Those are where Trajan mostly set up his provinces. Maybe the new Emperor should bring in Hadrian to help him with administration and/or management?
On eastern shores – A Roman Timeline
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I wonder how this alternate Emperor is going to handle Britain, would he perhaps see conquering Caledonia as a cheaper alternative than building a large wall? I doubt walls like that are cheap.
Yes, I thought about the best way to divide Mesopotamia into provinces. But then, I tried to follow the Romans' conception of geography and cultural regions. Take a look on the Roman provincial borders in Gaul: They don't comply with our idea of an efficient and rational administration, but follow the cultural areas named by Caesar in the first lines of De Bello Gallico.
I did the same with the provinces of Mesopotamia: Looked on how Trajan set up the two provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria, took a look on Ptolemy (who adds the area of Babylonia), and draw them on the map.
Roman provinces are more about historical and cultural regions than about administrative or economic units.
Exactly.
Hadrian was indeed a superb administrator, but under the new emperor Quietus his goal is not to attract attention. Because if he does look too powerful, Quietus will not hesitate to kill him.
That's the plan. Egypt and Africa are enough to nourish Rome, Mesopotamia will feed itself and the troops that will be formed there.
No. The Romans understand that it's much more effective to disunite the Germans than to unite them by attacking Germania.
Ah, I think I will add a whole episode just dealing what the Romans do with the new provinces. Thanks for the inspiration.
OTL's isolated province at the in Crimea was an old hellenistic kingdom set up there during the great Greek colonization of the 8th century BCE.
There is no such territory on the Caspian sea.
Besides the prestige of controlling Stalingrad, there is no reason for the Romans to expand in the Volga region.
I had the same thought.
The change might come even sooner with the "overextension" of the empire and contacts to the Far East.
The question is: Do the Romans need the additional grain? I don't think so. It's much more profitable to let the native sell the grain as they did is for centuries, and then pocket the tax revenues of a flourishing economy.
I can't... But the Romans can with Mesopotamia's enormous tax revenue.
Why don't you write this TL?
This exactly what I thought would have been Quietus' plan.
With how much Rome loved civil wars and Uprisings I would say the biggest danger to Rome is Rome
I assume that he is 60.
His father gained the Roman citizenship in the 40ties of the 1st century CE. If he was a warrior at that point (maybe 20), and had a child with 40 (in 60 CE), then Quietus is 60 in 120 CE.
Still Parthia. If the Romans are busy in the west, the Parthians will attack them in the east to gain back Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia was the most valuable region of the Parthian Empire).
Then, after Parthia, we have incursions of Arabian tribes, but I doubt Arabian tribes have a chance against an intact Roman Empire.
And beside the Parthians and the tribes, there are the Kushans, but these are too far away to attack the Romans directly.
Pirates however can be somewhat of a threat to Roman trade.
I just thought of something interesting. If the Romans make sustained contact with China, will they adopt the practice of drinking tea? If so, what will they call the drink? Even the Romance languages have distinct names for it (e.g. French calls it thé and Portugese calls it cha).
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Was tea known by the Chinese in the second century CE?
When I made research for the TL, I realized that Chinese culture and state evolved a lot since the Han Dynasty. For example, silk was used at the time, but true porcelain was produced not until the Tang Era. China wasn't static at all, even if it's often depicted as such.
Eh, there's a chance that it won't catch on.
Like if I was Emperor or something, I reaaaaly hate the taste of any kind of tea and would not hesitate to ban the stuff. (Honestly kind of Ironic that I hate tea given how in NC sweet tea is all people drink)
Why don't you write this TL?
Well going by that logic he would also have to either conquer Ireland as well or at least set up a stable client state because of how close the Northern part of Ireland is to Scotland
Rome wasn't that totalitarian. In fact, it wasn't totalitarian at all.
Again something that I wanted to include. If Quietus wants to pacify Caledonia, he has to conquer Hibernia too, just because of the links between the two regions.
