This is my first attempt to design an alternate roman history. And I am afraid, it will be different to what you are used to read. This is not a story or a novel. I am no native speaker, so I am not able to write a good novel. And I like to formally apologize for my bad english in advance.
Therefore my approach is, to design a new roman empire with a set of beneficial reforms from a more scientific point of view. I will desribe these multiple reforms in detail. The goal of these reforms is, to design an administrative, political, social and militarian structure of the roman empire, which is hopefully able to avoid the flaws of the principate, include some of the good ideas from late empire earlier, and preserve more of the advantages of the roman republic, than Augustus' principate did.
The final question is: Are all these changes, I will describe, appropriate in order to empower the roman empire and are they feasible at all looking to the roman culture and mindset?
I would not call it a constitional monarchy. I am convinced, that this is impossible in the roman world. Roman history tells us, that "constitution is, what is enforceable". Even if constitution is everything, I do not expect too much from a piece of papyrus only in roman times. I am also convinced, that the roman republic was fully braindead years before Caesar crossed the Rubicon. So don't expect a nostalgic revival like Cicero described it in his letters. My idea is something like a better controlled, more stable and efficient principate in a more republican imperium, which is prospering and at the peak of its power for the next centuries.
I call it simply:
RES PVBLICA RECONSTITVTA (RPR)
A set of feasible reforms in the roman principate
Even if I promised, to not maltreat you with any attempt to write a story, I can't fully neglect contemporary history. So I will try to cover a little bit of contemporary history in my reforms, whenever it is expedient. One first case is, that every alternate history should have a starting point. My goal is, to change the principate for the better. So the question is, when is the perfect point of time and event? And who could be this brilliant guy, who will change the roman world forever?
One option I thought about initially, was Augustus himself. What if Augustus, after he saw, that his new principate was working well and is barely disputed anymore, came to the conclusion, that it is about time, to adjust his model again for the better? Well I think, Augustus was a true conservative roman aristocrat. No way, he will give up any power he reached the hard way for his julian-caesarian family. But perhaps Augustus could have a sympathetic ear, for his very familiar designated heir, discusses options and necessities with him and let him do the job, after he died peacefully.
My first idea was Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a great reformer and commander in Augustus' new team. But honestly, if Augustus really dies in 24 BC and Agrippa becomes princeps, the principate is still far away from stability. Augustus' longevity was a godsend for the principate and the main reason, why his succesor Tiberius could follow him that smoothly on the throne. And furthermore Agrippa would just have 12 more years under very bad circumstances to reform the republic to an extent, that it becomes a no-brainer.
Finally Euromellows with his thread "Interauctoritas and Renovatio" gave me the decisive hint, who can do it. After the death of Augustus it is the perfect time to start adjusting the principate. We just need another heir than Tiberius. And we get this heir with a more republican mindset, if Drusus does not fall from this damn horse!
So Drusus, not Tiberius is the heir of Augustus in my alternate history. Replace him with any other powerful and intellectual guy with a more republican mindset. It does'nt matter. And honestly, I don't care that much about persons anyways. I am thinking in structures and processes. So If you like to know more about Drusus, a possible contemporary history, and read a really great story, look for Euromellows thread:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=249126
My thread here is by no means any kind of competition or enhancement of Euromellows thread. It is a fully different approach to the subject, using the same event as a starting point by accident. Well No, I am using Drusus by very good reasons.
A few months after Drusus became princeps, and all this hype with ceremonies, parties and games was over, the first measure of the new emperor was a speech in the Senate of Rome.
In this first speech in front of the senate, he revealed relentlessly to the senate all the problems he saw with the current state of the principate. He explained clearly, why the current constitution is autocratic and this state will become autocratic, if just any future princeps got the balls to do so. And every senator of Rome is in danger to loose his power and perhaps his property and life, if just an other princeps rules.
He also explaines to the shocked senate that the legions are still the biggest threat for the young reconstituted republic, and again for the property and life of all roman senators. He as a princeps sees no chance, to avoid another civil war, if just the pressure to the state becomes bad enough by accident.
He accused the senators for still just taking care about their own wealth, career, dignitas and auctoritas while the people of Rome and most of the friendly and willing peregrines all over the empire are living on the breadline. He told the senate, that he is convinced, that a prospering empire with a prospering economy and increasing wealth for all romans is just possible longterm, if the senate itself becomes again responsible for SPQR and not just for themselves and their families.
Drusus even went into details, showing very precisely how taxation is flawed and the empire looses near to a billion sesterces per year. Money which is property of the people of Rome and should be under control of the honorable senate of Rome. He accused exploiting proconsules and corrupt judges namely in front of the senate. And he accused the senate itself, to prevent, that the good guys in the provinces and the central magistrate can do their job right, by not granting enough ressources to them.
