The Pivot

Well, I've had a lot of fun reading everything (or a tenth of everything) that people have written, so I thought I'd have a shot.

I quite like the idea of my pivotal characters looking back over their lives, or sections of their lives. I hope it's going to hold together, but I'm sure I'll be told if it doesn't.

My timeline is subject to revision, so I'll probably do that as we go along. I've done a map or two so far, so when it comes time we'll see how the planet is looking.

Because the ATL doesn't have as many dead spots as the OTL, some things happen a lot faster. There are also a few things that don't happen, because in the OTL someone got lucky.

So here's the taster:
- Philo of Byzantium lives ten more years. Instead of dying in 220 BC he lives until 210 BC, allowing the Roman Senate to establish the College of Engineering at Byzantium.
- The only other change occurs when Julius Caesar sets fire to his boats in Alexandria. The wind is blowing the other way and doesn't burn part of the Great Library.

Other interesting things are:-
- A Rome that reduces it's armed forces while building both its technology and its diplomatic corps. Imagine Rome with its own CIA. But it gets democracy ... of a sort.
- A more muscular Christianity as the State religion. And the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and Thomas.
- A Jewish state around the edges of the Arabian Peninsula
- A splintered India
- No Islam
- England as a mine and prison for the Roman Empire
- Ireland, Scotland, Alaska, Canada and the Scandanavian countries as a union of independent Viking states
- Germany and the Great Wood as wild territory
- The Uighers and Mongols under a Manichaeism belief system.
- Korea holds Myazaki Prefecture at the Southern island of Japan and dominates China
- New Zealand as a refuge for Pacific Island, Chinese and Japanese Buddhists
- A deeply disturbed Central American society that has resulted in a vastly depopulated US.

In terms of technology
- gunpowder and explosives arrive a lot earlier
- rubber arrives a lot later, meaning public transport runs on rails
- film gets skipped over entirely, and digital comes very early
- Cocaine is treated as a military drug (particularly in Rome), whereas heroin and cannabis are kill on sight drugs

The other thing is that the record-keeping is tighter. There is no argument about Jesus, for example, because the Romans have his birth certificate and school attendance forms. There's less room for argument and schism in the early Christian church because the paperwork is there. So people like St Peter don't have the same political opportunities.

I'm not quite sure how to treat Australia and Africa yet, but I'm sure it will work itself out.
 
The other thing is that the record-keeping is tighter. There is no argument about Jesus, for example, because the Romans have his birth certificate and school attendance forms. There's less room for argument and schism in the early Christian church because the paperwork is there. So people like St Peter don't have the same political opportunities

birth certificates? school attendence forms? can Rome even get that by 1 AD? i always considered that a modern invention.
 
Philo of Byzantium

I have seen the world in pieces, and each piece having a place to fit. I have put it back as best I can, but it is up to others to make it stronger, better, faster. Philo of Byzantium

They call me Philo Mechanicas, the mechanical man. The children follow me in the street, to hear my clockwork sparrow and watch my carnival of automica. But my true legacy is the Collegiate of Engineering, a gathering place for all of the pretty baubles I have collected over my life.

Forgive me if I lapse back into the Greek of my childhood – if I could create one thing it would be a way for my voice to be part of Rome. But the Romans have done well. If I relied on my countrymen to build this we would end up discussing the philosophy of bricks before a single brick was laid. The Romans are a dull but practical people. They have rendered my Mechanike Syntaxis and built a house for every chapter. I know the Senate has sent you to see if they have the true measure of the sestercius they have spent.

We will do wonderful things here.

In the centre you can see my Isagoge. Where else should mathematics be but at the very centre. My humble college is not as famous as Alexandria, but I am certainly better rewarded than Tesibius. If he had not passed I would have sent for him to join me.

Overlooking the water is the Limenopoeica – if you’re going to teach harbour building then you should be inspired at every moment. Next to that are my twins, Parasceuastica and Poliorcetica. To prepare for sieges you must know how to lay a siege, to study siegecraft you must put your mind in the same place as those being besieged. Mobility versus strength, the turtle versus the scorpion.

At the back, in a small corner is my Peri Epistolon, my class on secret letters, on codes, on misdirection and guile. It does not suit the Roman temper, they would rather waste the lives of their children in pointless wars. But they will learn, they will learn indeed. If only one part of my magnifico survived, I would want it to be this. Because this will ensure that the people of letters, the Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians will survive. We will not succumb to barbarism.

