scholar
Banned
Forgive any roughness in the work, it will be embellished later. Forgive any gaps in the work, it normally means little difference between real history and the fictional one. Forgive any discrepancies according to cultural or historical data, as these were not intentional and I will eagerly correct any errors when pointed out. However some dates are bound to be jumbled inside this Timeline on purpose campaigns moving forward or backwards a year and monarchs dying sooner or later as well as fictional children should they live long enough. Any maps or sources of data that deals with anything I touch upon, which will be a lot, will be very much appreciated. The Primary point of divergence is while Flavius Julius Nepos is in forced retirement in Damalta in 476 A.D. Inside this timeline Flavius convinces the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno to give him some troops to reclaim the African territories, of which only tiny pockets of Roman loyalty remains after the Vandals ravaged the region. Please note this is my first ever attempt at anything like this, hence the title 
so if I'm making any mistakes or breaking any rules please let me know so I will never do so again.
Let's start shall we?
---
The Divergence
476 A.D. - 492 A.D.
Flavius Julius Nepos flees Damalta to his dwindling to Africa where he re-asserts his power over the Imperial Domains; however this matters very little outside of what’s left of African Hispaniae and the African Province, which existed more so in name than in actuality. After making many promises to the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno, Flavius secures a small number of troops which he uses to reassert Roman control over African province. The Vandals caught by surprise by serious renewed resistance hastily formed an army outnumbering Flavius 3:1, however Flavius relied on well trained Egyptian troops and the battle turned out to be utterly inconclusive. He was the last vestige of Western Roman power and refused to relinquish what he viewed as his last possession. Hastily Flavius split his force in two and spread rumors that Zeno had taken back his troops leaving Flavius vulnerable and sent a “deserter” to the Vandal camp. The Vandals then came at Flavius’s diminished army which had positioned itself on “death ground” and proved to be resilient to the initial attack, when momentum began to falter the separate army came into view on the horizon; it was stationed some distance away to make sure the ruse would work. The Vandals began to panic and hastily withdrew, Flavius wanted to pursue the vandals with everything he had, but he had made several command errors including who he entrusted half the Egyptian army to. In the end the pursuit only achieved minor gains. Flavius had won ground and beat back the barbarians, but he found himself with dwindling support from his army.
The Vandals, however, had begun moving their people back to the westernmost reaches of the African territory, however what was left was mass destruction, rape, and burnt rubble from many of African towns that had been in the Vandals long drawn out retreat path. Still, as if by some miracle, Carthage and Hippo had remained relatively unharmed beyond their initial pillaging. Much to the surprise of Flavius, Zeno was much more supportive of his distant relative and funneled some resources into Africa and provided much needed troops. This was part Zeno’s main plan to isolate and later eliminate Odacer, who nominally still claimed to be a client of Flavius, but Flavius being a victim of Odacer knew better. On paper it seemed as if the Western Roman Empire had gotten a new breathe of life with its client defending and controlling Italy and its Emperor regaining Roman territory, in reality it was different. Most of Africa lay in ruins and relied heavily on Flavius’s presence just to keep it together, which in turn only was able to have power because Zeno was supporting him. Flavius would use those troops to rally the remaining roman people behind him by continuing Eastern Rome funded campaigns against the Vandals until they were completely removed from the African mainland. Flavius wanted to reclaim Iberia, but Zeno staunchly refused to support such an endeavor as it would strain resources too badly. Zeno was willing to keep his own little Western Rome firmly under his control in Africa, but he was not going to waste resources expanding it any more than it need be. Until Odacer was officially taken care of, Flavius, distraught by this revelation would renounce his title as emperor, instead opting for the title Tyrannus of Carthage. Zeno expressed his distaste for the title but Flavius would not budge and eventually Zeno gave up on the idea. Flavius would die in 492 A.D. saving a remnant of the Western Roman Empire. While in time “Carthage” would once again become prosperous, it would take many centuries of relative obscurity.
The Military Activities of Justinian
527 A.D. – 549 A.D.
Border skirmishes with the Sassanid Empire erupted into full scale war, numerous engagements occurred between the Roman and Persian forces. Once such engagement, the Battle of Dara, resulted in a victory for the Romans, however most were inconclusive and high in causalities. Eventually a truce was signed with Kavadh in which Justinian would pay some thousand pounds of gold. However the peace was hard earned and the battle weary populous of both empires were allowed to rest.
