Rise of Axum: A Timeline
- Thread starter Yelnoc
- Start date
Remembre at this time Rome still traded with India, via the Nile canal. And Indian ships traveled thru the canal, as far as Britain.
This all changed when the Muslims destroyed Axum as a Naval Power, and Middleman in this trade triangle.
A stronger Axum will mean the Nile canal continues past the 600's.
?Anyone know anything about Axum's church's position on the Nestorians?
In my 1492 TL, I remembre reading about Byzantine Priests traveling in Nubia during the 600 ~ 800 period, imparting a strong Byzantine impression on Religious Art and Buildings.
With this earlier Ethiopian Church, there will be a lot less Roman/Byzantine influence in Art and Buildings.
Ethiopians built in Stone, due to a lack of building wood, thro they where Master Wicker makers.
I expect a lot more Stone and Adobe in Ethiopia's Massive style thru Nubia and Yemen/Arabia.
This all changed when the Muslims destroyed Axum as a Naval Power, and Middleman in this trade triangle.
A stronger Axum will mean the Nile canal continues past the 600's.
?Anyone know anything about Axum's church's position on the Nestorians?
In my 1492 TL, I remembre reading about Byzantine Priests traveling in Nubia during the 600 ~ 800 period, imparting a strong Byzantine impression on Religious Art and Buildings.
With this earlier Ethiopian Church, there will be a lot less Roman/Byzantine influence in Art and Buildings.
Ethiopians built in Stone, due to a lack of building wood, thro they where Master Wicker makers.
I expect a lot more Stone and Adobe in Ethiopia's Massive style thru Nubia and Yemen/Arabia.
Actually, this is the time of the Ethiopian Church. Frumentius, its first Bishop, was commision by Anusthasius(spelling?) in I believe 328. As to Nestorianism, the Axumites were on the opposite side with the Egyptians as Monophysites.
That's an interesting insight on the buildings which could come in handy.
Now, I didn't know that a canal existed at this time, I will have to do some research on that.
Another question, is the format that this is written ok? Is it too hard to read? Also is the new map good?
Like this timeline, looking forward to seeing more. The text is ok, I don't have any problems. The new map is good, too, though maybe a map of the wider world could be good if doable.
I wonder just what kinds of butterflies will result from a stronger Axum with regards to the Roman Empire? Might this cause the Empire (or at least the Eastern half) to be better off than OTL? Perhaps a stronger Axum would be an asset to Rome during its wars with Persia? This reminds me, how big exactly is the Axumite army? I've often searched for data on the Net, but haven't been able to gleam much stuff.
How big do you think the overall population of the empire is here? I recall reading that Axum (the city) might have had 20,000 people at its height. Maybe if things go well, Axum might become the Rome of East Africa.
I wonder just what kinds of butterflies will result from a stronger Axum with regards to the Roman Empire? Might this cause the Empire (or at least the Eastern half) to be better off than OTL? Perhaps a stronger Axum would be an asset to Rome during its wars with Persia? This reminds me, how big exactly is the Axumite army? I've often searched for data on the Net, but haven't been able to gleam much stuff.
How big do you think the overall population of the empire is here? I recall reading that Axum (the city) might have had 20,000 people at its height. Maybe if things go well, Axum might become the Rome of East Africa.
The problem is that information is so scarce on Axum that, as time goes on, I will have to simply make up a lot of this stuff. There is absolutely zero data on the internet about Axumite troop strengths. Basically, I took the idea of regiments from David Drake's Belisarius series, actually numbers are up to debate. I expect that the population of Axum will increase dramatically as people begin to migrate in search of a new life.Like this timeline, looking forward to seeing more. The text is ok, I don't have any problems. The new map is good, too, though maybe a map of the wider world could be good if doable.
I wonder just what kinds of butterflies will result from a stronger Axum with regards to the Roman Empire? Might this cause the Empire (or at least the Eastern half) to be better off than OTL? Perhaps a stronger Axum would be an asset to Rome during its wars with Persia? This reminds me, how big exactly is the Axumite army? I've often searched for data on the Net, but haven't been able to gleam much stuff.
How big do you think the overall population of the empire is here? I recall reading that Axum (the city) might have had 20,000 people at its height. Maybe if things go well, Axum might become the Rome of East Africa.
As to butterflies, at this point they can basically go any way we want them to go. I am tempted to minimize their impact so that the story can continue on a semblance of RL events, though I am open to suggestions. As to Rome, hopefully the Byzantines will eventually be a satellite of Axum, not the otherw a around. I will work on that world map today.
Part IV: Second Intermediate Period
At the time of Mehadeyis’s death, his oldest son, Zoskales, was only eleven years old, necessitating another rule of the triumvirate. By 389, Ousanas and Eon were old men who wanted nothing to do with affairs of state. That left Datawnas and the younger regiment commanders, Wazeba and Gadarat to stay the course of the Empire for seven years.