There's a town in what would have been Roman territory on the Caspian sea called Lankaran that is good for building a port and has mountains to the west of it for building ships.
If you can stop Mesopotamian Grain from getting into Parthia and you have Naval superiority on the Caspian that can take out the major breadbasket on Iran then victory is much more easily won
Yeaaaah the problem with that is Caledonia was a reatively low gainer already and Hibernia will probably be the equivalent to a development sink where anything put in just goed down the drain
Depends on which era and which emperor, some had little ability to change things and others could do whatever the hell they pleased *cough* Nero *cough*.
If you can stop Mesopotamian Grain from getting into Parthia and you have Naval superiority on the Caspian that can take out the major breadbasket on Iran then victory is much more easily won
Yeaaaah the problem with that is Caledonia was a reatively low gainer already and Hibernia will probably be the equivalent to a development sink where anything put in just goed down the drain
Depends on which era and which emperor, some had little ability to change things and others could do whatever the hell they pleased *cough* Nero *cough*.
Victory over whom? For now, there is peace between Rome and Parthia. And the Romans have no reason to conquer Persia itself - I don't think that they have the means to do it.
Liber Secundus: East And West
Caput Tertius: The Wealth Of The East
The three provinces of Mesopotamia were in some aspects comparable to Egypt. Surrounded by deserts, the Middle East was watered not only by one, but two major streams rising in the Taurus Mountains: The western Euphrates, the former border of the Roman Empire, and the eastern Tigris, separating Assyria from Mesopotamia and Babylonia and emptying into the Persian gulf (Sinus Persicus).
Mesopotamia's population was concentrated on the habitable area between the two rivers – south of the Euphrates, fertile land changes into the Arabian desert. As in Egypt, the rivers and their water level dominated the men's life. Mesopotamia was one of the cradles of agriculture and civilization, and urban culture, organized religion and monarchic states followed soon.
Mesopotamia needed an efficient administration, since agriculture depended on the irrigation canals bringing water to the fields further away from the rivers. Since Roman administration wasn't very centralized and efficient on a local level, the Romans relied on traditional authorities to exercise power other the local populations. The higher administrative levels, the governor and the emperor, only intervened if the provincial elites acted disloyally.
The highest level of independence was granted to Mesene, occupying the southern part of the Mesopotamian region called Babylonia. Mesene's capital, Charax Hyspaosinou, had been established firstly by Alexander the Great, then rebuilt by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV, just to be renamed by Hyspaosines, satrap of the same Antiochus. Some years later, the former defected from the Seleucids and joined Parthian as vassal king.
Mesene had been only loosely controlled by the Parthians, and its Greek kings retained a large autonomy. When Attambelos VII submitted to Rome, the Romans accepted him as a client king, who had to pay a moderate tribute out of its revenue from the tariffs imposed on the Indian trade and from pearl diving.
A lower grade of autonomy was held by the Hellenistic cities within the provinces, like Alexandria, Antiocheia, Artemita, Birtha, Demetrias, Laodikeia andSeleukeia. Populated by a substantial number of Greeks, they looked on their Parthian overlords with suspicion and often opened their gates to Roman armies. The Romans realized that the Greeks, if treated respectfully, would be loyal servants of Roman rule in Mesopotamia.
Therefore, Greek poleis in Mesopotamia were mostly granted the rank of allied or free cities, exempted from tribute and with their own judiciary branch. The Greek cities were soon joined by Roman colonies, first of all Babylonia, whose citizens were Roman citizens and thus free of any direct taxes. Gradually, every Greek cities lost its independence to receive the more prestigious title of Roman colony.
The rest of Mesopotamia was part of subdued cities (Civitates stipendiariae), with an own administration, but without the right to imposing capital punishments. The subdued cities, mostly indigenous city states governed by local princes or priests, owned large estates often cultivated by slaves or serfs. These cities had to pay high taxes used to absorb the profit of agriculture, until some of them were granted the privilege of a higher rank.
