Every alternate history with far reaching butterflies risks that, but for the people of the alternate timeline it only means that there will be other epic stories, that will be venerated through the mists of time.
I wonder though, if after settling all the matters on the continent, Stillichio will still have enough resources at hand for the invasion of Britain, since it is not especially important part of Empire, it would be probably easier to send letter to Constants to relinquish the claim to the throne, ''or else''. Oh and don't make me ever come over there.
Well that's a real mess but does sound like the western empire is pulling through. There might be two questions for Eucherius [or his father] to consider.
a) How much damage dare they risk doing to the eastern empire? They don't have the forces for a death struggle, or even probably taking Constantinople, let alone trying to make Eucherius emperor of the east as well. Especially since the big winner of such a struggle is likely to be the Sassanid's. On the other hand with Theodosius II so insanely hostile, unless he can be persuaded to change his mind or probably more likely someone to replace him, they have limited options.
b) How high a priority, if at all would be 'recovery' of Britannia be? Its a very exposed outpost with most of its defenders already lost in the civil war and with multiple factions to fight. Constans and his Jutish 'allies', the Brigantes who if still largely pagan probably would be looking for at least independence, the Picts and probably also other Germannic invaders looking for new land and loot. - Ah see that on the next page PsihoKekec have already raised this point.
Britain is a mess with all sorts of possible outcomes. Constans could end up coming out on top and taking up the offer PsihoKekec suggests, if that was made. Or there could be victories by Germannic or Pictish invaders or even the native Brigantes willing out although their probably the weakest and most exposed group. [I hadn't realised they still existed as a distinct group at this point in time.] Or the worse case for all involved in that there's no clear winner, at least for some time and continued infighting and devastation. [I must admit as an Englishman who's nation's future existence depends on a successful invasion, unless the Anglo-Saxon's find a new home somewhere else I have divided loyalties on what happens. ] I think Julian would have made a better 'emperor' that Constans as the latter seems distinctly prone to rash actions but that bridge has already been burnt.
I must admit that looks a very precaurious seat for Kardar, even with how notorious elephants were for running amok in battle.
Great and plausible chapters.But,author risked two epic stories - if Britain do not fall, there would be no Arthurian myths.
And,even more important,if there would be np Burgurdian kingdom destroyed by Huns in 436 AD,Wagner would never made his great music operas about Sigfrid,becouse nobody would wrote about them.
Every alternate history with far reaching butterflies risks that, but for the people of the alternate timeline it only means that there will be other epic stories, that will be venerated through the mists of time.
I wonder though, if after settling all the matters on the continent, Stillichio will still have enough resources at hand for the invasion of Britain, since it is not especially important part of Empire, it would be probably easier to send letter to Constants to relinquish the claim to the throne, ''or else''. Oh and don't make me ever come over there.
Indeed, thanks to the different turns this timeline has already taken, it would be pretty tough for Arthurian mythology and the Nibelungenlied to emerge exactly as they have IOTL. However it's possible that they'd still turn up in different forms: I've actually been taking a fair bit of inspiration from Arthurian myth surrounding the British kings & princes immediately before Ambrosius Aurelianus while writing the Romano-British sections (speaking of which, you might also want to look closely at the name of Constans' young son...), and the Burgundians are both still around in the Alps (albeit weakened and under the WRE's suzerainty) and already have good reason to detest the Huns. And of course there's room for other myths to arise and endure generations later into the future, as PsihoKekec said.
Recovering Britain will likely be a pretty low priority for Eucherius & Stilicho once this is all over, especially with most of the continental parts of the empire ranging from moderately (Italy, Hispania) to heavily (Gaul, Illyricum) devastated. Really, the only part of the WRE that hasn't been wrecked by war to some degree at this point is Africa, which is very fortunate indeed for anyone who depends on the bread dole. Britain's just a very remote province as you say, constantly harried by enemies all around and a breeding ground for rebels in the days of the late empire to a greater extent than many other provinces - Carausius, Allectus, Carausius II and Magnus Maximus all arose there before Constantine, and with the exception of Carausius II all proved to be extremely serious threats to the integrity of the WRE, especially Magnus Maximus (who actually won and became Western Emperor for a time) and now Constantine.
Assuming Britannia doesn't fall to barbarians outright, it's entirely possible or even likely the Western court will calculate that it's more trouble than it's worth. How they react could range from the solution you propose (Constans has shown that he's pragmatic enough to know when a war is unwinnable and just bail, although he might also be too strongly attached to his imperial pretension to give it up entirely), to a state of cold war between Britain and the WRE until one decides they're strong enough to heat it up again, to outright trying to bribe barbarians to conquer the other for them (unlikely while Stilicho is alive), among other outcomes.
Well that's a real mess but does sound like the western empire is pulling through. There might be two questions for Eucherius [or his father] to consider.
a) How much damage dare they risk doing to the eastern empire? They don't have the forces for a death struggle, or even probably taking Constantinople, let alone trying to make Eucherius emperor of the east as well. Especially since the big winner of such a struggle is likely to be the Sassanid's. On the other hand with Theodosius II so insanely hostile, unless he can be persuaded to change his mind or probably more likely someone to replace him, they have limited options.
b) How high a priority, if at all would be 'recovery' of Britannia be? Its a very exposed outpost with most of its defenders already lost in the civil war and with multiple factions to fight. Constans and his Jutish 'allies', the Brigantes who if still largely pagan probably would be looking for at least independence, the Picts and probably also other Germannic invaders looking for new land and loot. - Ah see that on the next page PsihoKekec have already raised this point.
Britain is a mess with all sorts of possible outcomes. Constans could end up coming out on top and taking up the offer PsihoKekec suggests, if that was made. Or there could be victories by Germannic or Pictish invaders or even the native Brigantes willing out although their probably the weakest and most exposed group. [I hadn't realised they still existed as a distinct group at this point in time.] Or the worse case for all involved in that there's no clear winner, at least for some time and continued infighting and devastation. [I must admit as an Englishman who's nation's future existence depends on a successful invasion, unless the Anglo-Saxon's find a new home somewhere else I have divided loyalties on what happens. ] I think Julian would have made a better 'emperor' that Constans as the latter seems distinctly prone to rash actions but that bridge has already been burnt.
I must admit that looks a very precaurious seat for Kardar, even with how notorious elephants were for running amok in battle.
