I'm pretty new to this forum (even if i lurked for a while), and a i just decided to begin the publish a timeline of mine i was working on for a while. As i'm very green at this and english isn't my native language, i encourage you to criticize, comment, make suggestions. As i'm still working on it, i could make some change in it. I want to thank Jared and Thande for the style, and Ernnge for some ideas.
_____________________________________
Prologue : A report
10/04/2026. Headquarters of Timeline Theta Preliminary Exploration Team, location classified. Adjudant-chef Pierre Joubert, seconded from French 13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes, acting commander.
Addressed to Director Stephen Rogers of the Thande Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The team has completed her preliminary one-month survey of the so-called 'Timeline n423B'. As this report will be the primary document for the International Oversight Committee's decision for further exploration of this Timeline, the team tried to acquire a great number of document form this Timeline.
As is standard for the exploration of a new Timeline, we acquired historical document from different sources to avoid cultural, nationalist, religious or political bias. Our sources range widely from history textbooks, academic studies, religious books and several folklore tales.
In most cases, identifying the Point of Divergence (PoD) can be very difficult, as it can be a small thing, like a word (as we have seen in the study of Timeline L by Cpt. Christopher G. Nuttall's team), or something so big that it can be an error of appreciation by the team.
Timeline Theta is a difficult subject of studies as the PoD is very far in the past, leading to an almost alien world. We encountered a lot of difficulties as almost all sources were written in languages unknown to us. The work of our team of linguists was invaluable in the analysis of the documents in our disposition.
Drs. Anderson, Müller and Pendergast were unable to find another PoD than the first obvious and divergent event of this world due to nonexistent sources in our own Timeline.
In the following report, we will use the following usual convention : OTL for Our (or Original) TimeLine, TTL for This TimeLine. The names of the localities and regions will be in their local forms. Proper nouns will have a phonetic transliteration if possible. Addendum and comments by Drs. Anderson, Müller and Pendergast.
NB : Some transliterations and translations may change as our knowledge of the native languages progress.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Part #1 : The Gallic Invasions[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]From [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]"[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Histories"[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif], by Timaĩos of Massalia ca.130 (260BC)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Not much is known about the history of Galates since the first Olympiad, apart from the interaction between the Hellenes and some galates tribes. The first contacts between us were those made by the hellenes traders from the phocaean cities of southern Galatia and the tribes who lived here. If the relation between the Hellenes and the Galates were rather peaceful, the Galates were and still are ferocious and brave peoples. While we got a few war against them, the people of Italia bore the wrath of the Galates between the 90th and 110th Olympiad [400-340BC].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It began when the Senones, a tribe from northern Galatia made their way through the Alps, and gaining safe passage in the territories of their kinsmen in what is known as Alpine Galatia, they conquered a territory along the coast of the Adrias sea. They came into conflict with Etruscan cities and other Italics[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] in the region. In 97.3 [390BC] they besieged Kloúsion, an [/FONT]Etruscan city, an action that provoked a war with Rome, a small regional power.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The roman army was shattered by galatian ferocity, and Rome was sacked. It is said that the Romans tried to cheat the Senones war chief over the tribute they agreed to pay. This war chief, feeling insulted, lead his warriors in the pillage of the city. The wealth coming from the pillage and the tribute paid by Etruscan cities ensured the prosperity of the Senones.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The tale of the riches of central Italia which seemed ripe for plunder encouraged more Galates to form military expeditions to take their share of the glory. In 104.4 [361BC], another army of Galates sacked the surrounding of Rome. Finally, in 110.1 [340BC], a great host of Keltoi from the north, grabbed the land for themselves after the final conflict of Rome against the Safineis, which left her broken.