At the behest of Justinian, the Tyrannus of Carthage, Flavius’s grandson, Tiberius, began a campaign against the Moorish people. The campaign was, however, halfhearted at best. Carthage enjoyed a relatively peaceful relationship with the moors that, for the most part, actually reside within Carthage’s area of governance. That said the campaigns were not directed towards the moors that have cooperated with Carthage, but rather those moors that remained resolute in their desire to remain completely independent. Within some short years the moors were brought well under the control of Carthage. Justinian had acted against the Moorish people based on faulty intelligence that they were allied with several of the rival powers of the Mediterranean. Regardless of the effectiveness of the Intelligence the action cost Justinian very little and only strengthened what he viewed to be a vital vassal state in the region.
In Italy an opportunity would soon present itself in the form of it’s Queen Amalasuntha. Justinian quickly mobilized several aspects of the Roman Navy and army to make way for the southern Peninsula. Tiberius in Carthage was told to make his way towards Sicily. This was easier said than done. While Carthage had recovered somewhat it was nowhere near ready to assert any form of influence across the Mediterranean. A small landing was made, however, in Malta where the Island was quickly captured. Meanwhile Justinian devoted much of his resources into capturing southern Italy and he succeeded in a mere matter of months. Naples fell to Justinian’s marching army, however without Sicily’s capture Justinian was forced to divert his attention to the Island before he could make his prized march to Rome. Amalasuntha quickly rallied what support she still had left in the heavily Roman Island and had it defect back to Rome without a fight. Another separate army made its way by land, it was, however, held up in Ravenna. Justinian quickly made his way into Rome welcoming himself as a liberator to the city. The Pope was eager to greet the Emperor however Rome was not the city it was. Justinian spent no more than a day there before meeting up with his army in Ravenna to capture the city. Amalasuntha was placed in charge of a Kingdom of Sicily, Naples, and Rome. Justinian ended up leaving Italy before the campaign was fully completed due to rumors of a possible revolt in Constantinople as well as a possible war with the Sassanids.
The plague struck Constantinople as soon as Justinian returned in 541 A.D. Less than a month later the Sassanids attacked Justinian breaking the previous peace treaty. Belisarius, the general who defended Rome from the Persians before had gotten ill with the Plague but refused to be removed from the war. He was taken by cart to the front and from there gathered his remaining strength and lead a firm defense against the invading army. Thirty thousand Romans met an equal number of enemy soldiers. Despite Belisarius’s state, or perhaps because of it, the Romans held fast and forced back the Persians. Belisarius mounted a horse and ordered a charge at the fleeing Persians. The battle was a total victory for the Roman army and within days news of the deposition of Kavadh with his son Khosrau created the next King, Khosrau eagerly made peace with the Romans. The news was bittersweet for the Romans as Belisarius had died the day before. He had protected Rome and for that he will live forever.
News soon reached Constantinople that Amalasuntha was losing a war against the Ostrogoths. She had already retreated down to the southernmost tip of the Peninsula and moved her base of operations to Sicily. Justinian organized several thousand troops to head for Sicily. With the immense power behind the Ostrogoths and the loss of one of Rome’s most famed generals the renewed war in Italy became one of retaining some gains in Sicily instead of fighting back. When things were finally starting to look stable Justinian considered merging Sicily with Carthage. Justinian informed both Amalasuntha and Tiberius of his thinking and surprisingly Amalasuntha agreed to relinquish all of her authority over Sicily and formalize it as part of Carthage while she would go to a quiet retirement inside Constantinople. The merger would prove to aid Carthage’s development much more quickly than it would have normally. The inclusion of Sicily drastically increased its naval and military capacity as well as its ability to influence the Mediterranean. Justinian died 549 A.D. leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his nephew, Justin II.
Maurice and Persia
574 A.D. – 602 A.D.
The old enemy of the Romans was growing more powerful by the day, the Sassanids declared war on the state of Rome, yet again. Though this time was for slightly different reasons. Rome had begun expanding slowly into Sassanid territory since the death of Justinian. The Sassanids were reluctant to start another war after they were so thoroughly defeated but after Iberia was completely lost to the Persians, King Khosrau II launched a campaign against the Byzantines. The war was meant to be a quick war of reconquest and breaching into Syria forcing a quick peace treaty where the Sassanids would regain some of their prestige and local hegemony. What the war turned out to be was a long campaign of bitter fighting on both sides. A total of 120,000 people perished in the conflicts damaging both empire’s capacities for war. Khosrau II and Maurice met personally at Thospia, situated right at the divide of both empires at their current extent.
