What If? All the landmasses of the world combined into a new Pangea after the death of Christ?

[CarlManvers2019]

Presume that it's the result of a reality warp rather than a massive sudden continental drift that causes numerous earthquakes and tidal waves

Think of the reality warp being like Tiber Septim using CHIM to make it as if Cyrodiil was ALWAYS not a jungle land

Now the Roman Empire can meet the Aztecs or the Olmecs or Maya

 

[worm that walks]

It's going to be a mess.

Even without earthquakes and tsunamis you are going to be changing the weather systems for the entire planet. The resulting die off is going to be nasty, as will the resulting chaos and dislocations. The next generation or two is going to look like a Conan story, with people from all over the world displaced and rootless. Trying to find a better life than slow starvation or banditry. Which also means a massive spread of new diseases, though the new world is probably not on quite as bad a footing as they were in our history. the rest of the world might be worse off, though.

My guess is your looking at a couple centuries minimum of plague, famine, war, and social dissolution. Which is likely to be very much to the benefit of various missionary religions. Christianity certainly, given the apocalypse being something they are expecting. Judaism and Buddhism will probably get a boost as well. Buddhism has always been a proselytizing faith, and 1st century Judaism was about as universalist and missionary as it ever would be.

The Roman Empire is likely to collapse elsewhere, but it would be surprising if it didn't hold on in some form or another in Italy. Likewise, Han culture is likely to be preserved in China, if far less widespread. I expect the Scythians will hand on pretty well. The Bantu are about to engage in their historical spread through sub-Saharan Africa, and are largely from a land locked ares, so they are probably in good shape to adapt to the new world. The Aztecs and Inca aren't around Yet, but Mayan Civilization is in its early phases. All in all, it stands to be a wild time.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

@worm that walks
You read Conan? If anything I’m thinking of things being like the pre-sequel of Conan

Between the Thurian Age and the Hyborean Age when a great cataclysm occurred

Thurian Age

The Thurian Age is a period within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, in which the sword and sorcery tales of Kull of Atlantis are set. It the specific epoch for his fictional timeline. It's set within the same shared universe as the later Hyborian Age of Howard's Conan the...

conan.fandom.com

Hyborian Age

For Robert E. Howard's essay, see The Hyborian Age The Conan stories take place on Earth, but in the mythical (created by Howard) Hyborian Age, between the time of the sinking of Atlantis and the rise of known ancient civilizations. According to Howard himself (in "The Phoenix on the Sword")...

conan.fandom.com

"The Thurian civilization was crumbling, their armies were composed largely of barbarian mercenaries. Picts, Atlanteans and Lemurians were their generals, their statesmen and often, their kings."

It’ll be pretty awesome a story/summation

 

[worm that walks]

The more I think about this, the more it seems perfect as the back ground for a low fantasy RPG. Everything is screwed up in a way that means you don't have to worry about the little details about which kingdom was where, or the exact social customs. But it is all familiar enough to feel like your in real history and not a generic fantasy world. And you have the perfect excuse to have wildly different cultures right next door to each other.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

The more I think about this, the more it seems perfect as the back ground for a low fantasy RPG. Everything is screwed up in a way that means you don't have to worry about the little details about which kingdom was where, or the exact social customs. But it is all familiar enough to feel like your in real history and not a generic fantasy world. And you have the perfect excuse to have wildly different cultures right next door to each other.

Only thing lacking is the presence of prehistoric animals that are big and can more easily kill people

Honestly, that’s part of why I like Sword&Sorcery, it borders on Low Fantasy and still feels like it was made to be a “demythification” of myths and legends

Even includes there being ancient civilizations to your own ancient civilizations

 

[worm that walks]

You can get a few oddities. Moa would still be around, and so would wild aurochs, and the passenger pigeon flocks in the millions that could blot out the sun for hours.

Of course, you could always assume that there was some lost valley or high plateau with living fossils that are suddenly a lot more successful with fewer humans and shifting weather patterns. Dinosaurs would be pushing it, but something like mammoths or megatheria or megalania, the giant Australian monitor lizard ,making a comeback from a tiny, isolated population doesn't seem too over the top.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

You can get a few oddities. Moa would still be around, and so would wild aurochs, and the passenger pigeon flocks in the millions that could blot out the sun for hours.

Of course, you could always assume that there was some lost valley or high plateau with living fossils that are suddenly a lot more successful with fewer humans and shifting weather patterns. Dinosaurs would be pushing it, but something like mammoths or megatheria or megalania, the giant Australian monitor lizard ,making a comeback from a tiny, isolated population doesn't seem too over the top.

I guess there could also be attempts to sail the world and find “new land” only to be eaten by sharks

And maybe adventures wherein someone tries fighting a bear or a crocodile with only a knife

 

[ShieldWife]

There will be catastrophic climate changes. Let's look to see where everything ends up. I found this picture, I think it's accurate but I'm not sure, I will assume that it is for a moment.

At first I thought that perhaps China would end up being better off than Rome, if Rome got landlocked and China remained on the east coast. But from this map, it looks like eastern China will end up in the arctic circle, which won't be too good for them. Siberia and what would later become Mongolia haven't changed too much, they might still have some good potential as nomadic horsemen in northern steppes. Parts of what were once Siberia will have a more moderate climate and access to the ocean. The nomadic horse steppe lifestyle might allow those people to survive the climate changes and the more moderate weather they encounter might allow then to form a new successful civilization in north western Pangea.

Northern Scandinavia might fair better than in reality, since they have moved quite a bit further south and have access to a large sea. Much of Rome ends up in the middle eastern coast of the continent. They are probably going to be warmer than in reality, maybe even tropical rain forest. Rome might be able to survive this.

Persia is well positioned I think, with ocean access and temperate weather. There would be two Persian Empires, one north and one south.

Central of South American tribes might do alright, especially those on the western coasts, where the weather will be more moderate.

We have a new major land mass where South America Joins Africa. In that region, there will be very continental weather patterns, hot summers and colder winters. That could lead to a big desert where west Africa meets the Americas. There may also be monsoons in that southern half of Pangea.

India might be well situated too, though the side facing the ocean has changed.

Australia and especially New Zealand are in trouble considering how far south they've moved.

In any case, most civilizations are going to suffer even if their climate doesn't become objectively worse. Just a change in temperatures, rain patterns, seasonal variation, and access to trade is going to have a pretty negative effect on communities that depend on a relatively stable climate.