====== The Caesariad ======

{{timelines:Caesariad.png?200|}}

    * By Ed Thomas ([[offtopic:EdT]])
    * [[http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=193293|Link to forum thread.]]

==== Setting ====

    * The late Roman Republic, concentrating on the political manouvering and plotting after the ahistorical death of Julius Caesar.

    * The action is split between narrative concerning what actually happened, and the events retold in "The Caesariad", a historical epic composed an unpecified time after the events of the TL. 


==== POD ====

In the summer of 54BC, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar|Julius Caesar]]'s daughter [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_(daughter_of_Julius_Caesar)|Julia]], the wife of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompey|Pompeius Magnus]], dies in childbirth. Unlike in OTL however, her child, a boy, survives and remains a tangible link between the two factions, preventing the war between Pompey and Caesar and ennabling him to have an illustrious later career... 

==== Plot ====

The narrative opens sixteen years after the PoD, on the death of Julius Caesar, who has just completed a successful campaign against the Parthians. 


==== Characters ====

  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar|Julius Caesar]], whose death sparks off a frenzy of political manouvering and chcanery.


**The Pompeians**

  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Pompeius|Gnaeus Pompeius the Younger]], the corpulent and supremely self-confident paterfamilias of the Pompeian faction.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextus_Pompey|Sextus Pompeius]], his younger, and more talented brother.
  * Quintus Pompeius, whose survival was the Point of Departure, a military prodigy but unfortunately also a spoiled brat.


**The Caesarians**  

  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Antonius|Marcus Antonius]], Caesar's cousin and (at least as far as he is concerned) successor, with a worrying fondness for drink.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimus_Junius_Brutus_Albinus|Decimus Brutus]], Antonius' friend and rival, a talented general and potential successor in his own right.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aemilius_Lepidus_(triumvir)|Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]], the smug, but well connected, Pontifex Maximus.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labienus|Titus Labienus]], a very dangerous man indeed.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Brutus|Marcus Junius Brutus]], a shy and retiring businessman who may be less of a cringeing fool than he seems...


**The Senatorial Faction** 

  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus|Gaius Octavianus]], Ceaesar's legal successor and plotter extraordinaire.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippa|Marcus Agrippa]], Octavianus' right hand man.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]], Aeging statesman and self-styled saviour of the Republic.


**The others**

  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_Cornelius_Dolabella|Publius Cornelius Dolabella]], whose debt is going to get him into serious trouble. 
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Asinius_Pollio_(consul_40_BC)|Gaius Asinius Pollio]], the historian who is lucky enough to be there whenever history happens.
  * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra|Queen Cleopatra]], who will play a role in one of history's greatest love stories.
  * The False Caesar, who may well be more dangerous to Rome than all of the other characters put together... 

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