After several days eventually a sort of pact was formed between the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires in which both monarchs would marry each other’s sister and that their heirs would be of both empires. Maurice agreed to the terms and so did Khosrau. Inside the Persian courts there was little dispute, everyone was tired of wars with the Roman Empire and Khosrau was also protected from rebellion as an act against Khosrau is now considered an act against the Roman Imperial Family and risks a war.
Selling the treaty to the Romans in Constantinople was a much harder thing to do. Maurice had claimed that this was one of the only ways not just to end this war, but to end all wars with the Persians. However another condition of the treaty was that there was to be freedom of religion in both Empires, at least to the extent of Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Never the less, the two Empires were to become brothers, at least as long as Maurice and Khosrau reign. Eventually Constantinople signed off on the treaty in 589 A.D.
The problems had only begun, however, in the form of Maurice’s son Constans began to be heavily influenced by the religion of Zoroastrianism in the mid-590s due to the influence of his mother. By the time the boy was 10 years of age in 601 A.D. the boy was considered a heretic at best and a heathen at worst. This lead to trouble over succession as Maurice is supposed to have Constans succeed him, but there is very little chance that the Roman Empire will support a heathen on the throne. Maurice attempted to sway Constans’ ways and force him back towards Christianity much to his mother’s dismay. Maurice was poisoned in 602 A.D. by several political enemies who viewed him as too soft on the Sassanids, however they were quickly rooted out and killed by none other than Constans’ mother.
Overall in the decade since the end of the last Sassanid-Roman war trade flourished all along the borders of both empires and soon entire towns would prop up hopeful that there would never again be another war between their two empires. While there have been some riots against Zoroastrianism inside the Roman provinces, overall both sides were eager to lay down their burden. There are still a large number of people with deep seeded prejudice against the Sassanid Empire for their history with Rome, however they are diminishing by every day, especially since Maurice promised to recruit anyone who spoke out against the Sassanids into a rather unwelcoming environment.
Inside the Sassanid courts things were slightly different, Khosrau II was busy rebuilding much of his empire and raising his three sons, who each Maurice’s nephews. While the youngest showed inclinations to be Christian the other two were being heavily educated in Zoroastrianism. Also trade was flourishing with the Romans as well as the Tang dynasty along the Silk Road as all three empires expand their territory to fully encompass each other’s borders in line to protect trade.
so if I'm making any mistakes or breaking any rules please let me know so I will never do so again.Let's start shall we?
---
The Divergence
476 A.D. - 492 A.D.
Flavius Julius Nepos flees Damalta to his dwindling to Africa where he re-asserts his power over the Imperial Domains; however this matters very little outside of what’s left of African Hispaniae and the African Province, which existed more so in name than in actuality. After making many promises to the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno, Flavius secures a small number of troops which he uses to reassert Roman control over African province. The Vandals caught by surprise by serious renewed resistance hastily formed an army outnumbering Flavius 3:1, however Flavius relied on well trained Egyptian troops and the battle turned out to be utterly inconclusive. He was the last vestige of Western Roman power and refused to relinquish what he viewed as his last possession. Hastily Flavius split his force in two and spread rumors that Zeno had taken back his troops leaving Flavius vulnerable and sent a “deserter” to the Vandal camp. The Vandals then came at Flavius’s diminished army which had positioned itself on “death ground” and proved to be resilient to the initial attack, when momentum began to falter the separate army came into view on the horizon; it was stationed some distance away to make sure the ruse would work. The Vandals began to panic and hastily withdrew, Flavius wanted to pursue the vandals with everything he had, but he had made several command errors including who he entrusted half the Egyptian army to. In the end the pursuit only achieved minor gains. Flavius had won ground and beat back the barbarians, but he found himself with dwindling support from his army.
