Restitutor Orbis : Restorer of the World

Restitutor Orbis

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"The hells hath no fury like that of an emperor threatened"

"A common saying frequently used nowadays finds its origin within the reign of the Emperor Aurelian and was used to describe his punishment of those who dared conspire against him"
In the 5th year of his reign Emperor Aurelian while waiting at Caenophrurium before crossing into Asia Minor was approached by an unknown Tribune of the Praetorian Guard who informed Aurelian of a plot to assassinate him within the coming days.[1]

Aurelian's retribution was swift and brutal with the members of the conspiracy rounded up and interrogated in order to ensure all the conspirators were found before being crucified in a public showing. The brunt of Aurelian's wrath however was reserved for the secretary

Eros who had duped the conspirators into attempted regicide with forged documents suggesting Aurelian's wrath was soon to be directed towards them. [2] According to the historian Acholius


"Aurelian stripped him naked and brought him before the legion and asked whether he had their love. This was met with an outcry by the soldiers with much cheering and chest beating. However when Aurelian demanded to know why if they loved him they permitted liars and would

be regicide's near him the soldiers cheers soon became angry yells. Pleased with this reaction Aurelian threw him *Eros* into the seething throng of soldiers who proceeded to tear him apart in a most gruesome fashion."


With this potential crisis averted Aurelian was then free to continue his march towards Sassanid Persia in order to take advantage of the weakened state Shahanshah Bahram I found himself in.

By early June the next year Aurelian had arrived at Carrhae with his army. This sent shockwaves through Sassanid Persia with Bahram a notoriously weakwilled and indecisive leader sending peace envoys to Aurelian in attempt to prevent an invasion.

However Aurelian still resentful over Sassanid interference in his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire angrily stated


".....it *peace* shall not be had so easily why, would I the Emperor of the Roman Empire slink away with your petty offerings when I may stride into Ctesiphon itself and take for myself prizes far greater than these trinkets." Cato : A Restoration [3]

Setting out from Carrhae Aurelian cut a bloody swathe across Mesopotamia burning crops and and sacking towns as he went before encountering the Persian army outside Ctesiphon.

In a rare showing of backbone Bahram took charge of the Persian forces and arrayed his forces at a plain not far from Ctesiphon. It is here that Aurelian displayed his talent as a general. Choosing to engage in a traditional hammer and anvil tactic Aurelian sent his

skirmishers forward to harass and lure in the Persian army.

Unfortunately for the Persian's Bahram's sudden display of leadership was also accompanied by stubborn prider. Ignoring the advice of his experienced generals Bahram foolishly ordered the army to engage the Roman infantry with the two armys clashing at midday.

Aurelian pleased that the battle was going as he wished personally took charge of the Roman cavalry and smashed into the exposed Persian rear. It was here in this bloody mess that two most fortuitous events occured.

The first was the capture of Shahanshah Bahram I as he attempted to flee the carnage and more importantly the second event. In the confusion Aurelian thrown from his horse was nearly killed by a Persian soldier were it not for the timely intervention of a young

young infantryman by the name of Matthias.
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[1] The point of departure OTL Aurelian was murdered at Caenophrurium unaware of the conspiracy until the last second
[2] Eros did this as he had lied or stuffed up in some other fashion and tricked several officers of the Praetorian guard into murdering him to save himself from being punished by Aurelian
[3] Different Cato to the one in Caesar's time *Duh* I made him up as well so no one complain about him
 
These Aurelian TLs are all good ideas, I wonder if his army and taxation reforms will be similar to those of Diocletian? The Sol Invictus faith may have a chance to become the Empire's state religion now...
 
These Aurelian TLs are all good ideas, I wonder if his army and taxation reforms will be similar to those of Diocletian? The Sol Invictus faith may have a chance to become the Empire's state religion now...

I imagine there might be some similarities although I have no intention of Aurelian, or his heir splitting the empire in half and yes Sol Invictus will do well ITTL with Aurelian nurturing it and protecting it from those pesky christians.
 
While I'm thinking of it does anybody quite understand the Roman naming conventions? If so what exactly passes for a family name I intend to have Aurelian adopt a certain person ala the Four Good Emperors but I'm not quite sure how the name would end up.
 
Ave Imperator

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"Surely the Gods have smiled upon us to grant us so great a man as our ruler"

By the end of the day an estimated 3,000 Romans were dead wounded or dying of the 16,000 strong force that had marched from Carrhae as opposed to the estimated 7,000 dead or wounded amongst the Persians. On top of this the Persian Shahanshah Bahram I had been

captured while fleeing the battlefield along with several of his generals and high ranking members of the Sassanid court.

What followed was recorded as

"....three days of looting and raping with each soldier ensuring they would return home with as much loot and as many slaves as they could drag."[1] Cato : A Restoration

At the end of the three days Aurelian ordered the city to be razed and the ground to be symbolically sown with before turning his forces homeward prisoners and loot in tow. What Aurelian left behind was a shattered Empire which he knew would pose no threat to Roma for

generations.

