What if Rome Never Existed? Part III

a boat arrives from the horizon one of many that sailed to the coast of what we would call France this land however is inhabited by a Celtic people one whose language and culture has drops of Phoenician and Greek a remnant of those who once colonized here the ship lands and its merchants tell of what has happened to the grand city of Carthage it has fallen not to the Romans in this alternate timeline they don't exist the army that has conquered the city was from something called an Islamic caliphate the Roman Empire never rose perhaps the city was destroyed early on or is just one of the many empires throughout history that died before they could truly span out Europe is a far different continent Rome was a force of nature that conquered and altered the identity of Europe changed it from just a peninsula on the edge of Eurasia to a region of civilization just as influential as China Egypt or Mesopotamia without that bedrock then one would Europe be well the peninsula's various people build from a series of alternate bedrocks and the Mediterranean cultures like the Phoenicians Etruscans and Greeks control the coastlines while on the west the Celts never facing a Roman genocide evolved and split into their own alternate groups and kingdoms Germans Nords and Slavs assuming they never interact with a large empire on their border don't rapidly change at least for a time all of these groups without Rome are foreign to one another in fundamental culture in faith this alternate Europe is an unaltered Europe one with tribes and kingdoms but their beliefs tied to a pantheon of naturalistic gods Carthage would never be the land power that Rome was but through trade Celts and Etruscans might adapt certain aspects of their society now that said keep in mind that this is the end of a three-part series it's so far disconnected from our own timeline it's fiction it's just a thought exercise a thought exercise involving history that YouTube as of late isn't too keen on supporting thankfully I had a little help to make sure part three exists this video was sponsored by Imperator Rome you pick one of multiple factions in the Roman world and try to rewrite history yourself the third major update 1.3 gives you far more options than ever and how to shape that alternate path the free Punic Wars content pack includes 10 unique missions for both the Carthaginians and Romans new models for Carthaginian ships and new midian with this update the gameplay has been reworked with a better family system and character experience so with all this if you haven't been interested in imperative Rome but now have that each to shape your own alternate Roman world now's the best time the game is currently on sale for 33% less during the steam winter sale for more info feel free to check out the link below but for now back to the scenario at hand in my last video I sent without Rome Christianity simply remains a regional religion heavily tied to Judaism followers don't have access to that vast Roman Network to set up bases across Europe and over time convert the Empire the faith remains a small localized near-east religion since I discussed Christianity it's time to talk about the other elephant in the room it's an alternate 7th century in Arabia the world that the Prophet Mohammed lived in was affected by the existence of the Roman Empire though by his time it was just the eastern portion in his early days Mohammed travelled into Syria with his uncle on trading trips places like Aleppo and Damascus were key Roman cities that said the Arabic world always had an interaction with their neighbors the Romans didn't create this system even if the region was split into various empires and kingdoms trade caravans wouldn't be affected so even without Rome this network still exists just under different alternate hands in a world without Rome the Prophet Mohammed still could have had the revelation of Gabriel still could have been pushed to be a prophet by his wife and the whole debacle with his followers being kicked out of the city as well in fact the spread of Islam was pretty insular to just the Arabian Peninsula at least for a time the existence of Rome even with the gun acids didn't come into play until most of the region was already fully under Muslim rule so even without Rome in the butterfly effect that would entail there still could be a man in the Arabian Peninsula who becomes the Prophet for a religion called Islam that spreads in the same manner the main change occurs once Islam spreads now of eponym solo is LOM was able to spread out so easily despite being blocked in by two large empires for two main reasons one the eastern Romans in sassanids had weakened one another from centuries of border skirmishes and wars over Mesopotamia by the seventh century what would have been a wall against the Muslim armies was really too weakened armies recovering from recent conflicts with each other to genuine military strategy Mohammed died before the Muslim armies spread into the Levant and so these new campaigns were overseen by the second caliph Umar the early Arab conquests were quite impressive and how much of a strategic masterstroke the campaigns truly were not only were desert armies able to bring the Romans into a retreat but invaded the entire Sassanid Empire just to stop them from retaking territory without the Romans by the time of a Muslim invasion this region would have been in numerous situations it could be under one Persian dominated Empire it could be split between the Egyptians Persians Mesopotamians all of these affect what strategy the Islamic armies use to