Jesus is replaced with a similar historical figure [e.g. Religious founder of Christianity] whose legacy is then usurped by a political secessionist in 33 AD which leads to a successful Jewish revolt led by the Sicarii [which ultimately takeover as Christians over time]. Does it make sense/seem reasonable?
The Rise of the Sicarii
32 AD - Judas Iscariot is martyred by the Romans along with a number of his followers upon the crucifix.
33 AD - The Sicarius Ishmael, inspired by Judas, has founded the "modern" Sicarii who have kicked off the secessionist movement in Judea among the Jews but also created the concept of Christianity, a more proselytizing and egalitarian sect of Judaism, centered around the "teachings" of Judas. However, as Ishmael is the only survivor...it is whatever he wanted it to say. A cunning politician and a genius at intrigue, he begins to seed his Sicarii in key positions where they would have access to the key roman officials in the Judea province [espionage/assassination purposes].
48-53 AD - Herod Agrippa II comes to power, his preference Berytus over Jerusalem manifests early in his reign. A preference that only strengthens the Sicarii power in Jerusalem. Agrippa's domain grows due to favor from the Roman Empire and his political skill, however his capriciousness towards the Jewish High Priests and rumors of incest with his sister Berenice add fuel to Ishmael's fire. The fact Agrippa is seen more as a Roman Governor than a Jew at this point only makes matters worse.
55-58 AD - Nero's gifts of more territory to Herod Agrippa II only cements the "Roman Governor" and "NOT Jew" image of the King. Ishamael's political influence has spread to neighboring Syria and Arabia Petraea. Ishmael's network of spies and agents span from Byzantium to Alexandria with even a few placed in Rome. Ishmael and the Parthian Empire have discrete conduits through which information flows as Ishmael seeks foreign support for his planned rebellion.
58-63 AD - The Roman–Parthian War over Armenia
Corbulo found his army heavily drawn from Syria which was infested with Sicarii agents who fed information to the Parthians. Despite this, he was able to establish control over the Kingdom of Armenia in 59 AD. However, a number of his Syrian forces were left to support the new puppet King Tigranes VI. Unfortunately Tigranes VI was an idiot who raided Adiabene in 61 AD once Corbulo was established in Syria.
Parthian capture of Tigranocerta
Legate Lucius Caesennius Paetus arrived in 61 and received the most inexperienced units available to Corbulo who was more concerned with Syria. Paetus appeared confident of victory, and followed the Parthian declaration of war and capture of Tigranocerta with his own invasion of Armenia, while Corbulo remained at Syria, further strengthening the fortifications of Syria along the Euphrates. Paetus advanced towards Tigranocerta but only took a few minor forts before being forced back for the winter of 61.
Battle for Rhandeia
Ishmael’s information about the quality of Paetu’s forces to Vologases led him to focus on Paetus's rather than Corbulo in 62. Vologases feinted towards Syria while the bulk of his army moved on Paetus in Armenia while Corbulo sent a warning to Paetus of the feint only to have the messenger killed by a Sicarii.
Paetus discovered the feint when a reconnaissance detachment was decimated by Vologase within a few miles of his army. This triggered a panicked withdrawal by Paetus as he sent his family to the fortress at Arsamosata while he tried to block Vologases by occupying the passes of the Taurus mountains. However, by then the Syrian feint had caught up with the rest of Vologases's forces and Paetus's dispersed forces were easily crushed.
Roman morale plummeted and panic set in as Vologases's clearly superior army beseieged them near Rhandeia while Paetus's messengers to Corbulo were either Sicarii agents or eliminated by the Sicarii. Ishamel’s control over Paetus’s conduit to Corbulo caused Corbulo to delay until Paetus surrendered.
The result was Paetus’s signature on a treaty of “unacceptable humiliation” in the eyes of Rome in 62. Paetus surrendered Armenia to the Parthian Empire and agreed to build a bridge over Arsanias by which Vologases could pass in triumph while he escorted the Paetus’s army to Syria. Vologases’s forces took the Roman’s weapons and clothing without any real resistance before being marched under the yoke towards Syria.