Good questions as always. Stilicho & Eucherius will, as they did with the Senate, need to balance any vengeful thoughts they might have toward the East with pragmatism - to really consider what they can actually achieve and what would be the most profitable outcome for the WRE - as well as the looming threat of the Sassanid Empire. The Theodosian Walls are already up, so storming Constantinople would be an unimaginably difficult and costly task for their already quite battered and exhausted armies. And as you suggest, if by some miracle they actually win and conquer the ERE, that means they'll have to take on the added burden of defending against the Persians (probably in Anatolia, Syria and likely Egypt too are goners in the scenario of a total Eastern collapse) on top of all those barbarians piling up against their western frontiers. While the map of a reunified Roman Empire might look pretty, it's a very undesirable outcome all-over for pretty much all Romans, at least at this stage.
Britain is definitely in a complex situation right now, and that's unlikely to change in the future. Without spoiling anything, I will say that the WRE actually restoring complete control there is probably the least likely short to medium term outcome here, and probably in the long term too barring a miraculously peaceful mid-5th century. Honestly, it might actually be for the best if the WRE doesn't take it back, as that would mean they don't have to expend any more resources on such a distant, exposed & rebellious province - though it's unlikely that Eucherius or especially Stilicho would consider an outright abandonment of Roman territory like that, at least not officially.
I also definitely wouldn't write off the Jutes' chances at this point, between the lost war on the European mainland and all the Celtic invasions/uprisings going on (not to mention the likelihood of the Irish joining the fun, as they did in OTL's mid-to-late 5th century) it's fast looking like Constans won't get another opportunity to kick them back across the North Sea, at least not for the next few years if not decades. However, if an England does still arise in the future, it'll probably look rather different on the map as long as the Romano-Britons manage to hold out in the south.
It's certainly one pachyderm the Persians will need to keep happy and well away from the front line. Who knows though, if Kardar insists on personally charging into the Eastern Roman formations it could prove to be the huge and hugely intimidating element he needs to turn a battle around - or yeah, it might just make him the star of a lethal comedy instead
Fun thing about Nibelungenlied - i once read book about it,and apparently story was revritten few times.
Lastly - they christianed both king and heroes,before that they made king appear - before that Siegmund was just one of many chieftains - before that they gave him warriors,
And in oryginal it was story about lonely schaman doing his stuff.
If it is true,that pity it could not be changed now - it would be fun to see black trans Sigmund fighting bad white christains and nationalists.
But,back to the story - i think,that jutes still could carve their kingdoms,just like Arthur ancestor still could save Britain.Brigands and Picts are too divided to conqer entire island.
Or maybe we would have divided island,which one day would be reclaimed by Empire.
That explain shaman as oryginal hero.Hanging on tree to get wisdom look like shamanic practice to me/Odin/
And it means,that even if Burgundian do not wrote anything at all,story of Sigurd would still be alive.
Just like story of Beowulf,it was created by saxons who do not die there.
421-424: War of the Four Emperors, Part III and Aftermath
421 dawned with the Persians bringing up reinforcements (including a corps of formidable war elephants) to battle the Eastern Romans, which they did at Hierapolis[1] on January 30. Here Ardabur and Aspar sustained a heavy defeat, their forces scattered before the might of the Persian elephants, and their Sassanid adversary Kardar was not finished: he sent his Lakhmid auxiliaries to drive south and try to cut the Eastern Empire off from Ghassanid territory, seizing Palmyra by February 18. Days later, while Ardabur was ordering engineers in Antioch to put together anti-elephant ballistae for future use, Eucherius compounded the Eastern Romans’ suffering by landing in Attica; there he immediately compelled the surrender of Athens and Corinth with his large army, before beginning to push northward into Thessaly.
Now, at long last, Emperor Theodosius saw reason and did as Monaxius urged him to, requesting a ceasefire and opening honest negotiations with the Western Empire. Meeting their eastern counterparts in occupied Athens, Eucherius and Stilicho wasted no time in laying out their terms: the recognition of Eucherius as lawful Augustus and his son Romanus as Caesar of the Roman Empire’s western half, the restoration of all still-occupied parts of Illyricum to the West (which was to hold them ‘in perpetuity’), the return of the Visigoths to their homes in said prefecture, the return of the Senators who fled when Priscus Attalus fell and the immediate payment of 1,000 pounds of gold followed by an annual tribute of another 200 pounds over the next five years. All in all, astonishingly mild terms after the intense struggles of the past three years; but Stilicho was reluctant to kill even more Romans after three years of bitter fighting and (despite his opinion of the Eastern court being so low as to be practically subterranean) did not want to see the entire Eastern Empire collapse, while Eucherius sorely needed to consolidate and stabilize the Western Empire after having just staved off the various usurpers and barbarians menacing it. Also, as spring dawned the pair received word that Felix had re-emerged and raised another distant Theodosian cousin as usurper in Hispania, which no doubt counted as a short-term factor in motivating their moderate terms.
While Theodosius was willing to accept these terms on account of their mildness and so his generals could concentrate on the Persian threat, he had the audacity to request that – after everything – the West should aid him in his war with Persia. Eucherius laughed at his Oriental counterpart’s proposition, considering it a probable joke and certainly the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard in his life, but Stilicho had a better idea in mind. Since the War of the Four Emperors would be fast approaching its end with this peace settlement, he would have to release Bleda and the remaining Huns in his service back to their lands; however, he recommended that Constantinople hire them to help fight the Persians, pointing to their impressive combat record as part of his own army – and certain that the East, having always been the wealthier of the two Romes even after the West used it as a gold piñata, still had money to burn.
While Stilicho and Eucherius headed home, envoys from Constantinople offered the Hun khagans Octar and Rugila 500 pounds of gold in exchange for the service of their men as mercenaries, a payment which they would repeat for as long as the Huns were needed[2]. For such a sum they were prepared to not only order their nephew to join them now that Stilicho no longer had need of him, but to contribute a further 5,000 Hunnish warriors. Rumor also has it that one of the Eastern emissaries was an agent of the sly eunuch Chrysaphius and asked the joint khagans how much it would cost to get them to attack Stilicho, but the pair (and their other brother Mundzuk) had not forgotten either their father Uldin’s solid relationship with the magister militum nor their uncle Charaton’s utter defeat at his hands, as well as the fact that their kinsman Attila had yet to return from the imperial court in Ravenna, and bluntly answered that the price of that decision was higher than the East could afford.