spread north but I don't think they would really change the end result since this entire scenario is already centuries away from our own timeline I'll leave that up to your own interpretation whether you think Islam could have spread for me what I think is even if it was possible that the Muslim forces of our help back how long could they have been if there is some empire that successfully keeps Islam in Arabia it's only a matter of time before that defense is weakened no Empire holds forever if the Byzantines and sassanids could lose so much territory that's not implausible to think an alternate Empire might not hold them back have the Islamic army been able to spread out of Arabia not much other than geography would have been able to stop them Egypt and North Africa fall quickly soon maybe after a century Carthage itself is under threat assuming Carthage in the way we think of it is still around in the 8th if it still has the same emphasis on naval power over a prominent military it could hold out for a while but eventually fall if the sassanids could fall carthage could - in our own timeline the Islamic invasions did come in to Europe Spain fell to the Moors there was a battle of tours and raids occurred in the Mediterranean in scores so what now once Carthage Falls - Islamic armies keep in mind it wouldn't be destroyed or salted the trade routes between their cities and foreign kingdoms simply shift under new management those trading relationships still remain now Muslim merchants sail throughout the Mediterranean bringing in a cultural interchange between the Phoenicians in Arabic world places like lower Gaul Liberia and Italy become the first foothills for Islam on the European Peninsula southern Europe already far different from its northern Celtic counterparts in this alternate timeline becomes even further disconnected as Islamic culture transforms the region what is seen as the bedrock of the region's culture isn't just Carthage anymore but the LaVon Mesopotamia and Mecca now you're probably saying why why would this change occur well trade is quite the influential thing there's a reason why the world's most populous Muslim country just so happens to have been a major junction in the Indian Ocean trade leaders and regions have shifted faiths in the past to have a better relationship with their richer trading partners for access to being more legitimate to their trading allies or potential successors to Carthage some southern European regions may easily convert to Islam just as they would have done with Christianity Greece may put up a greater fight and perhaps they remain staunchly against any monotheistic incursion would they succeed up to you to decide the rivalry between north and south Europe only deepens with the arrival of Islam traders and merchants on the Mediterranean have to deal with Viking expansion cities on the coast with Celtic attacks and well you get point perhaps these people further hold on to their own gods Celtic Germanic and Greek gods remain a key part of European identity but also isolates them from what is the rest of the world and key trade even if Europe does become influenced by Islam is in no way similar to the Arab world the people there will still speak the same languages they did with perhaps some Arab influence and there will be the same ethnic and political divisions which plagued even the Islamic world european and arabic states still go to war with one another despite their similar religion just like christian kingdoms did this is in no way a united Europe in this alternate Europe where Rome was gone in southern Europe was Muslim there'd be one enemy who would still come and invade the Seljuk Turks the Turks were much like the Vikings even when the Vikings converted to Christianity they still went around raiding fellow Christians for the nomadic Turks of Central Asia this was the same thing with Islam they had adopted Islam but still held on to those pagan nomad beliefs and still attacked cities no matter what religion when the Turks attacked the eastern Romans which sparked the First Crusade they as well were attacking Arabs in the Levant it was a standard nomadic invasion which then evolved into a religious war so even without Christianity even without the Romans even without the religious differences between Europe in the Middle East the nomadic Turks influenced only by a this land is good still would have invaded Anatolia what would be the result of this perhaps a small Turkish state perhaps they are driven out or perhaps an alternate large Turkic Empire like the Ottomans is formed now you're probably thinking this is an important aspect to cover considering how the ottomans cut off access to European trade well they did it the Ottomans grew rich from heavily taxed trade through their territory onto the Silk Road but they den it shut it down to Europeans in fact the main spur that forced kingdoms like Spain and Portugal to attempt to find a better sea route to Asia was actually Venice Venice by the 15th century had full control of Mediterranean trade with the Ottomans meaning that its southern neighbors were essentially blocked out and as alternate timeline with so much being changed there is no Venice and even if there is a major Turkic power that controls Anatolia this really changes nothing as long as there is no massive interference to European trade with Asia which if it was all under the same religion probably would have made trade easier then better routes might not be searched for if anything Europe attempts to get into the largest trading route in the world the Indian Ocean trade all of this is under the assumption