WI Lusius Quietus becomes Emperor in 117 AD?

In late 1st century Lusius Quietus was made a senator, a governor of Iudaea Province and even appointed consul. The high profile of cavalry in the war against Parthia further strengthened his standing, while a brilliant rearguard action, which saved the whole army from destruction, made Lusius the darling of the legions. According to Heinrich Graetz, only the quick action of Hadrian, supported by Trajan's widow, prevented Lucius being acclamed emperor on the death of Trajan. Hadrian had the infantry under Lusius' command quietly disarmed, but the North African cavalry proudly refused to surrender their arms and abandon their heroic commander. They had to be slaughtered to a man before Hadrian was in position to order the execution of his rival.
WI Lusius Quietus became Emperor in 117 AD instead of Hadrian? How is that altering History? Any thoughts?
 
Quietus was an exceptional General.. I guess that he might have pushed the Empire borders further east (both Persian and Germanic borders...)
 
I think that expansion might happen, but the question of consolidation still remains. It seems that at the end of Trajan's reign, the Empire was very close to being overextended, as it could no longer afford full freedom to the generals (many of whom would surely consider themselves worthy of the purple, and be potential rebels at the first opportunity). Instead, most conquests were performed by the Emperor himself, or at least by trusted lieutenants, whose glory would be taken by the Emperor as needed. One can only consider that most top military roles were concerned with the defense of the frontiers and the suppression of rebellions, instead of being granted a mandate to conquer.

As such, further conquests may create major power vacuum at the first weakening of the dynasty. The end result of it may actually be worse for the Empire, as it requires a militarily competent Emperor to expand, and is too large to afford expansion on multiple fronts at the same time. Consider that any victorious general, starting with Vitellius, would see himself on the throne, and many have succeeded. What we may see in case of Quietus becoming Emperor and continuing Trajan's policies is the earlier crisis akin to the crisis of the IIIrd century. In OTL, Hadrian's insistence on consolidation might have well allowed the Empire to thrive through most of the IInd century, whereas a more aggressive Emperor could have created problems that "civil" (i.e. not with the military background) Emperors would have hard time handling if expansion was still the official policy.
 
If there was an expansion under Quietus over Persia Roman Empire wouldnt have that much troubles with them in 3rd century... they would be significantly weakened...
 
If there was an expansion under Quietus over Persia Roman Empire wouldnt have that much troubles with them in 3rd century... they would be significantly weakened...


Which would lead to a stonger richer Eastern (Byzantine) empire which may just survive to modern times :)
 
If there was an expansion under Quietus over Persia Roman Empire wouldnt have that much troubles with them in 3rd century... they would be significantly weakened...

Possibly, but possibly not. People tend to react to defeats. It is thought that repeated defeats by the Romans, although never of a crushing variety, weakened the Parthian state and hence helped in the establishment of the Sassanid empire that succeeded it. Which was a far more formidable enemy than Parthia ever was.

As Midgard said there might have been dangers of over-expansion after Trajan's successes and its uncertain if the Mesopotamian lands could have been held. Think there was already a lot of unrest at Roman rule. Expansion in Germania and Transylvania might have been more promising, if you could have established a shorter and more stable empire there. Apparently Hadrian gave up part of the recently established Dacian province, which made it markedly more difficult to defend so just butterflying that would help.

Steve
 
Quietus could move his court to the East so he can control newly conquered Parthian lands more effectively...
Maybe he could grant some authority to the Senate to administrate Western Empire except from military matters though... He wouldnt have risked an open rebellion to the German borders after only 50 years from the Batavian Rebellion...
So everyone is happy... Senate has some (limited) power restored and the army is loyal to a strong Emperor...
 
Quietus could move his court to the East so he can control newly conquered Parthian lands more effectively...
Hmm. Maybe. My feeling, though, is that this is still too early to move the capital away from Rome, and would be a perfect opportunity for an eager dynast to make a play for the purple and get the support of the Senatorial elites. Whether or not the play is successful is almost beside the point: Quietus would need to move back west to consolidate power, and the only-nominally-conquered Parthian lands take advantage of the unrest to break away again.

Maybe he could grant some authority to the Senate to administrate Western Empire except from military matters though... He wouldnt have risked an open rebellion to the German borders after only 50 years from the Batavian Rebellion...
This wouldn't happen. The Senate was well and truly dead as a ruling body by this point, and the last real push for restored Senatorial power was after Caligula's death almost a century earlier. No sane emperor was going to throw power back at them. A co-emperor would be more likely, or even an able Caesar (like Titus during Vespasian's reign).

Ultimately, though, even if Quietus got lucky and everything went his way, he's still going to have a hell of a time keeping effective control over Mesopotamia. The historical record is annoyingly sparse for the second century, but from most accounts, Hadrian was no slouch when it came to strategic matters. That Hadrian felt the need to fall back to traditional borders is, in this light, rather instructive.

By the same token, though, it's tricky to really map out the Trajan's death and Hadrian's acension. It's certainly possible that Plotina, with or without Hadrian's help or approval, forged the adoption documents that put Hadrian in the purple, but it's far from proven. And even without a formal adoption, Hadrian seems to be have been the most likely candidate: he was a favorite of Trajan, and both the army and the Senate accepted him quickly and without any apparent grumbling. Quietus didn't have quite the same credentials, and even if he and his supporters hadn't been suppressed immediately, I'm not sure things would have ultimately shaken out in Quietus's favor, even if it did wind up a messier affair than in OTL.

And the lack of any kind of in-depth historical data on Quietus makes it next to impossible to speculate on what he would have done if he had become emperor. There's no reason to think he wouldn't have withdrawn just as Hadrian did. He's too much of a blank slate to really speculate about.
 
Even a co-Emperor could be dangerous for Quietus... If he is absent from Rome fighting the Parthians for long time a rebellion might have erupted soon...
 
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