alternatehistory.com

Hey guys what up? It about time that I present my personal pet project to you guys(I having been trying to develop this on and off for a while now and I finally feel confident enough to release it.) For the last little while I have been trying to develop a timeline in which a small change (the survival of Labashi-Marduk to adulthood, which allows for a more stable Babylon which can resist Persia and eventual become it's main rival) can ultimately and forever change the nature of the entire world. So I present this a timeline called the History of Humanity an in depth timeline from 556 BC-to the modern day (or whenever we reach the point were they will have same technology). The style will be that of Lecture style narrative and story book (I shall jump in between the two from now and then). The Lecture style shall follow the life of Eudoxia Tranova who is attending the class of an energetic and young professor Alexander Valakos. In this way we will be able to catch glimpses of the future of this timeline. I shall be using the limited butterfly effect which means it won't kick in right away and it will be staggered so don't expect any changes in say China for a while after the POD. So prepare for the ride of you lives and enjoy.

The History of Humanity

The Rise of Shadrach​

Eudoxia began to look at the room of her dorm room. It wasn’t an overly good looking roof quite plan actually but she had nothing better to do, her roommate Richeza was out talking to some boy, a Bulgar all the way from Severin to be exact named Simeon. Her eyes began to drift and place them upon to the small desk next to her bed on it was a book titled “Ishtar & Mars: A history of Humanity from Mandaru and Cyrus to Numerius Vettius Iegius.” By Alexander Valakos. It was a birthday present from her parents before she left for University. Grabbing it she decided to take a look opening it up. She skipped the first couple of pages of the preface and the foreword, till she landed on a chapter called the Rise of Shadrach and Cyrus.
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The beginning of the great rivalry between Mandaru and Cyrus would not begin on the battlefield but rather on the policies of a powerful and ambitious noble and a young boy. That young boy was Labashi-Maduk son of the noble and wise Neriglissar I. At the time of his father’s death Neriglissar I, Labashi was only a small boy who was in no capacity to rule on his own. Though there are no clear accounts to verify how the empire was ruled during his early due to poor quality of the records and the biases in those the we have but it is widely believed that a councils of generals and the young boys mother. The accounts give that one of these general an Assyrian of lowly birth named Nabonidus. Nabonidus was part of a growing movement amoung the nobility that due to the young king age that he was unfit to rule over the vast Babylonia empire. Despite his heritage Nabonidus began to plot the young boy downfall gathering the support of many of the nobility. Finding support amoung the nobility was no challenge for Nabonidus was no challenge but he still needed a man on the inside the palace guard to commit the deed. With that in mind he approached Shadrach. Not much is known about Shadrach before the coup, no one knows were he was from but he is briefly mentioned as a brave warrior during the wars of The great Nebuchadnezzar II and the wise Neriglissar I. But regardless of who he was before the coup attempt his actions would lead to one of the most rapid rises to power in history. After Nabonidus had approached Shadrach confident that he had convinced him to do the deed, Shadrach approached the Queen and the Generals with news of Nabonidus treachery. The generals fearing Nabonidus growing influence with the nobility believed him and ordered his immediate execution. Only moments afterwards Shadrach was breaking through the front doors of Nabonidus quarters, dragging him from the streets and executing his family front of him and then slowly executing Nabonidus before going about executing the other conspirators. Now with Nabonidus dead the grateful regents raised him to the rank of head of the imperial guard and a general. Little did they know how ambitious this lowly solider was. Shadrach soon began to become close with the queen and the young king who according to records began to refer him as father though this account is often thrown into doubt as Shadrach son Mandaru wrote it to justify his dominance over Babylonia. This growing influence began to worry generals and they tried to remove him, but Shadrach moved faster he had the Generals accused of trying to usurpers to the throne and convinced the Queen to have all of the executed and the heads impaled on stakes and placed on the walls of the Ishtar Gate. Within a matter of months Shadrach had gone from lowly palace guard to the most powerful man the empire. He promised the young king his equally young daughter hand in marriage. He also shaped the education of the young king. Engrossing Labashi in the works of Hammurabi, astronomy, and religious texts, the stories of Gilgamesh. In hopes that he would create a wise king that would one day mimic the mighty Hammurabi- the Law Giver. But he did not teach the anything in the ways in military tactics that he left to his own son Mandaru how he had hoped would one day become a loyal and brilliant general. Thus it is to no surprise that both boys grew up the way they did Labashi-Marduk grew up to introverted yet smart king, who often focused on religious matters, while Mandaru grew up to be brilliant general and administrator. On 548 BC Shadrach died and the reign of Labashi began but more importantly the rise of Mandaru the Great began.

While all of this was happening in the Babylon much more curious and dramatic events were happening in the East in Persia. In the small kingdom of Anshan, who for a long time had been a tributary of the greater Median Empire, a young man was rising to throne of the small kingdom that was going to change everything. Around 559 BC the king Cambyses I died and his son Cyrus II inherited his throne. Around 552 BC the young Persian king was growing fed up with the policies of the Median king Astyages. So in 552 BC Cyrus went into open….”
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“What you reading there?”
Eudoxia jumped up a bit and looked up from the book. It was her roommate Richeza.
“Oh sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a book my parents got me.” Eudoxia said whilst folding the corner of the book.
“Hey I recognize that name.” Richeza said as she grabbed the book, “Isn’t he our Classical Civs Professor. Seems kind of odd that he would be doing a 1st year course.” Richeza put down the book on the desk, and turned towards Eudoxia. “Come on now we have to go downstairs, Simeon, and his friends are downstairs waiting for us.
“Okay, fine.” Eudoxia said grabbing her sweater and throwing it on, she had still had to get used to Brythonic weather, and with Richeza following behind her walked out the room.
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