For the appropriate price, Octar & Rugila were prepared to assist the Eastern Romans with most of their troubles...as long as those troubles weren't named 'Stilicho', anyway
By the time Procopius, Monaxius and Bleda arrived near Antioch on June 5, the Persians had come within striking distance of the city – and thus, severing the southern half of the Eastern Roman Empire from its northern half. Immediately after uniting with what was left of Ardabur’s and Jabalah III’s[3] army, they set out to confront Kardar’s advancing army just east of the great diocesan capital. And while his generals prepared to contest the fate of the Diocese of the East with Ctesiphon, Theodosius married the daughter of a prominent Athenian academician named Athenais – having first noticed her during the negotiations with Eucherius and Stilicho earlier in the year, and encouraged in his affections for her by Paulinus – on June 7, renaming her Aelia Eudocia as part of her baptism into Christianity.
The Battle of Antioch which followed three days later pitted 35,000 Eastern Romans, including the 10,000 Huns under Bleda’s command, against an even larger host of 50,000 Persians, whose host also included a thirty-strong unit of armored elephants. Bleda’s men formed part of the Romans’ cavalry screen, aggressively skirmishing with forward elements of the Sassanid army (who the Huns surprised with their superior skill at horse archery and exotic weapons such as the lasso) and boldly trying to shoot down the elephants leading their assault. Though he had never seen the beasts before, having only heard of their use in repelling a Hunnic invasion of Sassanid lands led by his grandfathers in 395, by all accounts the bold Hunnish prince was quite thrilled to be facing such a huge new challenge; he even created an impromptu betting pool with several of his lieutenants, to be rewarded to whoever among them could strike an elephant dead first.
As the Persian front line pushed past this screen to engage the Roman infantry, the veteran Roman legions held their ground against the onrushing Persian army and kept their elephants at bay with waves of plumbata, javelins and ballista bolts in addition to their disciplined shield-and-spear-walls. Bleda won the wager he had set up around this time, sniping an elephant’s mahout and then riding close enough to throw a javelin into the confused beast’s eye. Soon the Persian pachyderms began to panic under the pressure of the missile barrage and stampeded back into their own lines, driving the entire Persian army into retreat. 5,000 Persians fell compared to fewer than a thousand Eastern Romans and the front line was pushed back toward Edessa, after which Kardar spent the rest of the year focusing more on consolidating his hold on the territories he still occupied than on another offensive toward Antioch.
The Huns and Persians had not faced each other since the former's abortive invasion of the Caucasus in 395, so both sides had plenty of surprises for the other in the Battle of Antioch
Back in the west, as mentioned previously Felix had re-emerged in Hispania and taken advantage of Eucherius’ eastward departure to raise a new usurper: in this case Didymus[4], a cousin of Theodosiolus (and thus an even more distant relative of Theodosius, Honorius and the now-uncontested-Augusta Galla Placidia). The pair had managed to scrounge up an army in northern Gallaecia, appealing to the long-autonomous mountain tribes of the Astures and Cantabri for warriors in exchange for a chance to pillage the loyalist parts of Hispania, as well as Priscillianist[5] heretics in the remote corners of the peninsula, to whom they promised toleration. Stilicho volunteered to assist Boniface in crushing this last threat, which they did with contemptuous ease at the Battle of Abula[6] – in so doing, spiting the Priscillian followers of Didymus in particular, for it was the city which their sect’s eponymous founder had claimed to be the legitimate bishop of – on May 16. Didymus was killed in the rout, and a hopeless Felix committed suicide in the Asturian mountains much as Arbogast had done before him after the Frigidus.
Now the only rival Emperor left standing was Constans in Britain. However, circumstances arose to ensure that neither he nor Eucherius would come to blows again, so the defeat of Didymus was the effective conclusion to the War of the Four Emperors. On Eucherius’ side, he was occupied with having to rebuild the devastated empire he had won; Didymus’ rising proved that his hold on power could still be contested at any time, and Gaul and Illyricum were both badly torn up, in particular the former which had faced an astounding amount of violence at the hands of barbarian invaders in just a few years.
Using the money he had gotten out of the Eastern Empire, Eucherius once again set out on a campaign of land redistribution, though one with far less violence than what he’d inflicted on the Senate in Italy. With his gold he bought devastated Gallic estates, and any coloni & slaves still bound to them, from the Gallo-Roman landowners impoverished by the need to bribe rampaging barbarians and Constantinian troops so as to not die horribly at their hands, then pitched the same offer to said sharecroppers and slaves as he had done to their Italian counterparts: become soldiers in the Roman army, and they would be repaid not only with freedom from their bonds and debts, but the plot of land they and their family had been working on. Lands where the occupants had been entirely killed in the war or driven off and demonstrated no desire to return, not even for what the imperial government was offering them, were parceled out to any still-landless troops in Eucherius’ service or sold at below-market prices to other refugees & Romans willing to personally live in and work the land for at least 15 years. Through this program, Eucherius hoped to both further repopulate Gaul (particularly its coastal and frontier provinces, which bore the worst of the wartime devastation) and alleviate overpopulation in Rome itself.
With the new soldiers, Eucherius further sought to rebuild the Gallic legions, few of which remained standing. To lead them, he not only had his magister equitum per Gallias but also the younger talent Aetius had dug up in that office: among others, the most promising officers of the new Gallic generation were the quiet and loyal Aegidius[7] of Augustodunum[8] and Arigius’ young but determined son, Arbogast[9]. Until (and for some time after) they finished training however, the emperor had to remain in Gaul to protect its borders directly and also suppress roving bands of bagaudae[10] who still troubled its already-wrecked countryside. Where possible, he relied on churchmen such as Bishop Germanus of Autessiodurum[11] to peacefully negotiate and sway them into settling back down (usually by parceling lands out to them and their families), but where this was not possible he sent his legions to smash them: their activity threatened to undo his reconstruction efforts, and he couldn’t have that after all he’d done to restore security and vitality to the Western Empire. Regardless of how these troubles were dealt with, it was clear that it would take many years for Gaul to recover from the War of the Four Emperors, and that Eucherius could not afford to consider striking at Britain until he had permanently secured the region first.
