PoD Ideas

I have been lurking for a long time and have gotten the urge to attempt a timeline writing. My knowledge areas are mainly Western antiquity including, Byzantium, religious history, and classical Greece & Rome. I want to learn more about the middle east and Asia in general so maybe a TL project can help me expand my horizons.

I guess what scares me about such a project is that I'll make a 'mistake' since history is not straightforward but very complicated where oftentimes the relations between cause and effect are unclear, especially in ancient times like the eras I am interested in. I mean we have heated political debates today about the effects of governmental policies while we have tons more information than we do about ancient societies where literacy was very low.

Here are some ideas I have for a POD:

1. Athens and its allies defeat the Spartan-led coalition in the Peloponesian War. I loved reading about this war, especially Thucydides. I love Athens in particular, Socrates, Aristotle, Pericles, the Athenian form of government, culture. Much more fascinating than Sparta, though Sparta is interesting in a grim way too.

2. Rome is defeated in the Punic Wars and Carthaginian civilization triumphs (whatever that entails). I'm a fan of G.K. Chesterton's works, especially his The Everlasting Man. To make a long story shorthe believes that the Roman victory in those wars saved the Western world from the evils of infant sacrifice that was the hallmark of the darker version of 'paganism' believed in by the Carthaginians. Anyway, upon further reading I've discovered some truth to Chesterton's claims but I think history is more complicated than just: Romans = Good, Carthaginians = Bad. Anyway, I'd look to explore it more.

3. In 379, Gregory of Nyssa preached a sermon condemning slavery as an institution. I italicize this because while today it is easy to see the implications of the Christian belief that all people are equal, regardless of sex, class, or race, it wasn't back then to say the least. Anyway, the POD here is that Gregory of Nyssa's sermon isn't just a one-off event that goes nowhere but rather it starts a movement in antiquity to abolish the institution.

4. A truly original idea of mine! The Confederates wins the Civil War! (Sorry, I couldn't resist).

Any thoughts? I want to write about more options but none are coming to mind at the moment.
 
All of your ideas are great, but my vote's for #3. I'd want to see how far an anti-slavery movement could plausibly go in the 300s CE, and it's a truly unique POD.
 
Thank! Yeah, it is a unique POD. I only discovered this possible POD through some recent reading on early church history. To do this right, I would need to bone up on 3rd century history and society in the late Roman Empire. Read up on slavery back then, estimate how many Christians there were back then (Rodney Stark has some interesting estimates), how many of the salves would be Christians and thus form a large part of this anti-slavery/abolitionist movement. How many Christians from the other classes would join, how the movement would spread, the outlines of the debate it would create in Christian society and the larger Roman society. (Remember that this wasn't a totally Christian society. Constantine helped mark its ascendance but paganism was very much alive.)

I wonder how successful such a movement would be. I can see the movement flowing and ebbing throughout the 3rd century and then picking up in the 4th and 5th centuries. Maybe instead of the most devout Christians channeling their energies into monasticism, they are diverted instead to this movement. This could herald a remarkably different Christianity where 'earthly' concerns have precedence over wholly 'spiritual' concerns.

I'm just purely conjecturing here now but this could be interesting. I think I'll draft a TL.
 
As a lover of ancient history, i would vote for number 1# because the Peloponnesian war has so many possible PODs, and i don't think they'res that any TLs based during this fascinating period of Ancient history.
 
2. Rome is defeated in the Punic Wars and Carthaginian civilization triumphs (whatever that entails). I'm a fan of G.K. Chesterton's works, especially his The Everlasting Man. To make a long story shorthe believes that the Roman victory in those wars saved the Western world from the evils of infant sacrifice that was the hallmark of the darker version of 'paganism' believed in by the Carthaginians. Anyway, upon further reading I've discovered some truth to Chesterton's claims but I think history is more complicated than just: Romans = Good, Carthaginians = Bad. Anyway, I'd look to explore it more.
Just something to point out: We aren't exactly 100% sure that the Carthaginians sacraficed babies.
 
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