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I’d like to thank Basileus444 for inspiring me to create my own timeline. At first, I was trying to make a TL about a much, much stronger Ethiopia, but I could not find a good POD to do so. However, I was researching the later Roman Empire and found a man name Postumus, Emperor of the Empire of Gaul. He was superb administrator and could easily handle barbarian invasions, most notably the Franks. Upon further reading, I found myself a POD, and here we are now. I don't believe that this has been done before, so I'm glad that I could be original!:D


March 12th, outside the city of Mogontiacum

Postumus was satisfied. He had successfully killed those who marched against him, and now the capital of his enemy, Laelianus, was firmly under his boot: right where it should be. Mogontiacum was a fine city, situated well on the Rhine. Postumus was cheering along with his men now that it was theirs.

“Men,” Postumus proclaimed, “the capturing of this city is a testament to the glory of the Empire of Gaul! Our enemies are no more. Laelianus was weak and foppish, as was what he attempted to do! Just like Caesar before us, we came, we saw, and we conquered!”


There was chattering amongst the men. Postumus thought nothing of it, but a common soldier by the name of Marius* spoke out.

Marius spoke with authority when he said “My Emperor, the city shall be burned to the ground! We will march in there and take what is rightfully ours!”

Postumus was not especially tickled by the sudden proclamation from a lowly soldier. However, the other men were forming around him. Postumus had to act.

“My soldiers. My brothers in arms. Do you not think that I would wish to do such an act? I do! But this city is no longer home to our enemies- it is ours. And, we shall treat it as such. These walls are Roman! We shant sink down to the level of our groveling enemies, as we can always do better than that weasel Laelianus and the children in armor that call themselves soldiers! We are, in every way, shape, and form, better than these savages. My soldiers, my brothers in arms, don’t sink down to their barbaric level.”

There was muttering in the crowd of soldiers. Marius was distraught with the sudden loss of support, as the soldiers began clamouring around Postumus, as his words influenced them and convinced them to not sack the city. There were cries of celebration. The city would not be sacked.

*In OTL, Marius was Postumus's successor as proclaimed by the soldiers.

Now, the main POD for this TL is that Postumus’s troops don’t kill him after he tells them to not sack Mogontiacum. I’m not sure if I’ll put in more PODs, but we’ll see what happens. Thank you for your time, and if things go well, I’ll keep making updates! Constructive criticism and thoughts about this TL would be greatly appreciated. I don’t want this to turn into anything stupid, and I certainly do not want to go ASB.
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