Over in Illyricum, the Visigoths had returned immediately following the Eastern Roman withdrawal and they most certainly had a lot of grudges to settle. Warbands of Gothic veterans attacked first anyone who’d driven them off their original settlements, then more generally any local Greeks they suspected of having fought for Monaxius when he first came through (who, invariably, also had estates and loot they wanted to ‘liberate’), while their families squatted on the newly-emptied lands in their wake. To prevent the situation in the prefecture’s eastern half from dissolving into seething anarchy, Stilicho closely worked with Alaric to clamp down on the violence, expend yet more gold on bribing lesser Gothic chiefs and captains to stop rampaging, and outlawing & hanging the worst & most irreconcilable offenders until they had restored a semblance of order. Despite the involvement of both the Visigoth king and magister militum, stabilizing Illyricum and safely resettling the Visigoths back on its soil promised to occupy their attention for the rest of 421, and probably 422 as well.
Some Visigoths were so hellbent on revenge against the Greco-Romans of Illyricum that nothing short of a Roman sword in their skull - not even their king's command - could dissuade them
In Britain, grudging allies Constans and Hengist faced Coel’s Britons in the spring, setting up their headquarters on opposite sides of the town of Duroliponte[12] and opposing the Britonic army north of the River Granta[13] which ran through it. Despite their mutual hatred, the two men had worked before to defeat Arigius on the continent and did so again to vanquish Coel: in a classic, the Jutish heavy infantry pinned down the Britons in the center of the battlefield while Constans’ men battered their flanks. Coel beat a hasty retreat but soon sent word to Constans, asking to negotiate his own alliance with the Romano-Britons against the Picts – who had proven even more destructive than the Jutes as they stormed through northern Britannia.
At first Constans, already worried enough about keeping Hengist on a leash, was reluctant to entertain the offer. But when his scouts reported that the Pictish horde approaching them was at least 15,000 strong – more than double the size of his and Hengist’s remaining forces combined – he changed his mind, and promised to recognize Coel’s authority over northwestern Britain if they threw the Picts back together. Together, this coalition of some 2,500 Romano-Britons, 4,000 Jutes and 6,000 Britons faced the larger Pictish army on the River Lindis[14], having first camped near the heavily damaged Lindum. Once more the barbaric elements of the allied army (as well as the stoutest of the Romano-British infantry) baited their enemy into attacking them head-on, while Constans himself assailed their flanks with his cavalry and more mobile footmen. Still, the Picts were numerous and fierce warriors whose front line of howling and heavily-armed woad-painted madmen unsettled even the most experienced of the Romano-British legionaries, and they did not break as easily as the Britons had. Only when Constans rode down their champion Nechtan[15] and terrified his brother the Pictish king, Drest[16], into withdrawing did they finally similarly retreat.
With the Picts repulsed, Constans considered backstabbing his barbarian allies, but the heavy losses of army had sustained over the past years of endless battles and the need to rebuild what parts of Britain he still held drove thoughts of such plots from his head, not to mention whatever faint hope he still entertained of contending with Eucherius once more. Instead he settled the Jutes north of the River Lindis and gave Coel’s people free reign west and north of the Pennines, counting on them to root out the Picts remaining on Britannic soil and also hoping that they’d eventually come to blows as they moved through the desolate countryside of northern Britannia; them wiping each other out, and thus sparing him the need to do that himself later, would be ideal. Constans then went home to Londinium, where he set about organizing reconstruction efforts and the institutions of a Pelagian Church to challenge the orthodox one on the mainland.
Even surrounded with Britons & Jutes to their front and Romano-Britons assailing their flanks, the Picts managed to put up a ferocious enough fight to cost their enemies the ability to immediately fight each other afterward
422 opened with hostilities between the Eastern Roman and Sassanid empires escalating past the level of raids and skirmishes once again. Both sides had raised further reinforcements, though Persia’s were by far more numerous thanks to the strain all the tributes and bribes Constantinople was dispensing had placed on its treasury. In the face of these Persian numbers, an attempt by generals Aspar and Anatolius[17] to open a second front and invade into Persian Armenia floundered west of Tigranocerta. Instead, both sides wound up concentrating their forces – a total of 36,000 men on the Eastern Roman side, and 60,000 on that of the Persians – in hopes of fighting a decisive battle, which they got at Cyrrhus on April 6.
Monaxius lined his Eastern Romans up on his side of the banks of the Ufrenus River[18] outside the city, counting on the terrain advantage to help even out their not-inconsiderable numerical disadvantage. Kardar anticipated this move and stretched his own army out to try to cover more ground and more easily circumvent the Eastern Romans’ positions, taking full advantage of his superior numbers to do so without leaving any vulnerable gaps in his own lines. In particular he personally led a large flanking force of 3,000 light cavalry, 3,000 heavy cavalry (including many cataphracts and 300 of the mighty Zhayedan[19] corps) and 20 elephants, including his own – covered in gilded armor and further armed with iron tips for its tusks – on the extreme southern end of the battlefield.
Initially, the battle went well for the Eastern Romans. As Monaxius anticipated, his disciplined legions ably held most of the river crossings against even the charges of the Zhayedan and war elephants, always forcing the Persians back onto the far side of the Ufrenus with heavy losses. But the Sassanids saw more success on the far ends of the battlefield, where they broke through the greener and less reliable Roman legions Monaxius had assigned to defend the fords furthest from the center and threatened to stomp his army flat between them. Monaxius sent Anatolius to counter the smaller Persian detachment to the north with Bleda while he and Procopius hurried to face Kardar’s much more dangerous force to the south with the bulk of their reserves, leaving the center in the capable hands of Ardabur and Aspar.
While Anatolius saw off the northern Persian troops and retook the crossings before too many more of their men could cross, Monaxius faced a much more difficult battle in the south. Kardar’s elite division included the most formidable troops the Sassanids had to offer, and they were followed by a trickle of reinforcements crossing the river at the fords they’d taken. And though Monaxius actually had the edge in the number of heavy horsemen on that particular part of the battlefield, Kardar’s elephants greatly limited their utility. The battle was hanging in the balance when Kardar and Monaxius ran across each other, purely by chance – the former’s elephant was running through and over the latter’s bodyguard as part of its stampede across the rocky plain. Eschewing his kontos lance after realizing that even if he got close enough to use it, there was a good chance he wouldn’t be able to penetrate the mighty beast’s armor, Monaxius instead armed himself with a javelin and flung it at the elephant’s eye with all his might.
And he missed, much to his horror. Moments later, the elephant skewered the Oriental Prefect on one of its bladed tusks and crushed his horse beneath its feet, much to Kardar’s elation.
