Deleted member 97083
Which of these Ancient/Medieval TLs sounds most interesting? Any criticism is welcome.
Go West, Great Ashur: King Ashurbanipal lives five more years, crushing the Scythian-Median invasion that his sons faced and recruiting the northern barbarians as mercenaries. After Ashurbanipal’s death, Ashur-etil-ilani becomes sole King, consolidating the empire by suppressing the Chaldean revolt in Babylon. Now, with all of his ‘allies’ busy and all his enemies divided, the King can reverse the fate of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Hearing of a wealthy land of trading states beyond Phrygia, Ashur-etil-ilani sets on a great expedition to conquer Greece, bringing the brutal dominion of Ashur to the edges of the earth.
Iustinianus, Restitutor Orbis: Credit to @Magnum for the idea. Belisarius wins a crushing victory at the Battle of Callinicum, and Persia pays tribute to Byzantium rather than the other way around in the so-called “Eternal Peace”. This triumph increases Justinian’s popularity, preventing the Nika Riots and their destruction. And without the threat to his life, the Emperor is much less paranoid, leading to him trusting Belisarius and making better decisions in the West. After the untimely death of Theodora, Justinian marries Amalasuntha of the Goths, leading to a swifter conquest of Italy by the Eastern Roman Empire. Ultimately, Justinian’s better footing allows him to truly restore the Roman Empire and preserve the Hellenistic world for a future age. Not without challenges, as the population of Germania, Avaria, and Arabia still steadily grow, creating future enemies of Constantinople.
Umayyad Constantinople, or Great Mediterranean War: Kallinikos, the inventor of Greek Fire, converts to Islam and defects to the Umayyad navy, providing a crucial advantage against the Romans. The Umayyads succeed in taking Constantinople in the 674-678 siege, destroying the Byzantine Empire save for a few poor western fragments. Muslim captains also take naval superiority across the Mediterranean. But for the Umayyads, there are many trials ahead: civil wars, Avar-Bulgar barbarians, and the eventual Abbasid Revolution. Meanwhile, an exodus of Greeks goes west and east, bolstering the Slavs and Khazars and assuring years of warfare across the Mediterranean. But long-term, the future is bright for Islam in Anatolia.
Constantine’s Redemption: Credit to @General_Finley for the idea. Constantine IV's gout doesn't flair up before the Battle of Ongal so he doesn't leave the battlefield which caused panic in his troops as they feared the Emperor had abandoned them to die. Victory at the Battle of Ongal either fractures the the Seven Slavic tribes making them much more manageable preventing the creation of the Bulgarian Empire before it could even form, or results in them pushing into the Pannonian Plain like the Magyars and menacing Central Europe rather than the Roman Empire. This likely butterflies away the circumstances that led to him him contracting dysentery five years later. Seeing as he was only 33 at the time of his death, he had the potential to rule for at least another decade if not two. This means no terror of Justinian (or at least a very different one), no Twenty Years of Anarchy, and no rise of the Isaurians and their Iconoclastic ideology, i.e. it means preventing three of the worst things to happen to the Roman Empire since the fall of Egypt and Syria.
Fires of Varna: During the Crusade of Varna, Murad II’s harebrained plan to burn down Sofia goes incredibly wrong. Kasim Pasha, Turahan Bey, and Murad II become aware of Hunyadi’s army too late, setting fire to the city under the nose of the attacking army, and are trapped in the city as it burns, leaving Rumelia Eyalet and the Ottoman Empire without leadership. The Empire falls into civil war between the legitimate heir Mehmed II who is not old enough to rule, the Byzantine puppet Şehzade Orhan Çelebi, and other noble pretenders. The Karamanids, having a good chance at dislodging the Ottomans, are bolstered by Mamluk allies instead of invading alone. Ultimately, the Crusade of Varna is victorious, and the Byzantine Empire is given one last breath of life, able to slowly rise again.
Go West, Great Ashur: King Ashurbanipal lives five more years, crushing the Scythian-Median invasion that his sons faced and recruiting the northern barbarians as mercenaries. After Ashurbanipal’s death, Ashur-etil-ilani becomes sole King, consolidating the empire by suppressing the Chaldean revolt in Babylon. Now, with all of his ‘allies’ busy and all his enemies divided, the King can reverse the fate of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Hearing of a wealthy land of trading states beyond Phrygia, Ashur-etil-ilani sets on a great expedition to conquer Greece, bringing the brutal dominion of Ashur to the edges of the earth.
Iustinianus, Restitutor Orbis: Credit to @Magnum for the idea. Belisarius wins a crushing victory at the Battle of Callinicum, and Persia pays tribute to Byzantium rather than the other way around in the so-called “Eternal Peace”. This triumph increases Justinian’s popularity, preventing the Nika Riots and their destruction. And without the threat to his life, the Emperor is much less paranoid, leading to him trusting Belisarius and making better decisions in the West. After the untimely death of Theodora, Justinian marries Amalasuntha of the Goths, leading to a swifter conquest of Italy by the Eastern Roman Empire. Ultimately, Justinian’s better footing allows him to truly restore the Roman Empire and preserve the Hellenistic world for a future age. Not without challenges, as the population of Germania, Avaria, and Arabia still steadily grow, creating future enemies of Constantinople.
Umayyad Constantinople, or Great Mediterranean War: Kallinikos, the inventor of Greek Fire, converts to Islam and defects to the Umayyad navy, providing a crucial advantage against the Romans. The Umayyads succeed in taking Constantinople in the 674-678 siege, destroying the Byzantine Empire save for a few poor western fragments. Muslim captains also take naval superiority across the Mediterranean. But for the Umayyads, there are many trials ahead: civil wars, Avar-Bulgar barbarians, and the eventual Abbasid Revolution. Meanwhile, an exodus of Greeks goes west and east, bolstering the Slavs and Khazars and assuring years of warfare across the Mediterranean. But long-term, the future is bright for Islam in Anatolia.
Constantine’s Redemption: Credit to @General_Finley for the idea. Constantine IV's gout doesn't flair up before the Battle of Ongal so he doesn't leave the battlefield which caused panic in his troops as they feared the Emperor had abandoned them to die. Victory at the Battle of Ongal either fractures the the Seven Slavic tribes making them much more manageable preventing the creation of the Bulgarian Empire before it could even form, or results in them pushing into the Pannonian Plain like the Magyars and menacing Central Europe rather than the Roman Empire. This likely butterflies away the circumstances that led to him him contracting dysentery five years later. Seeing as he was only 33 at the time of his death, he had the potential to rule for at least another decade if not two. This means no terror of Justinian (or at least a very different one), no Twenty Years of Anarchy, and no rise of the Isaurians and their Iconoclastic ideology, i.e. it means preventing three of the worst things to happen to the Roman Empire since the fall of Egypt and Syria.
Fires of Varna: During the Crusade of Varna, Murad II’s harebrained plan to burn down Sofia goes incredibly wrong. Kasim Pasha, Turahan Bey, and Murad II become aware of Hunyadi’s army too late, setting fire to the city under the nose of the attacking army, and are trapped in the city as it burns, leaving Rumelia Eyalet and the Ottoman Empire without leadership. The Empire falls into civil war between the legitimate heir Mehmed II who is not old enough to rule, the Byzantine puppet Şehzade Orhan Çelebi, and other noble pretenders. The Karamanids, having a good chance at dislodging the Ottomans, are bolstered by Mamluk allies instead of invading alone. Ultimately, the Crusade of Varna is victorious, and the Byzantine Empire is given one last breath of life, able to slowly rise again.
