What If Rome Never Fell? | Alternate History

while the name of Rome has come to be synonymous with Imperial meiting grandeur it has inversely also come to be identified with decline and collapse some have taken the story of Rome's rise and fall to be a sobering reminder to the fragility of even humanity's greatest societies that all empires must be doomed to fail and often by their own actions both directly and not Rome as an empire was born from humble beginnings a kingdom housed within the confines of a mere City which managed to successfully conquer compel and consolidate its neighbouring rivals into the early Roman Republic by this point little more than a dot in the center of the western Italian coast but over time expanding further taking more of the Western shoreline bringing the whole of the peninsula under total Roman rule Imperial level opponents like the Carthaginians and Macedonians would soon come to contest rooms growing presence and claim to dominance in the Mediterranean but eventually they too would succumb to Rome's unbound might adding their historic and strategically valuable lands to Rome's own and by eliminating its two chief rivals in the Mediterranean Rome had primed itself to make of that sea its own personal Lake annexing the whole of Greece reaching Anatolia piercing through the Levant colonizing North Africa and finally toppling Egypt bringing an end to the Age of the Roman Republic and ushering in the Roman Empire under its first emperor Augustus Rome would experience decades of development achievement and reorganization but even this early on the Empire would experience a hefty loss at the hands of the Germans having three whole legions wiped out and a Germanic ambush orchestrated by believed ally at Rome in German tribal Prince known as Arminius this would foreshadow centuries of Roman Germanic conflicts which would continue to rock the Empire and ultimately deal the killing blow to Western Rome the reign of the following emperor Tiberius though not characterized by dramatic improvements as had been seen under Augustus did emphasize a period of consolidation and securing all that which was previously achieved that said the reign of Tiberius would play host to some of the first major conspiracies within the Empire against the emperor and his heirs notably under the supervision of Praetorian prefect lucius alias and Janus though the Praetorian Guard was established to serve as the Emperor's elite bodyguard said Janus had seen them reformed into a powerful political entity which arguably came to have greater over the emperor then the Emperor held over them setting the stage for at best what amounted to a shadow government and at worst an impulsive and destabilizing force which would not merely play a role in the assassination of the following Emperor Caligula and the rise of his successor Claudius but further yet continue if not accelerate this pattern of interfering in Roman politics and Imperial succession for much of the Empire's future succeed and Claudius would be Nero an emperor who though hated by the upper classes was adored by the wider public for his larger-than-life presence dedication to athletics and arts as well as his public developments funded by taxing the wealthy but when the Great Fire of Rome broke out scorching the city for over a week so did Nero find the Treasury without proper funds to repair the damages tributes were imposed on the provinces yet even still money fell short and with few alternatives Nero found himself forced to devalue the Empire's currency beginning a slippery slope of Emperor's gradually tripping away the value of Roman coins anytime they went even slightly over budget believing it was only a matter of time until new land was conquered bringing in more gold and silver but that wouldn't be the case prices of course went up and Roman soldiers continually demanded higher pay in response to this inflation sowing the seeds for restlessness within their ranks some Emperor's like Caracalla expanded rights and citizenship within the Empire as to increase the taxable population but even still this would prove insufficient while having the negative effect of awarding powers to communities who either held little loyalty to Rome had clashing interests with the Empire or simply didn't understand the function of Roman government year after year these issues of disloyalty within the Empire the instability and insecurity of Roman leadership economic decline Imperial stagnation and introduction of foreign elements would softened Rome till the point it became unable to properly defend itself from the growing Germanic hordes and Eastern Empire's prospects of wealth and the strategic value of the East would eventually drive leadership away from Rome proper instead setting up shop in the city of des an tiem unwittingly leaving the old capital to the vultures but what if that changed what if in an alternate timeline the Western Roman Empire never collapsed it's a question that could very well lead into several different answers chiefly because there are a number of times and ways Western Rome could have turned itself around not to mention an some theories and what was central Trump's collapse in the first place as we've gone over there are several layers to Rome's decline including far more complex and minut factors which spawned as a result of the main four which will just simplify as political social economic and military perhaps a later Emperor during what would have been Rome's final years succeeds in keeping