The Roma Aurelian returned to in March in the eighth year of his reign was an optimistic one and rightly so.

To the east Roma's traditional enemy was falling apart with several self styled Kings and Shahanshah's carving miniature empires out of the failing Empire while in the west Marcus Claudius Tacitus had successfully repelled several incursions into Gaul by Frankish and

Alemannic tribes.

And perhaps most importantly Aurelian and Roma had an heir in the shape of the young infantryman Matthias[2] who Aurelian had come to grow fond of during the march home to Roma. Thus it is important to examine this young man who it seems shall someday bear the

weight of the Empire upon his shoulders.

Born the son of a Roman centurion and a romanised Gaul of the Averni tribe. He was Matthias for the christian apostle by his mother who was a devout christian and was consequently raised as such growing to have a deep understanding of the general workings of the cult.

However upon joining the Legion at 17 he quickly abandoned his childhood faith which he found to be confusing and false and exchanged it for the cult of Mithras. Possessed of shaggy dark brown hair and considerably taller than most man being 6ft 2" his most distinctive

feature most often written about were his eyes. A deep brown bordering on black.

‎"His eyes if one focuses upon them for too long seemingly become gateways to the abyss and I cannot help but feel terrified when I meet his gaze" Bahram I Diary of a Captive[3]

However in spite of this Matthias managed to become much loved by his peers and displayed a natural talent for all tasks presented to him.

Such things in mind it is perhaps easy to understand Aurelian's choice to adopt him as his son and heir.

In fact this decisioned was welcomed by many with the Legion the plebs and to a lesser degree the gallic tribes all pleased that one of their own had been chose.

Such a decision was decidedly unwelcome however to the Senatorial class seeing more and more of what little precious authority and prestige they had left slip through their fingers. However such things are left for another time.[4]

Aurelian's return to Roma was a grand affair moddled after the triumphs of the Republic.

Aurelian entered Roma via the Porta Triumphalis and then proceeded down the Via Triumphalis, made his way along the Via Sacra and into the forum, all the while towing the Sassanid Shahanshah Bahram I whose life he would spare and who would remain a captive in Roma

until his death along with one thousand Persian prisoners of war who were then later sent all over the Empire as a display of the might of the Emperor. Here however Aurelian makes a break with tradition. Instead of proceeding up the Capitoline Hill and sacrificing to Jupiter

Aurelian instead forced the procession to the Campus Agrippae and the temple of Oriens[5] where he made sacrifices instead.

Upon exiting the Temple

"Aurelian was confronted by the people of Roma angered over Aurelian's actions. Aurelian however said to the mob 'It was not by Jupiters hand the Empire was reunited nor was it by his hand the Sassanids were crushed and Ctesiphon razed to the ground such actions are that of

Orien and surely such actions are deserved of praise' with this the mob calmed and the cult of Oriens already popular with the masses soon grew more and more important to the people and the citizens of Roma proceeded to sacrifice to Oriens for many days" Cato : A Restoration

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[1] In the confusion Bahram I's son dies which coupled with Bahram's capture and imprisonment in Roma means no clear successor is established and plunges it into civil war

[2] The same Matthias who saved him at the Battle of Ctesiphon Aurelian took it as a sign and kept him close which partly influenced his decision to name him his heir

[3] Bahram I would go onto to pen a serious of diaries during his captivity which provide a unique insight into Aurelian and Matthias' reigns

[4] The senates open dislike of Matthias will have serious consequences for the Empires future

[5] The Sol Invictus cult was also named Oriens which I'm using for simplicities sake
 
No comments? No one feels the need to nitpick or offer advice or nothing? Or are you all just dumbstruck by the sheer awesomeness of it all :p
 
Right now it's time for the boring reforms etc that invariably come about when nobodies trying to kill each other in the Empire :p

Tempora mutantur et

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"And so we begin this time of change, may the gods save us should we fail"

It was in the tent year of his reign[1] that Aurelian taking advantage of the long period of peace that was to come gathered to himself a council of the most learned men in the Empire (Including his adoptive son Matthias who using his influence with the Imperator

also secured a place for his new found friend a man named Diocletian) and set about the monumental task of reforming an ailing Empire.

The largest of these issues it was agreed was the Roman economy specifically its currency. Before setting out east Aurelian had performed several measures intended to reinvigorate Roma's currency however these measures were failing and as such with peace in the Empire

a seeming certainty Aurelian set about massively reforming the Empires currency. The Empire was to be made to use three standardised coins. The Aureus made of pure gold, the Denarii which was to be made from pure silver once more and the Antoninianii which was made

of copper with 5% silver attached. Each of these newly minted coins were to bear Aurelians likeness on one side with the phrase Servus Oriens[2] inscribed on it and upon the other side the sun along with the date of the coins minting. All coins minted before this reform

were

to be exchanged at exchange points in the capitals of each Imperial province in exchange for new up to standard coins with all coins returned to be re-minted into the new standardised coins with all unexchanged coins to be by decree of the Imperator to be rendered (at

least theoretically) worthless[3]. This lengthy and expensive process with the Imperial treasury operating at a loss during the entire process was to ensure the Empire's coinage would have some protection from fluctuation in value and was funded almost entirely from loot

taken from the Persian campaign. Furthermore Aurelian heightened punishments for any minters found to be tampering with the coins in any fashion with the punishment for such a crime being a uniform death, Aurelian was after the escapade with Felicissimus unwilling to

tolerate any dissension from the mint workers and as such had a considerably short fuse whenever dealing with them.