Corbulo met Paetus at the banks of the Euphrates near Melitene. Paetus and Corbulo retired to Syria while Corbulo received envoys from Vologases who demanded that the Romans destroy the bridgehead over the Euphrates. Corbulo demanded the Parthian evacuation of Armenia in response. Both parties in agreed, pending a delegation to Rome which would contain Paetus and a number of Parthian envoys. This left Armenia legally masterless but effectively a vassal of the Parthian Empire.
The Delegation to Rome
The Roman Senate, oblivious to the disaster, had found the Parthian delegation of 63 to be a rude awakening to the true state of the Armenia. Paetus was informed the treaty he signed was an “unacceptable humiliation of the Roman Empire” and that his deceptive dispatches were treasonous. He was executed in front of the Parthian delegation even before the futile treaty negotiations officially began.
Ultimately, Corbulo was instructed to resume the war for Armenia rather than let the humiliation stand.
The Battle of the Euphrates
Once more, the influence of Ishmael was felt as Vologases was informed within days of Corbulo. The vanguard of the Parthian Army ambushed Corbulo when he began to cross the Euphrates and Corbulo was badly bloodied before he abandoned the crossing.
The two armies exchanged envoys for several days to no effect as Corbulo reiterated the Roman position that the Armenians should be vassals of Rome, not the Parthians.
After several days of unproductive talks, Ishmael’s spies provided Vologases with the intelligence needed to slip across the Euphrates just beyond Corbulo’s perimeter. Vologases was able to get most of his army positioned for a dawn assault on the fortified Roman encampment. The resulting battle was decisive and Corbulo was forced to retreat while sending messages to the other Governors and Rome to request additional support.
Vologases, satisfied he had broken the Syrian Army, encamped in Roman Syria and send a delegation to Corbulo insisting that Armenia was a protectorate and that Rome had best concede the field if they wanted to keep Syria.
Ultimately, Rome accepted the treaty that Paetus had signed rather than risk Corbulo being humiliated as badly as Paetus. Roman governors in the region reinforced Corbulo to discourage the Parthians from pressing their advantage. However, this left the various Roman provinces of the region off-balance to defend against any sort of revolt for years to come. The Parthians, in response, fortified their border along the Euphrates with permanent garrison forts and annexed Armenia.
66-69 AD - The Judean Revolt
The Liberation of Judea
Ishamel’s machinations came to fruition in 66 when the Jewish Temple was then breached by Roman troops at the order of Roman Governor Gessius Florus, having seventeen talents removed from the treasury of the Temple, claiming the money was for the Emperor. The Jerusalem’s unrest only increased as the population began to openly mock Florus by passing around a collection as if Florus was a cripple or a widow. Florus, predictably, overreacted to this emasculation by sending soldiers into Jerusalem to arrest the city leaders. The outraged Judean nationalist factions took up arms and the Romans were quickly overpowered. Fearing the worst, Agrippa and his sister Berenice fled to Galilee while Judean militias moved against the Romans and cleansed the province of any Roman symbols. Florus was caught during his escape and executed by the Judeans as an “example to the Roman Oppressor” by the Sicarii.
The Cestius Gallus Expedition
Cestius Gallus, the legate of Syria, took command of 30,000 Roman soldiers and marched on Jerusalem. He skirmished with several small Judean militias enroute and eventually beseiged the city.
However, Sicarii intelligence allowed the Judean’s to play havoc on the Roman supply lines and Cestius Gallus was forced to abandon the siege and withdrew to await reinforcements from Syria. Cestius Gallus withdrew towards the coast only to be ambushed by a Judean force under the command of Ishmael enroute to relieve Jerusalem. Cestius Gallus is handed a humiliating defeat which cost 6,000 Roman lives and broke the Syrian army.