But the day was not yet done, for Procopius was nearby and also attacked Kardar with javelins. He did not aim to kill the armored pachyderm itself as Monaxius had, but instead hurled his spear at its mahout – and also unlike Monaxius’ javelin, it struck home. Kardar tried to steer the elephant himself as it began to panic, but he was not trained to do such a thing and quickly lost control altogether; compounding his misfortune, his hands became entangled in the chains and ropes forming the creature’s neck harness and he ended up helplessly dangling on its right as it turned around to rampage through his own men.
Even the Zhayedan had to scatter in the face of this unexpected attack, and as several other elephants of theirs were turned against them by other Roman horsemen, the entire Persian southern detachment which had previously been on the verge of victory began to retreat in disarray. Kardar himself tried to command them to stay and keep on fighting, but he was obviously unable to strike a convincing – much less inspiring – posture this entire time. One of the more daring Immortals eventually felled the creature with two arrows to the eye, but by then the damage had been done; and to add injury upon injury, the great beast keeled over onto the side Kardar was hanging from, flattening the still-trapped Sassanid marshal beneath its dying bulk.
While obviously extremely dangerous, the Persian war elephants were also not completely mindless and could be panicked into turning against their masters by the Romans
After the sun had set, the Eastern Romans were left in control of the battlefield and with comparatively fewer casualties – some 4,000 men lost compared to the Persians’ 9,000. But both sides had lost their top commander, and the Eastern Romans in particular were exhausted after years of warfare both in the East & West and wary of the massive expenses they were incurring. Theodosius lauded the victors but sued for peace immediately after, and Anatolius and Procopius succeeded in negotiating a settlement whereby Ctesiphon would cough up 1,000 pounds of gold immediately and 500 more pounds a year for the next three years in exchange for keeping Amida, Palmyra and all the borderlands in-between. A painful territorial loss for Rome, to be sure, but far from the worst that could’ve happened, considering how dire the straits they were in seemed to be at the end of 420 - and the monetary compensation for the land was welcome after the East's own payments to the West.
The Eastern Augustus had further cause to celebrate when his first child – a girl christened Licinia Eudoxia – was born at the start of summer, several weeks after the conclusion of his war with Persia. Over the next few months and years Eucherius & Stilicho strove to arrange the betrothal of their Caesar Romanus, now ten years Licinia Eudoxia’s senior, to the newborn Eastern Roman princess. But every time Theodosius and his court spurned their efforts, having no desire to tie the East any closer to the West than absolutely necessary – and especially not to willingly assist the ascendancy of the new Stilichian dynasty with any more drops of Theodosian blood.
With Monaxius dead, the Eastern Augustus also had to make another choice as to who should run his empire for him. In the end Theodosius chose the redeemed Procopius to succeed the fallen Monaxius as Praetorian Prefect of the East, while also appointing Ardabur to the office of magister militum and rewarding Paulinus with elevation to the rank of magister officiorum[20]. All three would have hard work ahead, rebuilding the Eastern Empire’s strength after years of losing wars and having to pay tributes.
Far to the west, reconstruction continued apace in the occidental half of the Roman Empire, where they experienced a few more of those rare mercifully peaceful years. Eucherius was able to concern himself less with the borders, which were quiet for a change, and more with further internal reforms to shore up the Western Empire’s long-term position. As he was able to start demobilizing the most superfluous elements of his armies and still getting money from the Eastern Empire, the emperor felt financially secure enough to issue a decree forgiving debts and particularly remitting tax arrears, which went a long way to both further securing popular support for his regime and partly reconciling him to the landowning aristocracy. More generally Eucherius embarked on a program of cleaning up the civil service and reining in bureaucratic abuses: decurions (local tax collectors) had their milder past abuses pardoned but were held to greater scrutiny from now on and had some privileges revoked, public examples were made of especially abusive and corrupt decurions, and the office of defensor civitalis – a sort of local public defender – was restored to provide common citizens with greater recourse in legal fights with their nearest administrators and officials, serving as a new way to keep the latter honest[21]. In all this, the emperor was guided both by his father and Joannes, who he had further promoted to the rank of comes sacrarum largitionum[22].
Speaking of the emperor’s father, once order had been restored to Illyricum and reconstruction could start in earnest, Stilicho also began the hard work of rebuilding the Illyrian and Dalmatian legions which had been depleted by over a decade of almost-constant fighting. The frontier dioceses of Illyricum (not to be confused with the larger prefecture which includes it) and Dacia had for two centuries been the breeding grounds of Rome’s strongest and most reliable soldiers, including many emperors, and 422 AD would be no exception. The magister militum expended the Eastern tribute money his son wasn’t spending to recruit many thousands of Balkan legionaries, promising them that military service would guarantee their lands and the safety of their families from not only the Eastern Romans and Huns but also the Visigoths, who after all were their neighbors again and could certainly continue to harbor a grudge. One of the most promising of his Illyrian recruits was a young gentleman named Marcellinus[23] (no relation to the African governor of the same name), a pagan who nevertheless quickly gained the Nicene Christian Stilicho’s respect with his martial ability and quick wit.
After the great bloodletting and often breakneck reversals of the War of the Four Emperors, the Western Romans badly needed a few years of peace to rest & rebuild their legions from Gaul to Illyricum
From outside the West, the years 421 to 424 saw no further major barbarian incursions to succeed the Burgundians. Evidently, Stilicho’s victories at their expense and the restoration of Roman strength along the frontiers had put the fear of God or the gods in their hearts, as it had done with Octar and Rugila of the Huns. Despite being outside Western Roman authority the peoples of Britannia also knew peace in this time, as the Picts had largely retreated back beyond Hadrian’s Wall after their defeat on the Lindis and the last of them still on British territory were expelled by a rebellion of the Votadini[24] tribe. All of the island’s major combatants had exhausted themselves utterly in their earlier great war, and needed to rebuild as much as the mainland Roman Empires did. The Romano-Britons however experienced increasing factionalism between the supporters of Constans, Pelagianism and British independence or even their claim to the purple on one hand, and those who remained loyal to Nicene orthodoxy and sought to reconcile with Ravenna on the other. As the former faction was ascendant and replaced orthodox clerics with Pelagian ones wherever possible, the latter increasingly emigrated to Gaul and lobbied for an expedition to recover the island province from the heretical Constantinians once and for all.