Ah, I do go on sometimes. It seems odd that on a beautiful day, the Aegaen before us and the sounds of civilization all around, that I could talk of death and destruction. But that is also around us, we must use the light to hold back the dark or we will be snuffed out like the last candle. And so my toys, for what they can do, may hold back the dark a little longer.

Speaking of the light, we move to my temple of light. It is interesting is it not, that this and my mathematica have devised no practical uses. But I have hopes that what we do here may pay the greatest rewards. We are working on ... but best not to pique your curiousity. The Empire has men who would think nothing of pulling my tongue out – or slicing your ears from your head. Even the bookkeepers of the Senate are not immune to torture.

My workshops are over there – my fabrications and foundry. The Mochlica provides a grounding in general mechanics, and if they are not good students then at least the boys learn a trade. The furnaces are fed from the stocks of coal and iron. I have hopes of experimenting a little more, but there are some materials that I have not yet been able to obtain. But if you can’t get them in Byzantium, I doubt you can find them anywhere. Everything drains towards this city eventually – we don’t attract as Rome and Alexandria do, but the nuggets of our city eventually fall to the bottom of the pan.

And next to that is my Pneumatica, where I study the forces of water and air. As you know, water and air are opposed to fire, and that’s why they are next to my foundry. I have already found their practical purpose – forcing air into the foundry allows it to burn much hotter. Much hotter indeed. And of course forcing water into the fire allowed me to put out that very hot flame. My hydraulica have already proved interesting – neither air nor water likes being sat upon, and with a very small effort I can influence very heavy objects. Of all the tasks I have been given, I believe that this will produce the most immediate results. We shall soon be able to capture force and let it spring forward at a time of our choosing – much like putting a poisonous snake in a lidded box.

My mechanical toys and diversions are over there. My tweeting birds and the realms of my Automatopoeica. If you come over to the workshop you will see an interesting diversion. Do you have a coin with you? It doesn’t matter which one – I have still to devise a way for this machine to be as intelligent as the slowest salesman in the street. Still, take your cup from the side and hold it underneath here. That’s right. Now put your coin in that hole there. Now you can see that your cup is filling with a measured amount of wine. That’s because your coin has fallen on a rod which opens the release, which closes once the coin falls off. Ingenious, is it not. Well, yes, the wine isn’t very good. But it would be a shame to waste good wine on an experiment. And may I thank you again for your contribution towards my retirement, I hope to have enough of these vendia to allow me to spend my retirement with some very good wine. Some very good wine indeed.

Finally, what the Senate has sent you for, the Belopoeica. I have devised an interesting calculation which will allow me to quickly estimate the size our artillery must be to reach a certain distance. I’ve prepared a tablet with the ranges and sizes on it – I know mathematics and soldiery make very poor bedfellows.

If you note here, we believe we’ve been able to improve the accuracy of our ballistae, and more importantly reduce the time it takes to reload.

If my experiments with pneumatica are blessed, I believe that it is entirely possible to build a ballistae fed by a chain. As long as there is someone to aim and someone to load the shot, those two men should be able to hold off an army.

And over here, we’ve made some changes to the Scorpio – or more precisely we’ve added a sting in the tail. By adding coal to our iron production we’ve stretched the tormenta to build up far more force. So far, bless the Gods, the iron has not cracked or bent. By carving the bolts they now scream like legions of tortured souls as they fly. And if we cut deeper into the bolts, they shatter into pieces before they hit. So while we lose speed and accuracy, the effects are far more damaging. Normal bolts will go through a shield and body, but these will remove heads and limbs. This should give the northern woodsmen a taste of Hades itself.

We seem to have reached the limits of what we can do with our onager. The donkey was well named – we have devised an anchor that can be driven into the ground to reduce its kick, but the difficulty is then how to quickly release or reaim it. We have experimented with mounting it on a wheel, to more easily adjust the direction of fire. But that has unintended consequences – at least one of our donkeys shook itself to pieces.

I hope this satisfies you and the Senate. When you return, I would to raise the necessity of a Docere. I am not talking of the superstitions of an Asclepeion. Our soldiers do not need someone to pray to the Gods for them, they need their wounds treated and medicine to cure them. We do not need our soldiers to be left in a room of snakes and call it a cure.

