hey, all. this idea has been rattling around in my brain for a while and i finally decided to make a thread about it after deciding minutes earlier to commit it to paper (well, to a digital-only document, at least) in the main notes file for my ASB ATL.
the premise is simple enough: all other things being the same, what if the city of Rome was founded only one third up the Italian Peninsula instead of halfway up, at the site that would become the city of Pompeii IOTL? if you want an explanation for why, let's just assume the Roman foundation myth has a grain of truth ITTL and the Trojan exiles led by Aeneas settled there instead of where Rome is located IOTL.
you probably saw where i was going with this as soon as you read the title: furthermore, what could happen to Rome if the capital and largest city of one of the most powerful states in the Ancient world was right next to an active volcano and suffered the same level of destruction that Pompeii did at the same time as IOTL, that being 79 AD?