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In the following years, the cities north of the safineis territories submitted to galatian rule, ending with the Veneti of northeast Italia. The region is now divided between several tribal confederation, the Insubres in the north-west, the Boi, a Keltoi tribe, dominating the Venetia, the Senones on the adriatic coast, the Volcae in Etruria and the Lingones in the middle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]But the Italics were not the only one to fight the galates. In 115.2 [319BC], the city of Massalia was attacked by an army of Sequani, Helveti and Triboci. After crushing the city's army, the King Ambrosíόs offered the city senate to become subject of him but with self administration. They couldn't refuse such a generous offer after such an humiliating defeat. The King then submitted all the cities from [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Empúries to Génoua in the following decade.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It is also important to mention the Keltoi[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] cousin of the Galates, who firmly established themselves as the rulers of Illyria during the same period. Their last period of expansion was the invasion of Makedonia in 125.2 [279BC], when the Keltoi swooped upon Hellas, only to be stopped at the Thermopylai by the army of Thíbrōn, the tyrant of Sparta, who died in the battle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Timaĩos of Massalia ([/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]ca. 345 BC – ca. 250 BC) was a [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]hellenes[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] historian born in Tauroménion in Sikelia. He was driven out of Sikelia by Agathoklẽs of Syrakousai. He went to [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Massalia and became an adviser to king Ambrosíόs and a friend to the explorer Puthéas. "The Histories" is his life works, 40 books about early history.[/FONT]
Adrias sea : Adriatic Sea
Alpine Galatia : Cisalpine Gaul, the region of northern Italy inhabited by Gauls
Boi : a celtic tribe from Bohemia
Hellas : Greece
hellene : greek
Hellenes : the Greeks
Helveti : a gaulish tribe from the swiss plateau
Empúries : a phocaean colony in Catalunya
Galates : the Gauls
Galatia : Gaul, roughly delimited by the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Rhine
Génoua : the city of Genoa
Insubres : a gaulish tribe from Cisalpine Gaul
Keltoi : the Celts
Kloúsion : the city of Clusium
Lingones : a gaulish tribe from Cisalpine Gaul
Massalia : the city of Marseille
Safineis : Samnites
Senones : a gaulish tribe coming from the region of OTL Sens
Sequani : the Sequani, a gaulish tribe from Sundgau and Franche-Comté
Syrakousai : the city of Syracuse
Tauroménion : the city of Taormina in Sicily
Thermopylai : the Thermopylae
Triboci : a gaulish tribe from Alsace
Volcae : a celtic tribe from Bohemia
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dr. Anderson : The Sennones-Rome war is clearly the pillage of Rome by the gauls of Brennus. It seems to be our PoD as in OTL Brennus was killed during a battle after the siege of Rome and didn't sack Rome after the "Vae Victis event".[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dr. Müller : The PoD could also be the Battle of Anio River 361BC which was won by the Romans. Here it seems that the gauls were free to sack the Latium.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dr. Pendergast : My colleagues seem to forget that in the OTL, early Roman History is very unclear as Livy (our first source on the subject) was often creating glorious victories for Rome. A great propaganda work, but not an infallible history source.[/FONT]
_____________________________________
Prologue : A report
10/04/2026. Headquarters of Timeline Theta Preliminary Exploration Team, location classified. Adjudant-chef Pierre Joubert, seconded from French 13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes, acting commander.
Addressed to Director Stephen Rogers of the Thande Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The team has completed her preliminary one-month survey of the so-called 'Timeline n423B'. As this report will be the primary document for the International Oversight Committee's decision for further exploration of this Timeline, the team tried to acquire a great number of document form this Timeline.
As is standard for the exploration of a new Timeline, we acquired historical document from different sources to avoid cultural, nationalist, religious or political bias. Our sources range widely from history textbooks, academic studies, religious books and several folklore tales.
In most cases, identifying the Point of Divergence (PoD) can be very difficult, as it can be a small thing, like a word (as we have seen in the study of Timeline L by Cpt. Christopher G. Nuttall's team), or something so big that it can be an error of appreciation by the team.
Timeline Theta is a difficult subject of studies as the PoD is very far in the past, leading to an almost alien world. We encountered a lot of difficulties as almost all sources were written in languages unknown to us. The work of our team of linguists was invaluable in the analysis of the documents in our disposition.
Drs. Anderson, Müller and Pendergast were unable to find another PoD than the first obvious and divergent event of this world due to nonexistent sources in our own Timeline.
In the following report, we will use the following usual convention : OTL for Our (or Original) TimeLine, TTL for This TimeLine. The names of the localities and regions will be in their local forms. Proper nouns will have a phonetic transliteration if possible. Addendum and comments by Drs. Anderson, Müller and Pendergast.