Hippocrates was one of my people and a great man, but he was not always correct. Vis medicatrix naturae is the cry of the physician who does not want to fight for his patient. I would like to fight for them before I die. After all, I have seen 67 summers now. I do not have many left.

But my College of Engineering will be what I am remembered for. We are already starting to add our parchments, and we should consider the construction of a Library. It can go at the back, set into the side of the hill. After all, we’ll need the extra space when the Peri Epistolon is enlarged.

Being a true and accurate account of the words of Philo of Byzantium
Expenditure Report presented to the Senate by Legate Marcus Aurelius Domini
 
birth certificates? school attendence forms? can Rome even get that by 1 AD? i always considered that a modern invention.

Actually, this is one of the interesting side effects of tweaking Octavian/Augustus and Agrippa.

But first, a quote
‘In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn’ (Luke 2:1-7).

So even in OTL, someone's writing down names. The real issue we have is keeping track of the records. And there are a couple of reasons for the paperwork creeping in - the first is the introduction of a rudimentary postal service by Agrippa (PO to PO delivery). So there's a requirement to be able to produce proof of identity.

The second is the cramped living conditions in Rome itself - which was part of the OTL and even more so in this one - lead to a decree that only those born in Rome or who have parents born in Rome can live within the city boundaries. So you need to be able to carry the paperwork with you in case you're stopped.

In terms of school records, Octavian/Augustus' limited democracy requires a number of conditions for enfranchisement - including at least three years at school (plus being male and not a slave).

And, not wishing to rock the boat too much, Jesus will end up with a few criminal charges, which do make it on to his permanent record.

The big problem at the moment is bringing forward the development of paper, because the Romans are going to have to steal the secret from the Chinese. After that, printing presses won't be far behind. In fact, you can adapt the Onager fairly easily if you add type to it.:)

If I could just find a solution to the development of rubber and how to handle banking I'd be fine.
 
I'd imagine that Rome will continue to having a massive army, thanks to the sheer size of the Empire.

The Jews weren't any more notable than any other desert tribes at that time and it will be interesting what happens if (presumably) they aren't expelled.

It's hard to see how Germania remains complete wilderness for too long. At least the Rhine, the Danube, and the Elbe valleys will be settled somehow.

If Korea does control China it will very quickly no longer be a "Korean" empire. It will be yet another Chinese dynasty whose royal house happens to hail from a peninsula on the empire's eastern shore.

Anyway just a few thoughts. Just keep it out of ASB territory. ;)
 
I'd imagine that Rome will continue to having a massive army, thanks to the sheer size of the Empire.

The problem with a massive army is that it's very expensive to run. My thinking is that Augustus gets around the problem by disbanding the legions at the borders but issuing land grants. So you have a large number of ex-soldiers camped on the border who have a vested interest in making sure no-one comes across. So far I've taken care of the German border (basically the Black Forest and the old woods) and Spain. Three legions have also been retasked into Palma and Sardinia, where the exploratory ships are going to be built. The idea is to use them as marines.

The Jews weren't any more notable than any other desert tribes at that time and it will be interesting what happens if (presumably) they aren't expelled.

The Jews get expelled, as do the Pharisees and a bunch of other groups. Basically it's Jesus or the highway. Some of the gnostic groups head north, and Mithraism goes underground, mainly followed by Military Officers. It ends up not dissimilar to the Freemason Lodges.

It's hard to see how Germania remains complete wilderness for too long. At least the Rhine, the Danube, and the Elbe valleys will be settled somehow.

Germania remains pagan wilderness for longer than you might think.:) There's also a brisk unofficial trade in weapons, mostly bladed, to the woods, because the very scary people are to the north of the Germanic tribes.

If Korea does control China it will very quickly no longer be a "Korean" empire. It will be yet another Chinese dynasty whose royal house happens to hail from a peninsula on the empire's eastern shore.

Korea is being pushed from the West and is in the middle of a very nasty fight in Japan. Funnily enough it doesn't want China (because China is full of too many foreigners), but it does extort favourable terms of trade from China. While China exists as a separate entity, it's in the position of just wanting the neighbours to stop fighting. China's sea trading has just about stopped because both the Koreans and the Japanese are attacking any ships that aren't theirs. The Han Dynasty just wants to get to grips with Confucianism, and right in the middle of all of this is Wang Mang attempting to start his own dynasty.

Anyway just a few thoughts. Just keep it out of ASB territory. ;)

Nope, all of the ASBs are waiting in Central America. :)

Thanks!
 
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