Then he called the senate and the entire class of the senators undemocratic and traitors of the republic. Drusus pointed out clearly, that it is not acceptable from a roman point of view, that all the romans all over the world in the provinces got no political rights, simply because they are too far away from the comitia in Rome. He called that situation fully unroman and a derision of the fathers of the republic, every senator in this room is responsible for personally.
Finally Drusus tuned his voice down and sympathised with the senators, telling them, that he fully understands, that every roman has to take care about his wife, his chlidren and his clients. But, raising his voice again, Drusus postulated, that it is the holy duty of every roman senator to take his personal responsibility further than that.
Tuning down his voice again, he promised, that he will accept the challenge and design a set of reforms, which will lead the roman republic to a better future with more justice, freedom and wealth for the people and the senate of Rome.
At the end of his speech Drusus shortly listed the reforms, he considered necessary in order to reach this ambitious goal:
- a military reform to reorganize structure of the forces, functions and promotions
- a reform of provincial administration
- a reform of central administration
- a reform of communal administration in the City of Rome, all roman cities and and all cities of the empire willing to join.
- a reform of the duties and responsibilities of the classes of the roman society
- a reform of the infrastructure and communication in this wide empire
- a reform of education
- a reform to increase public health
- a reform of security in the provinces and all cities willing to join
- a reform of agriculture, finance & banking as well as economy & trade all over the empire
- a reform of census and taxation
- a reform of the jurisdiction on imperial and provincial level as well as for all roman cities.
- a reform of the military and civil part of the cursus honorum, rearranging all civil and military careers and partially their duties
- a reform of the roman senate and the comitia, the according processes, duties and responsibilities
- leading to an overall reform of the roman republican system on imperial, provincial and communal level under the guidance of the princeps
- and finally a strategy to deal with all threats at the borders of the roman empire conclusively and forever.
All senators, which were not busy at this point of time, to get the shit out of their toga, applauded heavily to this brisk and mighty new princeps.
More about these reforms in detail in the next days and weeks. I will start with the basic reforms first, most propably the military reform. So it will need some time until you get the full picture.
I beg your pardon for that, and I also ask you, to not hesitate to criticize every single aspect of my plan and the reforms. Just publishing some nice reforms leads to nothing but academic masturbation. With your strong feedback and the following discussion, we will perhaps figure out together, what was feasible in roman times and what not. Why some measures must fail, because unacceaptable for a roman, and why other measures might be succesful.
More to come soon .....
PS: Looking to this long list of necessary reforms, I just recognized how absurde the idea of a reconstituted roman republic really is
Therefore my approach is, to design a new roman empire with a set of beneficial reforms from a more scientific point of view. I will desribe these multiple reforms in detail. The goal of these reforms is, to design an administrative, political, social and militarian structure of the roman empire, which is hopefully able to avoid the flaws of the principate, include some of the good ideas from late empire earlier, and preserve more of the advantages of the roman republic, than Augustus' principate did.
The final question is: Are all these changes, I will describe, appropriate in order to empower the roman empire and are they feasible at all looking to the roman culture and mindset?
I would not call it a constitional monarchy. I am convinced, that this is impossible in the roman world. Roman history tells us, that "constitution is, what is enforceable". Even if constitution is everything, I do not expect too much from a piece of papyrus only in roman times. I am also convinced, that the roman republic was fully braindead years before Caesar crossed the Rubicon. So don't expect a nostalgic revival like Cicero described it in his letters. My idea is something like a better controlled, more stable and efficient principate in a more republican imperium, which is prospering and at the peak of its power for the next centuries.
I call it simply:
RES PVBLICA RECONSTITVTA (RPR)
A set of feasible reforms in the roman principate
Even if I promised, to not maltreat you with any attempt to write a story, I can't fully neglect contemporary history. So I will try to cover a little bit of contemporary history in my reforms, whenever it is expedient. One first case is, that every alternate history should have a starting point. My goal is, to change the principate for the better. So the question is, when is the perfect point of time and event? And who could be this brilliant guy, who will change the roman world forever?
One option I thought about initially, was Augustus himself. What if Augustus, after he saw, that his new principate was working well and is barely disputed anymore, came to the conclusion, that it is about time, to adjust his model again for the better? Well I think, Augustus was a true conservative roman aristocrat. No way, he will give up any power he reached the hard way for his julian-caesarian family. But perhaps Augustus could have a sympathetic ear, for his very familiar designated heir, discusses options and necessities with him and let him do the job, after he died peacefully.
My first idea was Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a great reformer and commander in Augustus' new team. But honestly, if Augustus really dies in 24 BC and Agrippa becomes princeps, the principate is still far away from stability. Augustus' longevity was a godsend for the principate and the main reason, why his succesor Tiberius could follow him that smoothly on the throne. And furthermore Agrippa would just have 12 more years under very bad circumstances to reform the republic to an extent, that it becomes a no-brainer.