Aurelian then moved onto reforming the administrative and taxation aspects of the Empire. For the former Aurelian doubled the number of provinces to roughly one hundred with each province being governed by a Regula[4] who were responsible for their provinces taxation and

for the meting out of justice in the local courts, Aurelian then further grouped these new provinces into tweleves Dioceses with each being headed by a Procurator[5]. Aurelian then changed the position of Consul. Each Consul was from then on to be appointed by the

Imperator with the Consul's to be placed in charge of the legions in the East and Western end of the Empire[6], furthermore each consul was to have a series of Duces beneath them with each Dux responsible for the organisation of the military forces of the province(s)

they were responsible for.

In regards to the latter Aurelian scrapped the existing tax system and replaced it with an entirely new one. Coupled with a regularised census of the Empires wealth and population, the new system would be based upon Capita and Iuga[7]. As well as this the officials

responsible for collecting these taxes the Decuriones were given authority to requisition the aid of any soldiers he felt were necessary to extract taxes from more unwilling citizens and were required to pay any shortfall out of their own pocket to ensure efficient collection of

taxes finally Aurelian further extended these taxes to all of Italia except the city of Roma itself who was to remain exempt from all taxes however such protection did not extend to the land surrounding the city which saw many Senators now being required to pay taxes

furthering the already considerable rift between the Imperator and the Senate.

Finally Aurelian acting under the advice of his adoptive son Matthias[8] took the unprecedented step of under set conditions legalising the various christian cults. All christian's who wished to be permitted to practice their faith legally were required to firstly, make their

presence known to their provinces Regula or his representatives. Secondly to swear allegiance to the Empire and her Imperator publicly. Third to pay extra taxes for the 'privilege' of being permitted to freely worship. Fourth to preach and worship only in their own homes or

in specially designated areas and finally, to respect to legitimacy of all other religions as well as all the legitimacy of all other interpretations of christianity and to permit converts to worship both the christian god and their own local gods. Naturally this unprecedented move

was met with mixed emotions by christians all over the Empire.

"......there was much division amongst them (christians) over the matter. Many were tired of living in fear of persecution and were willing to acquiesce to Aurelian's demands if only to be permitted to live without fear. Whereas a few who were fanatical in their faith saw Aurelian's actions as an attempt to curb and ultimately destroy their faith and so moved to act out against Aurelian only to meet their ends at the hands of the Occulta Pugiones" Agathon : Oriens from the Imperator Deus to the Present.

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[1] OTL 280 A.D.
[2] "Servant of Oriens"
[3]The further away from Roma one travelled the more and more unsanctioned coins were used with many choosing to ignore the Aurelian's reform and continue using what coins they already had as well as the new ones.
[4]"Governor"
[5]"Trustee"
[6]Marcus Aurelius Probus was Consul of the East while Marcus Claudius Tactius was in charge of the West.
[7]"Heads and Land" See OTL Diocletian's tax reforms for more information
[8]Matthias has also changed faiths once again this time from Mithras to the cult of Oriens and has quickly become in the public's eyes its champion.
 
No comments? No one feels the need to nitpick or offer advice or nothing? Or are you all just dumbstruck by the sheer awesomeness of it all :p

One minor nit-pick is that Aurelian was 61 when he became Imperator.

Having his post-assination reign lasting more than 10 years is pushing it into implausible territory.
 
Define "recognize the legitimacy of other religions"--acknowledge they have the legal right to exist or acknowledge them as being true?

The former is no big--most Christians in the world don't believe in religious persecution--but the latter requires changing Christian doctrine entirely.
 
One minor nit-pick is that Aurelian was 61 when he became Imperator.

Having his post-assination reign lasting more than 10 years is pushing it into implausible territory.

And now he's pushing 70 which considering he's got access to the best doctors a legion can buy as well as living a healthy lifestyle its not so implausible besides he's not going to last much longer anyway I doubt Matthias could wait that long to get his hands on the Empire.
 
Define "recognize the legitimacy of other religions"--acknowledge they have the legal right to exist or acknowledge them as being true?

The former is no big--most Christians in the world don't believe in religious persecution--but the latter requires changing Christian doctrine entirely.

Basically yes acknowledge they have the legal right to exist though it's left rather ambiguous to provide the Imperator with leeway in the future just in case. Mostly though those christians who accept Aurelian and Matthias' terms will content themselves with putting up with living next door to pagans their not allowed to convert and paying the extra taxes in exchange for the Imperator not wanting to crucify them on the side of the road.
 
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