the city and Italian peninsula safe from barbarian invasions allowing it to survive in a limited form or perhaps Emperor Maggiore and sabotage plans to risa cure Carthage and North Africa from the Vandals succeeds keeping for Rome a great source of wealth and food which might have allowed the Empire to rebound in the span of only a few decades maybe if these strongly anti German emperor Valentinian hadn't suddenly died he may prevent his Co Emperor Valens from inviting God since Rome's borders the following year Valens doing so in the hopes that he may use them as soldiers only for the Goths and those they brought along with them to ultimately turn against the Romans possibilities seemingly present themselves nearly every decade but they're not quite perfect most being either unsustainable in the long term or siphoning off resources from other necessary fields so for the scenario we're going to stop Rome's main issues at their route it's going to require a few specific conditions be met but again this is a bit of a tall order to fill this means that the Janus never comes to power and the Praetorian Guard remains loyal and limited in its capabilities for the security of the Emperor the Great Fire of Rome never happens thus Nero isn't forced to devalue the currency setting a precedent for future emperors finally Germania is not only successfully conquered but held developed and assimilated into the empire neutralizing the tribes that would become the Franks in allamani shortening Rome's border to make it more easily defendable and thus free up additional soldiers as well as bringing to the empire a new generation of slaves to bolster Roman labor delaying any shortages for at least a few more decades this said Rome will still suffer from invasions and attacks at the hands of the eastern Germanic tribes economic downturns brought on by faulty tax system and reliance on slaves and the outbreak of the Antonine and Ciprian plagues not to mention facing political upheaval any time an emperor dies unexpectedly however even in the face of all this Rome will be stronger more stable and afforded more time to solve its economic additionally because Rome's issues are fixed early on it becomes slightly different than the Rome we knew firstly if we assume Germanicus was allowed to continue his conquests of Germania this is likely to keep him away from whatever ended his life once he was reappointed to the east be it poison or illness Germanicus may well live on only growing in popularity among the military and populace earning him additional favor as Tiberius a successor Tiberius however may also seek to secure the throne for his own biological son drusus Germanicus mind you only having been made to be Reese's heir at the request of Augustus in our world Germanicus died in the east probably poisoned by Tiberius with druce's dying not long after likely poisoned by sand Janus if both survived we might expect a power struggle for the throne to ensue even if germanic is still passed away early his wife Agri Pina just as in our world would no doubt contend against Drusus on behalf of her sons alternatively the two could have just as easily taken the throne together see Augustus before adopting Tiberius as his heir had intended to be succeeded by two co-emperor z' but they had both died early Tiberius as a condition to his becoming the new successor was to adopt Germanicus and allow him to reign alongside Drusus the two seemingly showing equal promise and ambition appeared ideal candidates for the position given this as an optimistic alternate take on Rome will assume that's precisely what happens and joint rule is established it's not perfectly clear who would succeed drusus and Germanicus but chances are it wouldn't be Caligula and Claudius who seemed to have only come to power in the absence of any alternatives but because the role of Emperor or rather now Emperor's is more stable far more effective and longer reigning leaders can be selected and prepared ahead of time ensuring that Rome be guided by the best and not merely those most willing to enrich the pataw Rian's and elites the acquisition of Germania makes its development a demanding project one which delays any attempted invasion of Britannia for perhaps another century or so as efforts are focused on taming the wild forests and populations along the Roman border making sense of use of its timber iron and copper resources fast forward to the mid 2nd century ad and we'd find Rome expanding at eastern borders having subjugated donkey and defeated Parthians and image war likely sparked by disputes over me Nia in our world Rome had been progressively more successful in its campaigns against Parthia in part due to the Parthians own growing instability the Empire finally came close to toppling parthia during the campaign's of Trajan around 115 AD but ultimately fell back and returned lost lands to the Parthians in this alternate world thanks to the added strength and stability of Rome the domain of Mesopotamia Falls and remains under Roman control bringing onto the Empire a bounty of wealth and greater access to Eastern trade the early establishment of joint rule also allows for better governance of Rome's wide-reaching lands preventing any chance of usurpations or moves for secession while the emperor was preoccupied with the war effort if Rome aimed to deal the killing blow to Parthia it could easily conquer its way along the gulf coast leaving inner Parthia vulnerable to other neighboring powers either way Rome would have