost on the west side of the Rhine, and begin crossing into Germania Major to take the fight to Macrinus. The Emperor is largely unheard from as he follows troops across the river himself to help keep morale up.

Macrinus` remaining family are brought over from Asia to Rome. It is hoped they will be in the city and settled in by the time Macrinus is finished with the Germanic War.

Commodus finished his recruitment drive and actually visits Armenia himself, posing as a trader to avoid attracting unwanted attention (on the advice of Sohaemus). What he finds is a lightly defended Armenia, confident of no Roman attack any time soon after word has reached the area of the German invasion of Rome. Commodus is delighted by this news (since his force of 12,000 men is not enough to fight off any large scale Parthian build-up). He returns to Syria to begin the final preparations, hoping to begin calling his forces to the Armenian border by the end of the year.

186 AD

The end of the Second Germanic War. Voldemar and his remaining forces are either killed or captured, resulting in the near destruction or migration of every tribe west of the Elbe River. Macrinus announces the annexation of all land up to the present day Wesel River, declaring an end to the barbarian threat and a return to Rome of all legions who fought in the war.

Upon hearing the news the Senate confirms Macrinus` annexation by creating the new province of Germania Magna from the conquered land, giving Macrinus two victories so far as Emperor. Macrinus himself begins the journey back to Rome.

Commodus begins the calling up of his Commodian forces to the Armenian border, planning on attacking in the winter months, hoping to catch the Parthians by surprise and prevent Roman officials learning about the quick disappearance of 2 legions from Syria and Arabia. A few weeks before Macrinus arrives back in Rome, in roughly about mid-November, Commodus and his forces lead by Sohaemus enter Armenia, beginning the invasion of Armenia and the execution of Commodus `new plan.
 
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