It quickly became apparent that this would not be as stable a triumvirate as the last one. Gadarat was for all intents and purposes a war-monger, demanding that Axum south to the Blue Nile and all across the Arabian coast of the Red Sea to Nabataea. To placate him, Datawnas and Wazeba allowed Gadarat to lead an expedition in the Hijaz (between Yemen and Mecca). The campaign proved a mixed success. The Hijaz fell firmly under Axum’s control, but Gadarat was severely injured, taking a spear in his stomach. His old regiment promoted Nezool, a more cool-headed, veteran warrior to the command, and thus to the triumvirate.
After the death of Mehadeyis, a charismatic leader came to power in Bega. He preached that they should not be vassals, beholden to Axum, but instead free to do what they like. In 393, he began to organize the warriors for a mass raid on Roman Egypt. Back in Axum, the triumvirate received word that the Begans were preparing for a revolt and acted accordingly, dispatching three regiments under the joint command of Wazeba and Nezool.
In the face of such overwhelming force, the resistance collapsed immediately. The leader was executed and as punishment, Bega was annexed as a province. The next three years were relatively uneventful, with Axum’s continued profit from trade and tribute.
In 396, Zoskales legally became a man, thus fit to rule the empire. But there was a problem. Zoskales was mentally retarded. The triumvirate declared him unfit to rule, and Zoskales was to Mecca, to keep him away from any scheming members of the court and, hopefully, to catch smallpox. This put Ouazebas next in line for the succession.
During this period, the Roman Empire began to fall apart, with the Western half constantly besieged by barbarian hordes and the east locked in a deadly struggle against the Sassanid Persians. With the death of Shapur II, the Sassanid’s agreed to a peace, allowing the east to recover. Theodosius, the last emperor to rule both halves of Rome, died in 395, after which the empire became permanently divided. In the west, the emperor was mearly a figure head, controlled by the wishes of his Germanic army, while in the east, Emperor Arcadius was dominated by his advisor and wife.
The world at large continued to ignore Axum; for all intents and purposes, they were simply “that ambiguous kingdom on the Red Sea”. But with the coronation of Ouazebas, that perception would begin to change.
Empire of Axum at the Coronation of Ouazebas
I can't see this, both from a Population and a distance problem.
It is 2000 Miles from Suez to Djibouti, or 4~8 days depending on whether it's a War Galley or a Fat Merchantman.
Even if Axum takes Egypt, It will remain a Desert Kingdom. I don't see it being able to project enuff force to overcome the Population disparity.
I don't know if you've seen this already, but I made these for your request, that you could consider. Xwarq beat me to it, but I decided to post them anyway, in case they were more helpful.
Thankyou for that. I posted a response over at the blank map thread, sorry I didn't see it earlier.
Go ahead. You're not treading new ground there. I did a Christian Muhammad in my THE THIRD HITTITE EMPIRE timeline several years ago. Nobody got bent out of shape over it.
Well, I already killed off his ancestor when I let the people of Azd execute Qusai ibn Kilab, but I will remember this for future reference.
Valdemar II
Banned
I find that doubtful, Constantinoble doesn't lend itself easy to vassalage from a position in East Africa. But if Constantinoble collapes in the late 4th Century. Maybe the Goths win the Gothic War and the Easten Emperor are forced to flee to Alexandria, with Balkans and Anatolia under Visigothic rule. Here the East Romans lend themself to conquest of vassalage by Axum much easier. Of course the effect on European history are going to be enourmous (with the Visigoths in the Balkans, we may see the Vandals stay in Andalusia resulting in a continued Roman control of North Africa and the west Mediterranean isles, and seas), we will likely see a surviving West Roman Empire.
Well, I don't have much of an outline for the next few installments, but I think that in this time the Cyprian plague would have been much harsher, crippling the Eastern Roman Empire, and the split between Mono- and Diophisitism will be much more severe, ultimately resulting in a rebellion of Egypt, Syria, and the Levant. These areas would be backed by Axum, and at the same time the Sassanids would be invading from the east and I suppose the goths can swoop in from the west. How does that sound for a general direction?
Good work so far. Keep it up.
I did like the line about all the treasure going to the king's hairdressers. (Yes, I know you meant treasury.)
I did like the line about all the treasure going to the king's hairdressers. (Yes, I know you meant treasury.)
Part V: The Roman War
In 399, Ouazebas was crowned Negusa Nagast, ruler of Axum. His realm stretched from the Nile to Socotra and from Nubia to the Ethiopian highlands; a true empire. But to the rest of the world, Axum was nothing but a barbarian kingdom on the edge of civilization. He made it his first priority to fix this. After a relatively uneventful two-year tour of the Empire, Ouazebas tasked his younger twin brothers to visit Persia and Rome and establish diplomatic relations.
Endubis was sent to Constantinople, where he met Emperor Arcadius and his domineering wife Aelia Eudoxia. But the real power behind the throne was Arcadius’s advisor, Eutropius. Eutropius had just acceded to the advisorship after engineering the death of Arcadiu’s previous advisor, Rufinus. Eutropius was hated for his greed and cruelty, and had made enemies of both Empress Aelia and Gainas, leader of the gothic mercenaries.