Finally Euromellows with his thread "Interauctoritas and Renovatio" gave me the decisive hint, who can do it. After the death of Augustus it is the perfect time to start adjusting the principate. We just need another heir than Tiberius. And we get this heir with a more republican mindset, if Drusus does not fall from this damn horse!
So Drusus, not Tiberius is the heir of Augustus in my alternate history. Replace him with any other powerful and intellectual guy with a more republican mindset. It does'nt matter. And honestly, I don't care that much about persons anyways. I am thinking in structures and processes. So If you like to know more about Drusus, a possible contemporary history, and read a really great story, look for Euromellows thread:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=249126
My thread here is by no means any kind of competition or enhancement of Euromellows thread. It is a fully different approach to the subject, using the same event as a starting point by accident. Well No, I am using Drusus by very good reasons.
A few months after Drusus became princeps, and all this hype with ceremonies, parties and games was over, the first measure of the new emperor was a speech in the Senate of Rome.
In this first speech in front of the senate, he revealed relentlessly to the senate all the problems he saw with the current state of the principate. He explained clearly, why the current constitution is autocratic and this state will become autocratic, if just any future princeps got the balls to do so. And every senator of Rome is in danger to loose his power and perhaps his property and life, if just an other princeps rules.
He also explaines to the shocked senate that the legions are still the biggest threat for the young reconstituted republic, and again for the property and life of all roman senators. He as a princeps sees no chance, to avoid another civil war, if just the pressure to the state becomes bad enough by accident.
He accused the senators for still just taking care about their own wealth, career, dignitas and auctoritas while the people of Rome and most of the friendly and willing peregrines all over the empire are living on the breadline. He told the senate, that he is convinced, that a prospering empire with a prospering economy and increasing wealth for all romans is just possible longterm, if the senate itself becomes again responsible for SPQR and not just for themselves and their families.
Drusus even went into details, showing very precisely how taxation is flawed and the empire looses near to a billion sesterces per year. Money which is property of the people of Rome and should be under control of the honorable senate of Rome. He accused exploiting proconsules and corrupt judges namely in front of the senate. And he accused the senate itself, to prevent, that the good guys in the provinces and the central magistrate can do their job right, by not granting enough ressources to them.
Then he called the senate and the entire class of the senators undemocratic and traitors of the republic. Drusus pointed out clearly, that it is not acceptable from a roman point of view, that all the romans all over the world in the provinces got no political rights, simply because they are too far away from the comitia in Rome. He called that situation fully unroman and a derision of the fathers of the republic, every senator in this room is responsible for personally.
Finally Drusus tuned his voice down and sympathised with the senators, telling them, that he fully understands, that every roman has to take care about his wife, his chlidren and his clients. But, raising his voice again, Drusus postulated, that it is the holy duty of every roman senator to take his personal responsibility further than that.
Tuning down his voice again, he promised, that he will accept the challenge and design a set of reforms, which will lead the roman republic to a better future with more justice, freedom and wealth for the people and the senate of Rome.
At the end of his speech Drusus shortly listed the reforms, he considered necessary in order to reach this ambitious goal:
- a military reform to reorganize structure of the forces, functions and promotions
- a reform of provincial administration
- a reform of central administration
- a reform of communal administration in the City of Rome, all roman cities and and all cities of the empire willing to join.
- a reform of the duties and responsibilities of the classes of the roman society
- a reform of the infrastructure and communication in this wide empire
- a reform of education
- a reform to increase public health
- a reform of security in the provinces and all cities willing to join
- a reform of agriculture, finance & banking as well as economy & trade all over the empire
- a reform of census and taxation
- a reform of the jurisdiction on imperial and provincial level as well as for all roman cities.
- a reform of the military and civil part of the cursus honorum, rearranging all civil and military careers and partially their duties
- a reform of the roman senate and the comitia, the according processes, duties and responsibilities
- leading to an overall reform of the roman republican system on imperial, provincial and communal level under the guidance of the princeps
- and finally a strategy to deal with all threats at the borders of the roman empire conclusively and forever.
All senators, which were not busy at this point of time, to get the shit out of their toga, applauded heavily to this brisk and mighty new princeps.
More about these reforms in detail in the next days and weeks. I will start with the basic reforms first, most propably the military reform. So it will need some time until you get the full picture.
I beg your pardon for that, and I also ask you, to not hesitate to criticize every single aspect of my plan and the reforms. Just publishing some nice reforms leads to nothing but academic masturbation. With your strong feedback and the following discussion, we will perhaps figure out together, what was feasible in roman times and what not. Why some measures must fail, because unacceaptable for a roman, and why other measures might be succesful.
More to come soon .....
PS: Looking to this long list of necessary reforms, I just recognized how absurde the idea of a reconstituted roman republic really is
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