The Vandals, however, had begun moving their people back to the westernmost reaches of the African territory, however what was left was mass destruction, rape, and burnt rubble from many of African towns that had been in the Vandals long drawn out retreat path. Still, as if by some miracle, Carthage and Hippo had remained relatively unharmed beyond their initial pillaging. Much to the surprise of Flavius, Zeno was much more supportive of his distant relative and funneled some resources into Africa and provided much needed troops. This was part Zeno’s main plan to isolate and later eliminate Odacer, who nominally still claimed to be a client of Flavius, but Flavius being a victim of Odacer knew better. On paper it seemed as if the Western Roman Empire had gotten a new breathe of life with its client defending and controlling Italy and its Emperor regaining Roman territory, in reality it was different. Most of Africa lay in ruins and relied heavily on Flavius’s presence just to keep it together, which in turn only was able to have power because Zeno was supporting him. Flavius would use those troops to rally the remaining roman people behind him by continuing Eastern Rome funded campaigns against the Vandals until they were completely removed from the African mainland. Flavius wanted to reclaim Iberia, but Zeno staunchly refused to support such an endeavor as it would strain resources too badly. Zeno was willing to keep his own little Western Rome firmly under his control in Africa, but he was not going to waste resources expanding it any more than it need be. Until Odacer was officially taken care of, Flavius, distraught by this revelation would renounce his title as emperor, instead opting for the title Tyrannus of Carthage. Zeno expressed his distaste for the title but Flavius would not budge and eventually Zeno gave up on the idea. Flavius would die in 492 A.D. saving a remnant of the Western Roman Empire. While in time “Carthage” would once again become prosperous, it would take many centuries of relative obscurity.
The Military Activities of Justinian
527 A.D. – 549 A.D.
Border skirmishes with the Sassanid Empire erupted into full scale war, numerous engagements occurred between the Roman and Persian forces. Once such engagement, the Battle of Dara, resulted in a victory for the Romans, however most were inconclusive and high in causalities. Eventually a truce was signed with Kavadh in which Justinian would pay some thousand pounds of gold. However the peace was hard earned and the battle weary populous of both empires were allowed to rest.
At the behest of Justinian, the Tyrannus of Carthage, Flavius’s grandson, Tiberius, began a campaign against the Moorish people. The campaign was, however, halfhearted at best. Carthage enjoyed a relatively peaceful relationship with the moors that, for the most part, actually reside within Carthage’s area of governance. That said the campaigns were not directed towards the moors that have cooperated with Carthage, but rather those moors that remained resolute in their desire to remain completely independent. Within some short years the moors were brought well under the control of Carthage. Justinian had acted against the Moorish people based on faulty intelligence that they were allied with several of the rival powers of the Mediterranean. Regardless of the effectiveness of the Intelligence the action cost Justinian very little and only strengthened what he viewed to be a vital vassal state in the region.
In Italy an opportunity would soon present itself in the form of it’s Queen Amalasuntha. Justinian quickly mobilized several aspects of the Roman Navy and army to make way for the southern Peninsula. Tiberius in Carthage was told to make his way towards Sicily. This was easier said than done. While Carthage had recovered somewhat it was nowhere near ready to assert any form of influence across the Mediterranean. A small landing was made, however, in Malta where the Island was quickly captured. Meanwhile Justinian devoted much of his resources into capturing southern Italy and he succeeded in a mere matter of months. Naples fell to Justinian’s marching army, however without Sicily’s capture Justinian was forced to divert his attention to the Island before he could make his prized march to Rome. Amalasuntha quickly rallied what support she still had left in the heavily Roman Island and had it defect back to Rome without a fight. Another separate army made its way by land, it was, however, held up in Ravenna. Justinian quickly made his way into Rome welcoming himself as a liberator to the city. The Pope was eager to greet the Emperor however Rome was not the city it was. Justinian spent no more than a day there before meeting up with his army in Ravenna to capture the city. Amalasuntha was placed in charge of a Kingdom of Sicily, Naples, and Rome. Justinian ended up leaving Italy before the campaign was fully completed due to rumors of a possible revolt in Constantinople as well as a possible war with the Sassanids.
The plague struck Constantinople as soon as Justinian returned in 541 A.D. Less than a month later the Sassanids attacked Justinian breaking the previous peace treaty. Belisarius, the general who defended Rome from the Persians before had gotten ill with the Plague but refused to be removed from the war. He was taken by cart to the front and from there gathered his remaining strength and lead a firm defense against the invading army. Thirty thousand Romans met an equal number of enemy soldiers. Despite Belisarius’s state, or perhaps because of it, the Romans held fast and forced back the Persians. Belisarius mounted a horse and ordered a charge at the fleeing Persians. The battle was a total victory for the Roman army and within days news of the deposition of Kavadh with his son Khosrau created the next King, Khosrau eagerly made peace with the Romans. The news was bittersweet for the Romans as Belisarius had died the day before. He had protected Rome and for that he will live forever.