In any case this short period of recovery was first openly interrupted toward the end of 424 not by Britons, Jutes or Romans, but by the Irish: raiding parties of ‘Scotti’ (as all Gaels were still named then) harried Manavia[25], briefly occupied Mona[26] and put many villages between Segontium[27] and Moridunum[28] to the torch, then fled back across the Irish Sea with their plunder and slaves before Constans could muster a response. These attacks were known to Romans on the mainland thanks largely to the writings of Patricius[29], a missionary to Hibernia, who – having once been a slave to the Scotti himself – denounced the sudden presence of Latin and Britonnic-speaking slaves on Irish auction blocks and requested funds from the Mother Church to purchase their freedom. Shortly after these Irish raids, hostilities began to flare up between the Britonic tribes and the Jutes in the north over unrelated border concerns as Jutish settlers tried to move further inland and inevitably came to blows with elements of the northern Briton confederation, including some clans affiliated with Coel's Brigantes.
Back on the continent, this break in warfare also gave Eucherius time to mind his own family. And he needed that time, for he had gotten Galla Placidia pregnant for the third time in January of 422, some months after finally being able to return to her side. But the celebration over the birth of their daughter at Capri, named Maria after Eucherius’ deceased eldest sister, on an unusually hot day in early October was cut short when Stilicho suffered heat stroke while walking the beach under the noon sun. Immersion in the nearest frigidarium[30] and extensive hydration over the next few days kept death’s hand at bay that time, but the experience left him and his family wondering how much more time he still had left on God’s green earth.
The answer turned out to be ‘not much longer at all’. Stilicho of course was in his sixties, but were it not for the stresses of keeping the empire together he – being a physically fit, strong and consistently well-fed man, especially by the standards of his time – would probably have seen at least his early seventies. However, the extreme stress of having to constantly keep barbarians and the Eastern Empire at bay for almost 30 years with almost no breaks in-between wars had shaved years off his life, as did the many injuries he incurred in his lengthy service to the Western Empire (of which Aspar’s mace-blow to his skull was only the latest). The sun stroke incident was just the straw that broke the overburdened camel’s back, at one of those rare moments when he thought he could relax no less.
On December 20, 424 the magister militum, whose very name had become like a talisman to all who wished good fortune and survival unto the Western Roman Empire, found that after weeks of complaining about increasing weakness, fatigue and aches – he no longer had the strength to arise from his bed, having been stricken with a fever. After eleven days of bloodletting and induced sweating failed to improve his condition Stilicho passed away in Mediolanum, exactly one hour after the last rites were administered to him and one hour before the year’s end, having gotten to enjoy his final and greatest victory for only three years. He was sixty-five years old.
1. Western Roman Empire
2. Eastern Roman Empire
3. Romano-British
4. Britons of Hen Ogledd
5. Jutes
6. Franks
7. Burgundians
8. Visigoths
9. Huns
10. Alans, Suebi & Silingi Vandals
11. Garamantians
12. Caucasian kingdoms of Lazica, Iberia & Albania
13. Sassanid Empire
14. Ghassanids
15. Lakhmids
[2] Historically, the Huns extorted a great sum from the ERE after raiding them in 422 instead.
[3] The historical Ghassanid king from 418 to 434.
[4] Another one of the Theodosian cousins who tried to oppose Constans’ offensive into Hispania but was swiftly defeated IOTL. He was one of the two captured and put to death by the Romano-British.
[5] Historically, the Priscillianists were a Gnostic-influenced Christian sect active in Spain until the mid-6th century, so named after a certain Priscillian who claimed the Bishopric of Avila around 380. Like the Gnostics, they believed in the dualistic division of the universe into one side of light, goodness and the spirit (championed by the ‘Twelve Patriarchs’) and another of darkness, evil and the flesh (led by representatives of the Zodiac). Consequently they had a reputation for being extreme ascetics, who believed the salvation Jesus offered mankind was primarily in liberation from earthly matter and fasted frequently to reduce their dependence on the material world as much as possible. They were also known to have viewed the Old Testament with less hostility than most Gnostics but still rejected the Creation story in Genesis, and to promote self-study of holy texts and seeking of personal inspiration.
[6] Ávila.
[7] Historically the future father of Syagrius and de-facto independent ruler of northern Gaul from 458 to 465, particularly after Majorian was overthrown and he refused to recognize the latter’s successors.
[8] Autun.
[9] Historically the future Count of Trier, who kept Romanitas alive in and around that city into the 470s and corresponded frequently with Bishop Sidonius Apollinaris.
[10] Lowborn brigands of the Late Roman period, often a mix of runaway slaves and coloni and desperate survivors of the wars & invasions plaguing the provinces.
[11] Germanus of Auxerre, future saint who was most famous for visiting Britain in the late 420s and crushing Pelagianism. He also did involve himself with putting down bagaudae revolts IRL, doing so peaceably – although on at least one occasion, the bagaudae he talked down soon rebelled again.
[12] Cambridge.
[13] The River Cam.
[14] The River Witham.
[15] A legendary Pictish king, said to have ruled for anywhere between ten to twenty-four years. The only thing known about him with any certainty is that he was probably Drest’s brother as the legends suggest.
[16] Another legendary Pictish king, who was said to have ruled for a century. This was of course almost certainly impossible (unless he happened to be extremely, improbably and unusually long-lived), and even less is known about him with any certainty than his brother.
[17] Historically, the Eastern magister militum between 433 and 446 and also Consul in the year 440. In addition to being a commander, he was noted for his diplomatic ability in talks with both the Huns and Persians.
[18] The Afrin River.
[19] The Zhayedan were the Sassanids’ revival of the old Achaemenid Immortals. Like the latter, they maintained a permanent strength of 10,000 and were considered among the absolute best fighters Persia had to offer. Unlike the old Immortals however, they fought not as multi-purpose bow/spearmen on foot but rather exclusively as ultra-heavy cavalry riding atop famously sturdy Nisaean horses.
[20] ‘Master of Offices’, the Empire’s inspector-general and commander of the Scholae Palatinae (post-Constantinian imperial guard).
[21] More or less the common-sense civil & economic reforms of Majorian, moved 40 years ahead of their OTL time.
[22] ‘Count of the Sacred Largess’, state treasurer of the Late Empire.
[23] Historically, this Marcellinus was a good friend of Aetius and Aegidius, and after the former’s murder by Valentinian III he carved out his own autonomous domain like the latter; in Marcellinus’ case, he made Dalmatia into his fiefdom. Later, he ably served Majorian and Anthemius, but gained the enmity of Ricimer and was eventually murdered by him in 468.
[24] The Votadini were the major Britonic tribe of Lothian and the eastern Scottish Borders. They eventually founded the kingdom of Gododdin, which had its capital at modern Edinburgh.
[25] The Isle of Man.