though that European states would evolve to remain tied with the Silk Road which is shaky at best it is a peninsula after all surrounded by water and after thousands of years Celtic German and Nordic people easily could have created seafaring navies of their own maybe they do wish to find an easier path to China maybe not because the Ottomans are Venice but because just sailing around Africa to access a trade route so many live on is pretty counterproductive perhaps there is an accidental discovery of the Americas by some alternate Phoenicians based empire but this video is already long enough and I think you know what the end result already would be a more tangible scenario at least in my opinion is Eurasia and Africa remain insulae connected at least for a far longer time than our own the Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade is the lifeblood of the continents which means one main thing China is still the center of the world before Europeans sent ships to the Americas the center of power in the world was China they had natural resources the world wanted silk spices porcelain and knew that the world wanted them too and because of that China grew wealthy their society ironically became isolationist as all trade networks on the continent simply came to them they didn't need to explore because they already had the resources that spurred the Europeans to explore in the first place now could this have changed well probably not if the trade routes continued to work China would never want to go explore new lands success leads to comfort after all and if you already believed that you knew the entire world especially after thousands of years why explore all this is simply speculation though it's possible that some alternate Muslim European power creates a situation where other European powers decide to go search for better routes and it's also possible that they just don't cross the Atlantic and the new world is not discovered at least for a while if the Americas are ever discovered by old world powers it'd be by an Islamic North African or European power not by China as you can see though this whole scenario is very baseline generic ideas keep in mind by now in this alternate timeline we are at least a millennium into a world where the Roman Empire never existed that's the fun of theorizing Rome made Europe it transformed an entire Peninsula and disconnected mostly from interaction with Mesopotamia or Egypt into a civilization of its own it became a standard from which every Kingdom no matter their ethnic background in Europe wanted to emulate with all that said in this series keep this in mind change does not simply stop because something in our own timeline doesn't occur Europe does not stay the same just because Rome wasn't there to lay the groundwork it just evolves in a different way this entire scenario is from the perspective of somebody who lives 2,000 years after that Pax Romana Celtic culture might have broken up and shifted into a diverse range of languages and cultures as distinct as the Latin ones are today Carthage might have undertook of various governmental shifts stopped being a naval power and what Carthage was in our own timeline as far different than what it would be had it continued on for another millennium it's like a seed seeds need nourishment in time to grow if they don't get enough resources or have their potential route because of another larger tree they die before they can grow into something of their own Rome started out as just another single seed and because it was able to grow so fast it prevented the growth of countless alternate civilizations perhaps the Greeks create a new Continental System much like Alexander the Great maybe Carthage shifts and does conquer much of the continent maybe some other italian city rises to make its own mark on the world perhaps some alternate celtic kingdom might have spread without the genocide of their own people look back at Europe in the 16th century and imagine the path would go down without any knowledge the past few hundred years of history you would predict maybe the Holy Roman Empire would remain prominent maybe it remains the center of the continent maybe Poland or the Ottomans control even more territory the Spanish and Portuguese simply conquer the world since at the time they owned so much of the Americas sounds pretty bad doesn't it was because we know the history that eventually takes place the sudden social movements technological changes or few occasional Wars that shift the balance of power and change societies in ways that we wouldn't know if we were just looking at the world in the 16th century this is an essence what predicting a world without Rome is truly like taking people and groups from even further back which may not have expanded due to some unforeseen alternate catastrophe but that's why alternate history is a thought experiment it helps us reflect on how we got here ourselves it's certainly something to ponder Rome's legacy influenced so much and we're so far removed from the world it conquered we can only imagine using a world map that hasn't existed for thousands of years this is Cody of alternate history hub [Music]

Channel: AlternateHistoryHub

Views: 507,690

Keywords: What if Rome Never Existed Part III, Rome Part III, Rome Part 3, alternatehistoryhub rome, rome alternatehistoryhub, rome alternate history, roman empire, what if roman empire never rose, rome never rose, alternatehistoryhub, imperator rome, paradox, imperator rome punic wars, celts

Id: 4iNOg_NsqYc

Length: 19min 7sec (1147 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 20 2019