News soon reached Constantinople that Amalasuntha was losing a war against the Ostrogoths. She had already retreated down to the southernmost tip of the Peninsula and moved her base of operations to Sicily. Justinian organized several thousand troops to head for Sicily. With the immense power behind the Ostrogoths and the loss of one of Rome’s most famed generals the renewed war in Italy became one of retaining some gains in Sicily instead of fighting back. When things were finally starting to look stable Justinian considered merging Sicily with Carthage. Justinian informed both Amalasuntha and Tiberius of his thinking and surprisingly Amalasuntha agreed to relinquish all of her authority over Sicily and formalize it as part of Carthage while she would go to a quiet retirement inside Constantinople. The merger would prove to aid Carthage’s development much more quickly than it would have normally. The inclusion of Sicily drastically increased its naval and military capacity as well as its ability to influence the Mediterranean. Justinian died 549 A.D. leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his nephew, Justin II.
Maurice and Persia
574 A.D. – 602 A.D.
The old enemy of the Romans was growing more powerful by the day, the Sassanids declared war on the state of Rome, yet again. Though this time was for slightly different reasons. Rome had begun expanding slowly into Sassanid territory since the death of Justinian. The Sassanids were reluctant to start another war after they were so thoroughly defeated but after Iberia was completely lost to the Persians, King Khosrau II launched a campaign against the Byzantines. The war was meant to be a quick war of reconquest and breaching into Syria forcing a quick peace treaty where the Sassanids would regain some of their prestige and local hegemony. What the war turned out to be was a long campaign of bitter fighting on both sides. A total of 120,000 people perished in the conflicts damaging both empire’s capacities for war. Khosrau II and Maurice met personally at Thospia, situated right at the divide of both empires at their current extent.
After several days eventually a sort of pact was formed between the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires in which both monarchs would marry each other’s sister and that their heirs would be of both empires. Maurice agreed to the terms and so did Khosrau. Inside the Persian courts there was little dispute, everyone was tired of wars with the Roman Empire and Khosrau was also protected from rebellion as an act against Khosrau is now considered an act against the Roman Imperial Family and risks a war.
Selling the treaty to the Romans in Constantinople was a much harder thing to do. Maurice had claimed that this was one of the only ways not just to end this war, but to end all wars with the Persians. However another condition of the treaty was that there was to be freedom of religion in both Empires, at least to the extent of Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Never the less, the two Empires were to become brothers, at least as long as Maurice and Khosrau reign. Eventually Constantinople signed off on the treaty in 589 A.D.
The problems had only begun, however, in the form of Maurice’s son Constans began to be heavily influenced by the religion of Zoroastrianism in the mid-590s due to the influence of his mother. By the time the boy was 10 years of age in 601 A.D. the boy was considered a heretic at best and a heathen at worst. This lead to trouble over succession as Maurice is supposed to have Constans succeed him, but there is very little chance that the Roman Empire will support a heathen on the throne. Maurice attempted to sway Constans’ ways and force him back towards Christianity much to his mother’s dismay. Maurice was poisoned in 602 A.D. by several political enemies who viewed him as too soft on the Sassanids, however they were quickly rooted out and killed by none other than Constans’ mother.
Overall in the decade since the end of the last Sassanid-Roman war trade flourished all along the borders of both empires and soon entire towns would prop up hopeful that there would never again be another war between their two empires. While there have been some riots against Zoroastrianism inside the Roman provinces, overall both sides were eager to lay down their burden. There are still a large number of people with deep seeded prejudice against the Sassanid Empire for their history with Rome, however they are diminishing by every day, especially since Maurice promised to recruit anyone who spoke out against the Sassanids into a rather unwelcoming environment.
Inside the Sassanid courts things were slightly different, Khosrau II was busy rebuilding much of his empire and raising his three sons, who each Maurice’s nephews. While the youngest showed inclinations to be Christian the other two were being heavily educated in Zoroastrianism. Also trade was flourishing with the Romans as well as the Tang dynasty along the Silk Road as all three empires expand their territory to fully encompass each other’s borders in line to protect trade.
