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alternatehistory.com
Or, an alternate migrations TL. Inspired by Zuvarq's old TL and by Jaydoh's Cadavera Vero Innumera, this TL starts not in the middle of the Early Modern Age, but instead at the the end of the Ancient age. As with all of my TL's, some of the action takes place beforehand, with butterflies before the reign of Constantine (mainly within the Church). These include, by order:
Ghassanids never migrate to Syria
Arianism spreads more in the East, leading to a much smaller majority at Nicaea
A more entrenched Arianism in the East under Crispus and his successors
The Constantinian heirs split the empire between them- last unified Emperor is Constantine the Great
Punic/Berbers are largely Arian (no Donatism), while Latins in Africa are Nicene. *Pelagius lives in Africa...
and many more...
This first post is meant to cover events from the death of Constantine I to the death of Julian the Apostate in the West, along with the beginnings of post-Roman Britain. The East is less covered here, in part because Crispus and his son do the less tumultuous but typical "be rich and fight the Persians" thing.
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The death of Constantine I in 340 led to a civil war between the four sons of Constantine- Crispus, Constantine, Constantius and Constans. Crispus, a dedicated Arian, would assume control over the Arian and Hellenic East. Constans initially controlled Hispania, Mauretania and Africa, Constantius Gaul and Britannia, and Constantine Italy, Illyria and Pannonia. Crispus, of the four, was the only to not participate in the civil war to the West, focusing instead on rooting out Nicene practices, spreading Arian interpretations of Christianity, defending against the Sassanid, and making money off of trade.
The Constantinian Civil War (340-345) would see the victory of Constans over Constantine and Constantius. Constantius had died in battle with the Franks, and Constantine had been captured and executed by Constans. The Salian Franks, who had been allies of Constans against Constantius, were given control as foederati over much of Pannonia. Over the course of a few years, most of the Salian Franks, along with assorted small bands of other vassal tribes, would move into Pannonia. The Franks, pagans at the time, would vacillate between empires in the future.
Constans would offend much of the military and Christian society with his open homosexuality and favoritism. His cousin Constantius Gallus was his first Caesar, but Gallus would die of unknown causes while campaigning in Mauretania against the Berbers in 352. Afterwards, Julian was made Caesar.
Julian, a philosophical man and furthermore a pagan, would gain respect from large parts of the army after defeating the usurper Gratian. The Illyrian army, and other parts of the military establishment, were dissatisfied with Constans' lifestyle, and rose up. Julian was called to defeat Gratian as Caesar. From 353-358, Julian fought Gratian, whose base of support included Illyria, southern Gaul and parts of northern Italy. Gratian would die in battle, and his two sons, Valens and Valentinian, would be put to death by Julian.
Afterwards, the army gravitated towards Julian, who continued to build a reputation fighting against the Burgundians and other tribes in Gaul. He would also put down the rebellion of Comes Theodosius in Britain. Theodosius would revolt, along with his garrison, in 362. Gallic regiments also rose up, and it took Julian three years to squash Theodosius, fight off related barbarian invasions, and repulse the barbarian incursions in Britannia proper. Theodosius and his family were also put to death.
In 369, Constans would die, and Julian, known as the Apostate or the Philosopher, would come to power. Julian would first enact religious pluralism in the empire, displeasing a clergy which already had to deal with a homosexual emperor ruling them for over two decades. Julian, despite his military victories, was not stable in his rule. Laurentius the Arabian, an Arian commander from the East of Arab and Phoenician extraction, used his own loyal forces and allied Arabs (the Banassimes, as they were called) to invade the restive provinces of North Africa. The Moors also rebelled under Firmus around the same time- Firmus would only be defeated in 372. Julian had planned to reconquer Carthage as well, but Constantinian scion Nepotian had taken control of the city of Rome. Julian made a pragmatic peace with Laurentius- Laurentius would be Comes of Africa in exchange for peace, loyalty and grain shipments to the Empire. Julian would then put down Nepotian, fighting his partisans across Italy until 375.
In 375, a large force of Saxons invaded Gaul. Julian had repulsed the Allemanni from near the walls of Moguntiacum in 365, and these Saxons sought to do what the Allemanni couldn't. They succeeded in sacking Moguntiacum, and brought even more men into the empire. However, Julian would march north, and defeat the Saxon invaders near Treverorum, inflicting grievous losses. The Saxons were surrounded, and exterminated to a man, their women and children sold east as slaves.
In 382, the Vesi and the Greuthungi Goths, fleeing catastrophic losses to the Huns, crossed into the Western Empire. The Eastern Emperor Hadrian II, son of Crispus, had allowed those Goths who were not old, weak or sick across the Danube in exchange for a tax, before forcing them into the Western imperial province of Illyria. The Eastern emperors, despite the instability of the West and the paganism of Julian, were largely focused on religious stability and fighting both the Persians and Arab tribes. Hadrian would famously opine that the West was a waste of money for a forgotten city, an attitude that would come to define the permanence of the post-Constantine split.
These Goths were a good form of tax revenue and soldiers, and Julian made them foederati on the Gallic frontier by 384. They would serve as a buffer against the Burgundians and other tribes. In the East, the Huns invaded Greece and Armenia. They managed to sack Delphi and Athens, leaving the Acropolis standing amidst the ruin. The Parthenon would be kept as a monastery by the East from then on- the city of Athens would never be rebuilt. Hadrian managed to rebuff the Huns, driving them back across the Danube with the help of the Franks. In Armenia, the Huns drove further into Sassanid territory, before being defeated in northern Mesopotamia and driven back across the Caucasus. Hunnic mercenaries were recruited in the West, but not in the large numbers that the foederati were. As it was, Imperial elites resented the giving of parts of Pannonia to the pagan Franks, and resented the giving of lands to the Goths as well.
In 391, Nicene anger and army resentment at Julian boiled over once again as Magnentius the Younger, son of powerful Gallic and British general Magnentius the Elder, sparked a rebellion in Londinium. This rebellion would be put down with help of the Goths, who gained more lands to their north. Magnentius would flee to Londinium, and would perish in that cities fire of July 392, allowing Julian's forces to recapture it.
By this point, Gaul and Britain, along with well-raided Illyria, were largely stripped of troops. Peace would reign for another 8 years before Julian died, childless, in 400. His will was suppressed by the magnate Eugenius, sparking yet another civil war.
Laurentius' son Claudius would break free of the city of Rome, calling himself Comes of Africa and Mauretania. Eugenius would fight another general, named Majorian, for about 3 years, before Eugenius won. He then proceeded to die of an infected wound after months of agony. Africa would still be independent (and in the process of invading Sicily), but all the other provinces had bent the knee to Eugenius, and after him his son Rufinus. A civil war immediately broke out.
In winter 403, the Rhine froze over. Barbarian tribes, under various leaders, prepare to cross over.
And as post-Julian Rome implodes, a specter haunts Europe. The specter of barbarians.
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Ah, yet another Tsar Gringo TL. I assume it shall go unfinished.
Still thy tongue, rogue voice. At least I started with a POD this time.
Yes, to accompany your typical before-start extra butterflies.
Damn you.
Why am I even here? This won't even be close to a TLIAD.
I don't know- I suspect your presence is as meaningless as most things.
Oh be quiet, nihilist, lest I quote Nietzsche at you.