NB : Some transliterations and translations may change as our knowledge of the native languages progress.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Part #1 : The Gallic Invasions[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]From [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]"[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Histories"[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif], by Timaĩos of Massalia ca.130 (260BC)[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Not much is known about the history of Galates since the first Olympiad, apart from the interaction between the Hellenes and some galates tribes. The first contacts between us were those made by the hellenes traders from the phocaean cities of southern Galatia and the tribes who lived here. If the relation between the Hellenes and the Galates were rather peaceful, the Galates were and still are ferocious and brave peoples. While we got a few war against them, the people of Italia bore the wrath of the Galates between the 90th and 110th Olympiad [400-340BC].[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It began when the Senones, a tribe from northern Galatia made their way through the Alps, and gaining safe passage in the territories of their kinsmen in what is known as Alpine Galatia, they conquered a territory along the coast of the Adrias sea. They came into conflict with Etruscan cities and other Italics[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] in the region. In 97.3 [390BC] they besieged Kloúsion, an [/FONT]Etruscan city, an action that provoked a war with Rome, a small regional power.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The roman army was shattered by galatian ferocity, and Rome was sacked. It is said that the Romans tried to cheat the Senones war chief over the tribute they agreed to pay. This war chief, feeling insulted, lead his warriors in the pillage of the city. The wealth coming from the pillage and the tribute paid by Etruscan cities ensured the prosperity of the Senones.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The tale of the riches of central Italia which seemed ripe for plunder encouraged more Galates to form military expeditions to take their share of the glory. In 104.4 [361BC], another army of Galates sacked the surrounding of Rome. Finally, in 110.1 [340BC], a great host of Keltoi from the north, grabbed the land for themselves after the final conflict of Rome against the Safineis, which left her broken.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In the following years, the cities north of the safineis territories submitted to galatian rule, ending with the Veneti of northeast Italia. The region is now divided between several tribal confederation, the Insubres in the north-west, the Boi, a Keltoi tribe, dominating the Venetia, the Senones on the adriatic coast, the Volcae in Etruria and the Lingones in the middle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]But the Italics were not the only one to fight the galates. In 115.2 [319BC], the city of Massalia was attacked by an army of Sequani, Helveti and Triboci. After crushing the city's army, the King Ambrosíόs offered the city senate to become subject of him but with self administration. They couldn't refuse such a generous offer after such an humiliating defeat. The King then submitted all the cities from [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Empúries to Génoua in the following decade.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It is also important to mention the Keltoi[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] cousin of the Galates, who firmly established themselves as the rulers of Illyria during the same period. Their last period of expansion was the invasion of Makedonia in 125.2 [279BC], when the Keltoi swooped upon Hellas, only to be stopped at the Thermopylai by the army of Thíbrōn, the tyrant of Sparta, who died in the battle.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Timaĩos of Massalia ([/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]ca. 345 BC – ca. 250 BC) was a [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]hellenes[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] historian born in Tauroménion in Sikelia. He was driven out of Sikelia by Agathoklẽs of Syrakousai. He went to [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Massalia and became an adviser to king Ambrosíόs and a friend to the explorer Puthéas. "The Histories" is his life works, 40 books about early history.[/FONT]
Adrias sea : Adriatic Sea
Alpine Galatia : Cisalpine Gaul, the region of northern Italy inhabited by Gauls
Boi : a celtic tribe from Bohemia
Hellas : Greece
hellene : greek
Hellenes : the Greeks
Helveti : a gaulish tribe from the swiss plateau
Empúries : a phocaean colony in Catalunya
Galates : the Gauls
Galatia : Gaul, roughly delimited by the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Rhine
Génoua : the city of Genoa
Insubres : a gaulish tribe from Cisalpine Gaul
Keltoi : the Celts
Kloúsion : the city of Clusium
Lingones : a gaulish tribe from Cisalpine Gaul
Massalia : the city of Marseille
Safineis : Samnites
Senones : a gaulish tribe coming from the region of OTL Sens
Sequani : the Sequani, a gaulish tribe from Sundgau and Franche-Comté
Syrakousai : the city of Syracuse
Tauroménion : the city of Taormina in Sicily
Thermopylai : the Thermopylae
Triboci : a gaulish tribe from Alsace
Volcae : a celtic tribe from Bohemia
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dr. Anderson : The Sennones-Rome war is clearly the pillage of Rome by the gauls of Brennus. It seems to be our PoD as in OTL Brennus was killed during a battle after the siege of Rome and didn't sack Rome after the "Vae Victis event".[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dr. Müller : The PoD could also be the Battle of Anio River 361BC which was won by the Romans. Here it seems that the gauls were free to sack the Latium.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dr. Pendergast : My colleagues seem to forget that in the OTL, early Roman History is very unclear as Livy (our first source on the subject) was often creating glorious victories for Rome. A great propaganda work, but not an infallible history source.[/FONT]