The Vespasian Expedition
With Legate Cestius Gallus forced to retreat into Syrian territory in disgrace, Emperor Nero appointed General Vespasian to crush Ishmael’s revolt once and for all. However, with the Parthians so close to the Roman border General Vespasian is only able to field 40,000 soldiers and he began in the North, ignoring the rebel stronghold of Jerusalem entirely.
By 68, the Judeans had been crushed in the North. However, it was also the year Nero was deposed and his successor assassinated. Rome descended into Civil War and Vitellius ultimately managed to ascend to the throne backed by legions of veterans from the Germanic wars. The Parthians, finally honoring their promises to Ishmael of support, had given Ishmael enough funds to raise a permanent army for Judea which trained in Jerusalem as Ishmael awaited Vespasian’s army.
By 69, Vitellius had bankrupted the Imperial Treasury with his feats and triumphs so he turned to money lenders. When the money lenders demanded repayment, the Emperor showed his violent nature by torturing and executing those who would dare to demand the Emperor of Rome pay his debts. This caused credit to dry up for the Emperor and he turned to inviting anyone who named him heir to the palace...then killing them. This insanity led to a Rome that cried out for a savior...and General Vespasian was invited by the Senate of Rome to ‘solve’ the problem of Vitellius.
Vespasian reconsidered his expedition to Judea and left for Rome with half of his army in Judea combined with reinforcements from Egypt and Syria. He left his son, Titus, with 20,000 men and ordered him to hold the Galilee until matters were settled in Rome and he could be reinforced.
Ishmael took this opportunity to retake Galilee and engaged Titus in a decisive battle that led to an easy victory. Ishmael’s Sicarii in Syria assassinated the governor within days of his victory, leaving the Roman forces in Syria in disarray.
The ensuing conflict was chaotic as Sicarii agents disrupted the Roman legions while Ishmael’s supporters staged open revolts in Arabia Petraea and Syria.
By 70, Titus was sent to Rome with a Parthian delegation informing Rome that the newly founded nation of Judea and King Ishmael were protectorates of the Parthinian Empire.
The Rise of the Sicarii
32 AD - Judas Iscariot is martyred by the Romans along with a number of his followers upon the crucifix.
33 AD - The Sicarius Ishmael, inspired by Judas, has founded the "modern" Sicarii who have kicked off the secessionist movement in Judea among the Jews but also created the concept of Christianity, a more proselytizing and egalitarian sect of Judaism, centered around the "teachings" of Judas. However, as Ishmael is the only survivor...it is whatever he wanted it to say. A cunning politician and a genius at intrigue, he begins to seed his Sicarii in key positions where they would have access to the key roman officials in the Judea province [espionage/assassination purposes].
48-53 AD - Herod Agrippa II comes to power, his preference Berytus over Jerusalem manifests early in his reign. A preference that only strengthens the Sicarii power in Jerusalem. Agrippa's domain grows due to favor from the Roman Empire and his political skill, however his capriciousness towards the Jewish High Priests and rumors of incest with his sister Berenice add fuel to Ishmael's fire. The fact Agrippa is seen more as a Roman Governor than a Jew at this point only makes matters worse.
55-58 AD - Nero's gifts of more territory to Herod Agrippa II only cements the "Roman Governor" and "NOT Jew" image of the King. Ishamael's political influence has spread to neighboring Syria and Arabia Petraea. Ishmael's network of spies and agents span from Byzantium to Alexandria with even a few placed in Rome. Ishmael and the Parthian Empire have discrete conduits through which information flows as Ishmael seeks foreign support for his planned rebellion.
58-63 AD - The Roman–Parthian War over Armenia
Corbulo found his army heavily drawn from Syria which was infested with Sicarii agents who fed information to the Parthians. Despite this, he was able to establish control over the Kingdom of Armenia in 59 AD. However, a number of his Syrian forces were left to support the new puppet King Tigranes VI. Unfortunately Tigranes VI was an idiot who raided Adiabene in 61 AD once Corbulo was established in Syria.