[26] Anglesey.
[27] Caernarfon.
[28] Carmarthen.
[29] The future Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland.
Thus his long watch ends. His departure will surely embolden the many enemies of Rome, but with exception of Huns they are all exhausted, so I reckon Eucherius has a few years time, before serious trouble starts cropping up again.
Kardar tried to steer the elephant himself as it began to panic, but he was not trained to do such a thing and quickly lost control altogether; compounding his misfortune, his hands became entangled in the chains and ropes forming the creature’s neck harness and he ended up helplessly dangling on its right as it turned around to rampage through his own men.
Kardar himself tried to command them to stay and keep on fighting, but he was obviously unable to strike a convincing – much less inspiring – posture this entire time.
Looks like there will be some stability for the Western Empire, at least for a while. Right now, the Eastern Empire's future prospects look a bit more bleak than the Western Empire ones...
Well that chapter of the Roman empire ends. RIP Stilcho.
As others have said the western empire looks in better condition than the east at this stage and the latter was very lucky in that last battle against the Persians with Kadar's misfortune and death at a key stage. Hopefully Theodosius will have learnt some sense but I fear not. Can see the Persians returning after the 'truce' period ending and wondering how much the eastern empire has actually recovered after all its emperor has put it through. Plus what happens when he stops his payments to the Huns.
The west still faces problems and the situation of the Goths in its easternmost provinces, with them being Arian and their bad relations with the older inhabitants could make them uncomfortable subjects. Also sooner or later someone else will try and cross the Rhine while with the death of the great general I wonder if any will consider raising revolt against his 'barbarian' son sitting on the imperial throne. Probably not in the short term but if any problems occur or Eucherius makes some serious mistakes its a shadow that can come again, especially if Theodosius is still stupid and resentful.
Its only loss is Britain and materially the west is probably better off without it. However for reasons of prestige there could be pressure to retake it while the presence of a rival sect, busy 'persecuting' the 'correct' Christians is also going to cause tension. The island is in a mess, even without the latest Irish/Scotti raids and sooner or later your probably going to see more Germans seeking to settle the east. Either as conquerors or possibly with his resources so badly reduced and still fear of the Jutes and Brigantines Constans might feel he has to risk using some as mercenaries. In which case, since they seem to have been fairly loyal at this stage to the western empire he might try some Franks - which could end up with France being an island kingdom! The other option is the historical Angles and Saxons.
The Huns are the other big unknown as they have done well as mercenaries but also might want to continue taking the money, one way or another, when the eastern empire decides their no longer required. At this stage its looking like Bleda is going to be a more prominent figure than his brother but things could of course change.
Anyway another excellent chapter. A sad ending but he had to go at some point and he got a few years of peace and saw his son's position secured as much as he could.
Very plausible chapter.People do not fought for lol,but to get something,and when they achieved that or realised that it is not possible they made peace.Just like here.
P.S It seems,that we still could get Arthur saga.
Thanks for reading & commenting, guys! Stilicho's story might be over, but the timeline as a whole definitely isn't; I do intend for this to be a longer-term project than my President Dewey TL and to write for as long as I've still got interest & ideas for it, with my absolute minimal endpoint being the end of the 5th century (though at this point I'm already starting to outline stuff way past that, so I can say that I doubt that's where I'll be stopping).
As you've already noticed, both empires still have considerable challenges ahead of them, with the East in particular being in a worse position for now even as the West stabilizes and improves. I'll also be increasingly expanding the scope of the world to cover developments in Central Asia, India & China in future updates, particularly whenever affairs in Europe get a bit slow. Hopefully this will both minimize the number of quiet years in which not too much happens, and be refreshing both for myself to write & you fellas to read.
For the next two chapters, I'm considering writing a short (certainly much shorter than the last one) narrative interlude covering Stilicho's last days in addition to the actual timeline update. Feels like he deserves one, since his name is after all in the title, plus I could always use more practice in writing narrative prose. If I can, I'll post both updates on the same day, most likely this weekend.
Thanks for reading & commenting, guys! Stilicho's story might be over, but the timeline as a whole definitely isn't; I do intend for this to be a longer-term project than my President Dewey TL and to write for as long as I've still got interest & ideas for it, with my absolute minimal endpoint being the end of the 5th century (though at this point I'm already starting to outline stuff way past that, so I can say that I doubt that's where I'll be stopping).
As you've already noticed, both empires still have considerable challenges ahead of them, with the East in particular being in a worse position for now even as the West stabilizes and improves. I'll also be increasingly expanding the scope of the world to cover developments in Central Asia, India & China in future updates, particularly whenever affairs in Europe get a bit slow. Hopefully this will both minimize the number of quiet years in which not too much happens, and be refreshing both for myself to write & you fellas to read.
For the next two chapters, I'm considering writing a short (certainly much shorter than the last one) narrative interlude covering Stilicho's last days in addition to the actual timeline update. Feels like he deserves one, since his name is after all in the title, plus I could always use more practice in writing narrative prose. If I can, I'll post both updates on the same day, most likely this weekend.
What about WRE making industrial revolution and ,as a result,after conqering entire Earth fighting bad aliens and rescuing sexy alien babies in,let say,1000AD ?
Well,that was joke,but industrial revolution was not.And considering their naval technology,even without that they could take over both Americas and Australia.
What about WRE making industrial revolution and ,as a result,after conqering entire Earth fighting bad aliens and rescuing sexy alien babies in,let say,1000AD ?
Well,that was joke,but industrial revolution was not.And considering their naval technology,even without that they could take over both Americas and Australia.
Hmm, I haven't considered an early industrial revolution anywhere. That said, I have been thinking about potential alternative East-West technological changes & swaps - stuff like tea shrub seeds being introduced to the Roman world in the place of silkworm eggs, for example. And if Rome still survives in the West, IMO it'd be reasonable to assume that there being no (or a much reduced) breakdown of intercontinental trade & urbanization would lead to a stronger & more advanced continental economy, even if it's as simple as taxes being collected in coin rather than in kind.
As for the New World...well, I do have some plans for that already, but all I can say at this time is that the Vikings being the first Europeans to reach or settle the Americas ITL is not part of said plans. Anything more than that would be a spoiler I can't divulge.
Hmm, I haven't considered an early industrial revolution anywhere. That said, I have been thinking about potential alternative East-West technological changes & swaps - stuff like tea shrub seeds being introduced to the Roman world in the place of silkworm eggs, for example. And if Rome still survives in the West, IMO it'd be reasonable to assume that there being no (or a much reduced) breakdown of intercontinental trade & urbanization would lead to a stronger & more advanced continental economy, even if it's as simple as taxes being collected in coin rather than in kind.