Babylonia was protected by one legion, ensuring stability in the region, and two legions deployed in Mesene, to protect the client kingdom against potential Parthian attacks. Assyria had another two legions, aimed to defend the province, as had the northern province of Armenia, whereas Mesopotamia's legion's task was to repress possible revolts in the province.
Two new fleets were formed in the Roman east: The first one was the Caspian Fleet (Classis Hyrcanica), a project of prestige to demonstrate Roman dominance over the Caspian Sea and the northern steppes. The second one, the Persian Fleet (Classis Persica), was much larger and built to fulfill a much more comprehensible task: Protecting the Indian trade against the frequent attacks of pirates on the trade. Without the constant threat of raids of trade routes, commerce with Asia flourished under the Roman rule.
Garrisons of the legions in the Roman east
Caput Tertius: The Wealth Of The East
The three provinces of Mesopotamia were in some aspects comparable to Egypt. Surrounded by deserts, the Middle East was watered not only by one, but two major streams rising in the Taurus Mountains: The western Euphrates, the former border of the Roman Empire, and the eastern Tigris, separating Assyria from Mesopotamia and Babylonia and emptying into the Persian gulf (Sinus Persicus).
Mesopotamia's population was concentrated on the habitable area between the two rivers – south of the Euphrates, fertile land changes into the Arabian desert. As in Egypt, the rivers and their water level dominated the men's life. Mesopotamia was one of the cradles of agriculture and civilization, and urban culture, organized religion and monarchic states followed soon.
Mesopotamia needed an efficient administration, since agriculture depended on the irrigation canals bringing water to the fields further away from the rivers. Since Roman administration wasn't very centralized and efficient on a local level, the Romans relied on traditional authorities to exercise power other the local populations. The higher administrative levels, the governor and the emperor, only intervened if the provincial elites acted disloyally.
The highest level of independence was granted to Mesene, occupying the southern part of the Mesopotamian region called Babylonia. Mesene's capital, Charax Hyspaosinou, had been established firstly by Alexander the Great, then rebuilt by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV, just to be renamed by Hyspaosines, satrap of the same Antiochus. Some years later, the former defected from the Seleucids and joined Parthian as vassal king.
Mesene had been only loosely controlled by the Parthians, and its Greek kings retained a large autonomy. When Attambelos VII submitted to Rome, the Romans accepted him as a client king, who had to pay a moderate tribute out of its revenue from the tariffs imposed on the Indian trade and from pearl diving.
A lower grade of autonomy was held by the Hellenistic cities within the provinces, like Alexandria, Antiocheia, Artemita, Birtha, Demetrias, Laodikeia andSeleukeia. Populated by a substantial number of Greeks, they looked on their Parthian overlords with suspicion and often opened their gates to Roman armies. The Romans realized that the Greeks, if treated respectfully, would be loyal servants of Roman rule in Mesopotamia.
Therefore, Greek poleis in Mesopotamia were mostly granted the rank of allied or free cities, exempted from tribute and with their own judiciary branch. The Greek cities were soon joined by Roman colonies, first of all Babylonia, whose citizens were Roman citizens and thus free of any direct taxes. Gradually, every Greek cities lost its independence to receive the more prestigious title of Roman colony.
The rest of Mesopotamia was part of subdued cities (Civitates stipendiariae), with an own administration, but without the right to imposing capital punishments. The subdued cities, mostly indigenous city states governed by local princes or priests, owned large estates often cultivated by slaves or serfs. These cities had to pay high taxes used to absorb the profit of agriculture, until some of them were granted the privilege of a higher rank.
On the top of administration were the three governors of the Mesopotamian provinces and the subordinated districts, all of them imperial legates and former consuls; however, the most prestigious of them was indisputably the governor of Babylonia. The functions of the governors were to administer capital justice over subjects, to pronounce judgments in cases of appellate jurisdiction, to supervise tax collection and to command the Roman armed forces.Babylonia was protected by one legion, ensuring stability in the region, and two legions deployed in Mesene, to protect the client kingdom against potential Parthian attacks. Assyria had another two legions, aimed to defend the province, as had the northern province of Armenia, whereas Mesopotamia's legion's task was to repress possible revolts in the province.