opened itself up to increased trade with the east introducing to the empire a number of exotic Goods and philosophies while projecting its own culture into Asia unfortunately this exchange wouldn't be exclusively positive as along with Eastern products Rome would also expose itself to Eastern plagues earlier on potentially spreading them further across the empire this would deal a blow to Roman commerce and likely lead to a slowing of trade with the East but probably no more so than had already occurred in our own world and on that same note we could certainly expect the Empire to rebound optimistically this could encourage Rome to tighten its eastern border in Asia as to prevent the spread of the plague something which might prove valuable if and when this essence arose in this altered timeline without the destabilizing abrupt changes of leadership brought about by the Praetorian Guard the threat posed by the Western Germanic tribes and the debasement of Roman currency there is no crisis of the 3rd century only brief bout with plague and a successful war against the Goths with its present land secure Rome might seek to establish a presence on Britannia to keep in check the tribes which would on occasion trouble Roman ships or even attempt to raid the Golic coasts Rome's delay in invading Britannia would have given the southern British tribes time to grow in strength making them more formidable power than had been faced in our world slowing or even halting Roman expansion deeper into the island with the coast secured and access to Brittani as resources opened up Rome might feel satisfied to wash its hands of the region and solidify border in the south TRUCKING the northern lands up as not worth the effort as was the case for Germany as civilizations left just outside Rome's borders are granted the privilege of being exposed to Roman tactics and technology whilst retaining their culture in full this in essence primed such civilizations on Rome's periphery to become all the more resistant to Roman conquest but more importantly to become stronger than their own rivals further inland and away from Rome allowing for the creation of larger non Roman kingdoms over time on that note the eastern Roman frontier would soon see waves of German tribes seeking refuge within Roman territory after having been displaced by the mounting goth population unable to pierce the Roman border these displaced Germans would be forced either fight or submit to the Gothic hordes which were coming to dominate the region of Sathya until the rise of the honey and power drove them to against Rome's unbreakable eastern wall Rome might compromise to support the Goths against the rapidly expanding Huns honoring the Goths to establish a fortified border and act as something of a buffer state between them and the Huns in doing so leading major gothic settlement to remain in northeastern Europe instead of allowing them to migrate to Iberia and set up shop in southwestern Europe as they had nor world the continued strength of the Roman West and lack of demographic change also gives greater authority and number to adherents of Roman tradition thus reinforcing the traditional Roman faith the potentially still shifting toward a more monotheistic character such as that of the Sol Invictus cult in our world the heightened prosperity of the East contributed to the spread of Christianity seeing its influence rise not merely on account of a faster growing population but also as it captured the interest of prominent politicians who had moved to the east while Christianity still becomes a significant faith in Rome as a whole traditional Roman practices carry on strong throughout much of the West specifically if Christianity did eventually come to dominate Western and Eastern Rome it would need to further adapt itself to the Roman pagan customs creating something slightly different from the Christianity we know today the rise of Christianity to prominence in the east as well as its proximity to Arabia would bring it into fierce competition with the Islamic caliphate once it came into existence the Byzantines were East Roman Empire though it may be neglected the additional attention had received in our world on account of what had been Western Rome's decline it would still likely be in an ideal place to hold its ground against the caliphate given that the sassanids in Persia will be reduced to a minor threat earlier on and the Empire as a whole would be in much better shape while the lands of the Levant North Africa Syria and Mesopotamia remain within the East greco-roman cultural sphere is LAN does still succeed in spreading into Persia central Eurasia and India likely reaching further than it ever had in our world as resources exhausted in the West are now directed eastward the increasingly distinct cultural religious and lifestyle demands of the Western and Eastern halves of the Empire paired with the long-standing history of dual leadership would lead the two to become essentially sovereign from one another at some point although still closely allied with occasional bouts of rivalry seeking to retain the practice of joint Emperor ship the two empires may continue to select two Emperor's each for a total of four Roman emperors across the west and east a possible motivator for this division could be the outbreak of what was known as the Justinian plague an early outbreak of what would later become the Black Death some centuries later Western Rome seing a pattern of plagues arising from the east before