As for the New World...well, I do have some plans for that already, but all I can say at this time is that the Vikings being the first Europeans to reach or settle the Americas ITL is not part of said plans. Anything more than that would be a spoiler I can't divulge.
I'm not sure that the Romans especially but probably any culture at the time had the capacity for reliable cross ocean travel as I think they largely relied on coast hugging. Also whether they could get into an industrial culture without greater decentralisation and weaning themselves off slavery. However unwilling to rule anything out. Think its more likely that a continued classical culture in the west would be more likely to probably explore the African coastline, although again that might need considerable advances in technology and ship design. Mind you that did happen OTL, albeit under much different circumstances. It might be that some fringe states on the edge of the empire might be forerunners for such activity and the empire then following.
Interesting idea of different imports from the rest of the world. Silk would still be very attractive for the 'west' in the wider meaning of the world to steal simply because its so expensive a product that it was draining the country of silver. However getting tea as well/instead of would also be interesting. Have read that because of its properties in helping resist infection it might have been a factor in the high population of early modern Japan and London so it would definitely be useful if it caught on. However where would the western empire grow it as gaining a taste for it is no use if its still an expensive import from some distant part of Asia?
Which relates to one other big issue that you might not want to reveal yet. Is the empire going to be reunited which could be done peacefully by marriage once Theodosius is replaced by someone with a brain. Or the traditional way of conquest of one by the other and at the moment its more likely the west would defeat the east, although how much that would cost, what lasting enmities that might generate and whether they loss substantial lands to the Persians. This is not only an issue of prestige and identity but also decides whether locations such as Egypt and Syria and the trade options they offer, as well as possibly manpower from Anatolia and access to the Black Sea is controlled by Rome or by a rival and possibly hostile state. This would be very important to what contact the western state would have with the rest of Eurasian to the east and social, political and economic changes that might result. - Similarly not having such might be an incentive as OTL for finding other ways to E Asia and its products. Plus of course given the size of a reunited empire how long can a single emperor rule it reliably, no matter how talented he is. There were reasons why from Diocletian onward it was frequently policy to have two or more emperors to face the challenges of ruling such a vast area.
Anyway very glad your continuing the time line beyond Stilicho's death as its a fascinating TL and looking forward to seeing what happens next.
I'm not sure that the Romans especially but probably any culture at the time had the capacity for reliable cross ocean travel as I think they largely relied on coast hugging. Also whether they could get into an industrial culture without greater decentralisation and weaning themselves off slavery. However unwilling to rule anything out. Think its more likely that a continued classical culture in the west would be more likely to probably explore the African coastline, although again that might need considerable advances in technology and ship design. Mind you that did happen OTL, albeit under much different circumstances. It might be that some fringe states on the edge of the empire might be forerunners for such activity and the empire then following.
Interesting idea of different imports from the rest of the world. Silk would still be very attractive for the 'west' in the wider meaning of the world to steal simply because its so expensive a product that it was draining the country of silver. However getting tea as well/instead of would also be interesting. Have read that because of its properties in helping resist infection it might have been a factor in the high population of early modern Japan and London so it would definitely be useful if it caught on. However where would the western empire grow it as gaining a taste for it is no use if its still an expensive import from some distant part of Asia?
Which relates to one other big issue that you might not want to reveal yet. Is the empire going to be reunited which could be done peacefully by marriage once Theodosius is replaced by someone with a brain. Or the traditional way of conquest of one by the other and at the moment its more likely the west would defeat the east, although how much that would cost, what lasting enmities that might generate and whether they loss substantial lands to the Persians. This is not only an issue of prestige and identity but also decides whether locations such as Egypt and Syria and the trade options they offer, as well as possibly manpower from Anatolia and access to the Black Sea is controlled by Rome or by a rival and possibly hostile state. This would be very important to what contact the western state would have with the rest of Eurasian to the east and social, political and economic changes that might result. - Similarly not having such might be an incentive as OTL for finding other ways to E Asia and its products. Plus of course given the size of a reunited empire how long can a single emperor rule it reliably, no matter how talented he is. There were reasons why from Diocletian onward it was frequently policy to have two or more emperors to face the challenges of ruling such a vast area.
Anyway very glad your continuing the time line beyond Stilicho's death as its a fascinating TL and looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Well, I never said anything about the Romans doing the discovering, just that it wouldn't be a Viking. It might be one of many other candidates that first sets foot on the Americas ITL - perhaps an Englishman, Irishman or Briton, or a Basque or Frank or Goth from the continent, will be the one to do it. When the time comes to reveal the surprise, it might even turn out to be a more out-there option such as a Vandal, Moor or Slav
The health benefits are exactly why I considered tea as an alternative product to silk for visiting Europeans to smuggle back home - it might not be as flashy as a ready supply of silk closer to home or a roaring factory complex springing up in the 11th-12th centuries, but it has the potential to impact Europe's growth in a similarly huge way if sufficiently popularized. Making tea also naturally requires boiling water, which would be another major health benefit (in addition to the survival of Roman sanitation if neither empire falls, aqueducts & sewers & all that, now if only they could invent water filters early...). Though as you say, tea shrubs can't be grown everywhere - I think modern Portugal and Turkey are where it's likeliest to take hold, but in Portugal IIRC it's grown on the Azores, which rules out Portuguese-grown tea for some time. Most likely then any Roman tea would be a Greek monopoly for a good long while, replacing the one on silk they had until the 4th Crusade historically. The Medieval Warm Period might also open certain other areas to smaller-scale tea shrub cultivation.
As to whether the two Romes will ever reunite, and if so, who'll be doing the unifying - that right there's definitely a massive spoiler (and one that's probably of bigger short to medium-term consequences to the story than whoever discovers the New World), haha. All I can say on that subject, cliche though it might sound, is that you'll just have to find out down the road.
Good points on the assorted health benefits a surviving classical empire could supply. Although it might be largely nullified unless they make their water pipes from a different material.
Considering Saint Brandon stories,Irish probably discovered America before vikings.There is even story of one viking who made way to America and discovered irish colony there.So called "white indians" - Mandans if i remember correctly - could be their descendents.
] I think Julian would have made a better 'emperor' that Constans as the latter seems distinctly prone to rash actions but that bridge has already been burnt.