Endubis saw what a precarious position the Byzantine throne was in, and decided to take action. He wheedled his way into Arcadius’s confidence as the Emperor’s Confessor, an ironic position as the devout Endubis followed a version of Christianity that was considered by the Imperial Church heretical. He also befriended the empress and Gainas, and together the three of them overthrew Eutropius. Endubis’s goal in this was to install himself as Arcadius’s advisor, and thus control the Byzantine Empire behind the shadows for Axum.
In 403, Arcadius was poisoned to death. Gainus blamed Endubis and demanded he be executed for assassinating the Emperor. Endubis pleaded his innocence to Aelia, but was dismissed from the royal court and sentenced to death. In 404, Endubis was executed for high treason, thus washing the hands of the real assassins.
In 402, Aphilas arrived in Ctesiphon to greet Yazdegerd, a young, energetic king who was in full control of his court and country. The two struck an instant friendship through which learned tidbits of important information. The new ruler was very tolerant, discontinuing the persecution of Christians which had gone on under his predecessors. The second, even more important thing was that the Yazdegerd dreamed to be as great a leader has his Great-Grandfather, Shapur II, and saw his first priority as regaining influence from Rome in Armenia.
In 404, Aphilas learned that his twin had been executed in Constantinople and that Ouazebas was preparing for a massive invasion of Egypt. He quickly negotiated an alliance with Yazdegerd who was eager to test himself and his nation in war.
Back in Axum, Ouazebas took his time planning, making sure that his revenge would incapacitate the northern beast. Multiple axumite regiments were raised up along with Began cavalry, and Hadhramaut vassal warriors.
Gainas heard of Ouazebas’s massive preperations and left to Egypt with most of the army. With his absence in Constantinople, John Chrysostom attempted to seize control, claiming that Aelia had infact poisoned her own husband and then handed control of the empire over to gothic barbarians (all of which was true). He managed to imprison her and, appointed his friend Anthemius, the Praetorian Prefect, to Regent Emperor. When Gainas heard of this, he rushed back to Constantinople, leaving only a small guard on the Egyptian border.
He reached Constantinople in early 405 and demanded that Aelia be released and John and Anthemius be executed for high treason. The exact sequence of events is unknown, but soon thereafter fighting broke out between his loyal gothic mercenaries and the units raised in Byzantium. He troops one the fight, but their strength was severely depleted. Gainas then executed all of those he thought might be political opponents of his. The following week, the Sassanids invaded.
Gainas knew that he could not face the massive Persian forces, but even more dangerously, the citizens of Constantinople resented his gothic troops. Less than a month after the Sassanid invasion, the remainder of his army was massacred in the streets of Constantinople and he and his lover Aelia were executed.
Upon hearing of Gainas’s death and the vulnerability of Constantinople, Tribigild, the leader of the Ostrogoth colony in Phyrgia (central Anatolia) rebelled again and marched on Constantinople. Fearing the populance within, he lay siege to the city, demanding that Phyrgia be made autonomous from Rome.
Persia had forced Armenia back into Vassalage and invaded roman Syria. He had made inroads, before being stopped by a young General named Anastasius. When Anastasius heard of the events in Constantinople, he had no choice but to withdraw from Syria to restore order in the capital, allowing Yazdegerd I to take the entire province.
In this same month, Ouazebas launched his invasion. He ferried troops up the Nile into Egypt, where the roman detachments were easily defeated. By the end of the month, all of the historical Upper Egypt had fallen to Axum.
While Axum and Persia absorbed their new territories and prepared for more conquests, Anastasius rushed back to Constantinople, where he quickly defeated Tribigild and assume control of the empire. He then raised more legions while sending out envoys to Ouazebas and Yazdegerd begging for peace. Yazdegerd was content with his new holding which gave him a port on the Mediterranean and accepted, rerouting some of his troops to subjugate Armenia while Rome was still reeling. Ouazebas, still fired by vengeance would not so easily be persuaded, and demanded that Lower Egypt and the Levant be created into the independent state of Egypt, a protectorate of Axum.
Anastasius expectedly disagreed, and sailed south to meet Ouazebas in battle. Their armies clashed outside the ruins of the ancient city of Akhetaten. The romans were severely outnumbered by the Axumite army and consisted mostly of armored cataphracts. Seeing the potential for disaster, Ouazebas encamped his army inside of the city ruins. The king would send single regiments towards the Roman camp in an attempt to lure them back into battle in the ruins, a strategy which ultimately proved successful.
Anastasius’s subordinate officers proved to be headstrong, and on the third day of the battle disobeyed his orders, leading the roman army in a mad chase after the Axumite infantry regiment. In the ruins, the heavy cavalry lost their advantage and were surrounded and slaughtered by axumite warriors armed with spears. Anastasius himself was captured while attempting to salvage his army.
The war ended in fall of 405, and was a crushing defeat for Rome; Axum gained Upper Egypt, Persia gained Syria and regained influence in Armenia, and the Kingdom of Egypt was made independent under the protection of Axum. Anastasius returned to Constantinople bitter. He quickly installed himself as Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, opening up another wound; the western Empire.
Map of the World at the end of the Roman War in 405 AD