What if the Roman Empire never fell

Before anyone starts ranting about seeking to preserve the Roman empire and its organization under Trajan, tell me why did the Roman Empire flourish under Constantine?
 
Zaphod, I've also had trouble seeing Turtledove' Gunpowder Empire or world taken over by the German First Reich as likely. You could have any NEWISH gunpowder empire you chose, but not Rome. Similarly, having the First Reich win France and alot of the rest of the land parts of Western Europe is reasonable to me. But I'm not believing in it being as far ahead of the US and UK in nuclear development as in the book. They're IMHO fun reads, though.

Julius, you're right, of course. Note that classical Greece and Rome had written constitutions in the modern sense, incidentally. But, on paper, the Roman Empire had a Senate, which regularly met. It's just that, well, when Senators that cross their Emperors have a way of suffering or dying, it sure looks like just a piece of paper, doesn't it?

Classical Greece and Italy were pretty advanced on government; they even invented our form of government, republican representative democracy. Check out the Achaean League, which got there by copying the buggy Delian League invented by Athens.
 
What if the Roman Empire never fell? How would this have changed history in Europe and the world?

In a sense the Roman Empire continued in the East until 1922 and in the West until the present day (albeit in severely trunculated form). Thus, welcome to OTL.....:D
 
I'd much rather see a TL where the Empire expands, peaks, and falls, but no matter how weak it gets there is one continuous legitimate line of rulers or governments, based in Rome until at least WWII if not present day. Maybe it shrinks so small that it is just a city in the middle of another, bigger state that has taken most of Italy but leaves this tiny state intact for its symbolic and cultural value.

Hmm, this is starting to sound familiar....
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What if you had the Vatican City within a slightly larger Urbe d'Roma within Italy itself? It'd be like those Russian dolls.
 
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