Parthian capture of Tigranocerta
Legate Lucius Caesennius Paetus arrived in 61 and received the most inexperienced units available to Corbulo who was more concerned with Syria. Paetus appeared confident of victory, and followed the Parthian declaration of war and capture of Tigranocerta with his own invasion of Armenia, while Corbulo remained at Syria, further strengthening the fortifications of Syria along the Euphrates. Paetus advanced towards Tigranocerta but only took a few minor forts before being forced back for the winter of 61.
Battle for Rhandeia
Ishmael’s information about the quality of Paetu’s forces to Vologases led him to focus on Paetus's rather than Corbulo in 62. Vologases feinted towards Syria while the bulk of his army moved on Paetus in Armenia while Corbulo sent a warning to Paetus of the feint only to have the messenger killed by a Sicarii.
Paetus discovered the feint when a reconnaissance detachment was decimated by Vologase within a few miles of his army. This triggered a panicked withdrawal by Paetus as he sent his family to the fortress at Arsamosata while he tried to block Vologases by occupying the passes of the Taurus mountains. However, by then the Syrian feint had caught up with the rest of Vologases's forces and Paetus's dispersed forces were easily crushed.
Roman morale plummeted and panic set in as Vologases's clearly superior army beseieged them near Rhandeia while Paetus's messengers to Corbulo were either Sicarii agents or eliminated by the Sicarii. Ishamel’s control over Paetus’s conduit to Corbulo caused Corbulo to delay until Paetus surrendered.
The result was Paetus’s signature on a treaty of “unacceptable humiliation” in the eyes of Rome in 62. Paetus surrendered Armenia to the Parthian Empire and agreed to build a bridge over Arsanias by which Vologases could pass in triumph while he escorted the Paetus’s army to Syria. Vologases’s forces took the Roman’s weapons and clothing without any real resistance before being marched under the yoke towards Syria.
Corbulo met Paetus at the banks of the Euphrates near Melitene. Paetus and Corbulo retired to Syria while Corbulo received envoys from Vologases who demanded that the Romans destroy the bridgehead over the Euphrates. Corbulo demanded the Parthian evacuation of Armenia in response. Both parties in agreed, pending a delegation to Rome which would contain Paetus and a number of Parthian envoys. This left Armenia legally masterless but effectively a vassal of the Parthian Empire.
The Delegation to Rome
The Roman Senate, oblivious to the disaster, had found the Parthian delegation of 63 to be a rude awakening to the true state of the Armenia. Paetus was informed the treaty he signed was an “unacceptable humiliation of the Roman Empire” and that his deceptive dispatches were treasonous. He was executed in front of the Parthian delegation even before the futile treaty negotiations officially began.
Ultimately, Corbulo was instructed to resume the war for Armenia rather than let the humiliation stand.
The Battle of the Euphrates
Once more, the influence of Ishmael was felt as Vologases was informed within days of Corbulo. The vanguard of the Parthian Army ambushed Corbulo when he began to cross the Euphrates and Corbulo was badly bloodied before he abandoned the crossing.
The two armies exchanged envoys for several days to no effect as Corbulo reiterated the Roman position that the Armenians should be vassals of Rome, not the Parthians.
After several days of unproductive talks, Ishmael’s spies provided Vologases with the intelligence needed to slip across the Euphrates just beyond Corbulo’s perimeter. Vologases was able to get most of his army positioned for a dawn assault on the fortified Roman encampment. The resulting battle was decisive and Corbulo was forced to retreat while sending messages to the other Governors and Rome to request additional support.
Vologases, satisfied he had broken the Syrian Army, encamped in Roman Syria and send a delegation to Corbulo insisting that Armenia was a protectorate and that Rome had best concede the field if they wanted to keep Syria.