migrating West might make the effort to tighten restrictions between the two realms finally driving them their own separate ways feudalism doesn't arise by the same means in this alternate world as the Roman central government remains capable of defending and governing its various territories thus never forcing regional populations to become dependent on local landlords for security that said Rome might come to develop a more thorough hierarchy through which it might better delegate commands and receive feedback from individual communities the two emperors of each Empire additionally levied the stress that would otherwise be placed on the shoulders of a single ruler making Imperial management all the easier with feudalism skipped over there is far more communication and trade between the Empire and outside lands paving the way for new discoveries and inventions both of Rome's on creation and those introduced by its neighbors Rome remaining on the path of progress gradually develops technologies which in our world wouldn't have been seen for several more centuries a high demand for more efficient trade leads room to finally expand on its naval capabilities building bigger and faster ships now easily able to traverse the harsh Indian Ocean and perhaps even the Atlantic should the Romans seek to contact China directly of course leading them stumble upon the Americas instead this might become the case of relations with the growing Islamic kingdoms of India becomes strained seeing more regularly break out denial of port and trade access Western Rome they're not as Christian as the East is not spared the prejudice of these kingdoms encouraging them to take advantage of their access to the Atlantic and begin scouting a Western route to Asia on the other hand Eastern Rome not being awarded the same privilege may continue to war against the Muslims to regain access to the Indian Ocean from where it might attempt to reach further parts of Asia perhaps stumbling upon Indonesia or Australia Islamic expansion would finally be halted around the Year 1200 during the rise of the Mongol Empire which under Genghis Khan would suppressing number of Islamic practices in its occupied land his successors however would warm up to and even embrace the Islamic faith especially as they came closer to the Islamic heartland however given that much of the Middle East would also be under Eastern Roman control some Mongol successor dynasties may convert to Christianity as well before the Empire as a whole began to recede the Mongol invasions would be followed not long after by another plague the plague actually the Black Death however the outbreak would not be nearly as catastrophic as it had been in our world for one Western Rome's increased skepticism with the East and its history with plagues would have motivated additional precautions which at the very least could mitigate its spread if any region were to be hardest hit it would be eastern Rome yet even here conditions remain preferable to those of our timeline Roman hygiene standards were remarkably higher than those of the medieval kingdoms higher levels of organization would certainly help control the spread by keeping bodies off the streets and sectioning off regions affected by the outbreak not to mention the fact Rome had no doubt made a number of significant medical advancements by this point ultimately turning factors in their favor by the turn of the following century with the plague behind it Rome would have weathered some of history's greatest challenges and disasters yet emerged from them undefeated and greater than ever before with its best years quite possibly still ahead of it Eastern Rome would rise as a prospering trade empire establishing small port colonies throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans as well as along the African coast still playing the role of a hub between civilizations for exchange of goods ideas and cultures Western Rome remaining true to its Imperial warrior heritage would not stumble upon China through its Atlantic excursions and become a trade empire as its brother State had but instead find a land ripe for conquest once so tempting in its challenge that the West couldn't help but make of it a new Rome like China Western Rome would have come to be an enduring and massive state whose identity seemingly became synonymous with that of the entire continent itself simply on account of its contributions and grandeur but going even further beyond this the two Rome's would become instrumental in shaping not merely the global West but the East as well reaching far beyond the achievements of any civilization prior bringing unto all they encountered the light of the Imperium Invictus the undefeated Empire and that Israel in this video for now the us of Z thanks for watching support your Legion by liking the video or join our ranks by subscribing for more mr. Z out [Music]

Channel: Monsieur Z

Views: 335,534

Keywords: Alternate History, Alternative History, Althist, Althistory, What If, Roman Empire, Rome, Roman History, Ancient Rome, History, History Of, What If Rome Never Fell, What If Rome Never Collapsed, What If Rome Survived, Why Did Rome Fall, Western Rome, Is America Rome, What If Rome Conquered Germania, What If Rome Conquered Persia, What If Rome Industrialized, What If Rome Colonized America, Sejanus, Almost Emperor, Unbiased History, Cause Of, Fall Of Rome, What If Rome Reunited

Id: PmK4yZC9nOQ

Length: 18min 31sec (1111 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 03 2020