Two new fleets were formed in the Roman east: The first one was the Caspian Fleet (Classis Hyrcanica), a project of prestige to demonstrate Roman dominance over the Caspian Sea and the northern steppes. The second one, the Persian Fleet (Classis Persica), was much larger and built to fulfill a much more comprehensible task: Protecting the Indian trade against the frequent attacks of pirates on the trade. Without the constant threat of raids of trade routes, commerce with Asia flourished under the Roman rule.
Garrisons of the legions in the Roman east
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Well, this surely happened, but I don't think this is really important for the TL.
Thanks. I think I will, but more feedback is really helpful to make a plausible TL.
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Caput Quartus: India, China and Arabia
Before we deal with the important events following the Roman conquests in the east, we should make some words about the forms of trade at that time. Alexander the Great had opened India for Europe – Eudoxus of Cyzicus for the first time sailed directly to India, while Hippalus, captain of Eudoxus' expedition, gave his name to the Monsoon winds. After these explorations, the route was used by Greek traders starting from Lagid Egypt, before the Romans conquered this Hellenistic kingdom and gained themselves access to the see route.
The Romans, who loved the Indian spices and Chinese silk, lost every year roughly hundred millions sesterces that flowed out into the unholy trinity: India, China and Arabia [1]. This substantial drain of precious metals was caused by the many rulers along the Silk Road and their tariffs, but also by the dozens of intermediaries between Luoyang and Rome. This is why the Roman administration struggled to direct the trade from the land to the sea.
The sea route usually began in the eastern ports of Egypt like Berenice or Myos Hormos, whereto the commercial goods where brought by caravans traversing the desert starting on the shores of the Nile.To reinforce the sea trade andimprove theeconomicalrelations between the east and the west, Trajan built a canal [2] from the Nile to the port of Arsinoe on the coast of the Arabian Gulf. [3]
The merchants set sail in July, their ships manned with cohorts of archers to defend them against the pirates afflicting the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. After touching at the southern ports of Arabia like Okelis or Kane, the ships usually followed one of two ways: the northern following/ the Persian coast, the southern crossing the ocean exploiting the monsoon.
The first path led to northern India with the river Indus and the port of Barbarikon in the region of Patalene, part of the Kushan Empire. East of Barbarikonwas Barigaza, important city of the dominion of the Western Kshatrapas. The ports south of Barbarikon were of the Andhra Empire.
The second path directly ended in Muziris, the most important trading station of India. The south of India, called Damicara (or Limyrike) by the ancients, was dominated by the three dynasties Chera, Pandya and Chola; this was the place were the majority of the goods coming from China were sold to merchants shipping the merchandise to the Roman, Arabian and Parthian ports.
Southeast Asia played the role of an intermediary between China and western regions, major ports being the Mekong Delta city of Óc Eo in the kingdom of Phù Nam, and Merong Pen[4] in the Chinese Jiaozhi Province.
China was not easy of access and few men came there, and seldom. Little was known of the size of the country, it was even said to border on the Caspian sea. Starting at Graglang [5], China's capital, the Silk Road went through the Western Regions, the Kushan Empire and Parthia before ending at Zeugma, Antioch and Byzantion.
However, much of this was to change with Rome beginning to seize control of the international trade.
[1] Pliny the Elder's estimate
[2] Called Amnis Trajanus (River Trajan). One of the ancestors of the Suez Canal.
[3] Today's Red Sea. The ancients called the entirety of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf Erythraean Sea (Red Sea).
[4] Old Chinese pronunciation of Long Bien, maybe identically equal to Ptolemy's Cattigara.
[5] Old Chinese pronunciation of Luoyang.
Help with Chinese characters and their pronunciation is welcome.
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There already was a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea, why would He have wasted so much money making a whole new one?