Ultimately, Rome accepted the treaty that Paetus had signed rather than risk Corbulo being humiliated as badly as Paetus. Roman governors in the region reinforced Corbulo to discourage the Parthians from pressing their advantage. However, this left the various Roman provinces of the region off-balance to defend against any sort of revolt for years to come. The Parthians, in response, fortified their border along the Euphrates with permanent garrison forts and annexed Armenia.
66-69 AD - The Judean Revolt
The Liberation of Judea
Ishamel’s machinations came to fruition in 66 when the Jewish Temple was then breached by Roman troops at the order of Roman Governor Gessius Florus, having seventeen talents removed from the treasury of the Temple, claiming the money was for the Emperor. The Jerusalem’s unrest only increased as the population began to openly mock Florus by passing around a collection as if Florus was a cripple or a widow. Florus, predictably, overreacted to this emasculation by sending soldiers into Jerusalem to arrest the city leaders. The outraged Judean nationalist factions took up arms and the Romans were quickly overpowered. Fearing the worst, Agrippa and his sister Berenice fled to Galilee while Judean militias moved against the Romans and cleansed the province of any Roman symbols. Florus was caught during his escape and executed by the Judeans as an “example to the Roman Oppressor” by the Sicarii.
The Cestius Gallus Expedition
Cestius Gallus, the legate of Syria, took command of 30,000 Roman soldiers and marched on Jerusalem. He skirmished with several small Judean militias enroute and eventually beseiged the city.
However, Sicarii intelligence allowed the Judean’s to play havoc on the Roman supply lines and Cestius Gallus was forced to abandon the siege and withdrew to await reinforcements from Syria. Cestius Gallus withdrew towards the coast only to be ambushed by a Judean force under the command of Ishmael enroute to relieve Jerusalem. Cestius Gallus is handed a humiliating defeat which cost 6,000 Roman lives and broke the Syrian army.
The Vespasian Expedition
With Legate Cestius Gallus forced to retreat into Syrian territory in disgrace, Emperor Nero appointed General Vespasian to crush Ishmael’s revolt once and for all. However, with the Parthians so close to the Roman border General Vespasian is only able to field 40,000 soldiers and he began in the North, ignoring the rebel stronghold of Jerusalem entirely.
By 68, the Judeans had been crushed in the North. However, it was also the year Nero was deposed and his successor assassinated. Rome descended into Civil War and Vitellius ultimately managed to ascend to the throne backed by legions of veterans from the Germanic wars. The Parthians, finally honoring their promises to Ishmael of support, had given Ishmael enough funds to raise a permanent army for Judea which trained in Jerusalem as Ishmael awaited Vespasian’s army.
By 69, Vitellius had bankrupted the Imperial Treasury with his feats and triumphs so he turned to money lenders. When the money lenders demanded repayment, the Emperor showed his violent nature by torturing and executing those who would dare to demand the Emperor of Rome pay his debts. This caused credit to dry up for the Emperor and he turned to inviting anyone who named him heir to the palace...then killing them. This insanity led to a Rome that cried out for a savior...and General Vespasian was invited by the Senate of Rome to ‘solve’ the problem of Vitellius.
Vespasian reconsidered his expedition to Judea and left for Rome with half of his army in Judea combined with reinforcements from Egypt and Syria. He left his son, Titus, with 20,000 men and ordered him to hold the Galilee until matters were settled in Rome and he could be reinforced.
Ishmael took this opportunity to retake Galilee and engaged Titus in a decisive battle that led to an easy victory. Ishmael’s Sicarii in Syria assassinated the governor within days of his victory, leaving the Roman forces in Syria in disarray.
The ensuing conflict was chaotic as Sicarii agents disrupted the Roman legions while Ishmael’s supporters staged open revolts in Arabia Petraea and Syria.
By 70, Titus was sent to Rome with a Parthian delegation informing Rome that the newly founded nation of Judea and King Ishmael were protectorates of the Parthinian Empire.