I hate to "like" the latest update, considering the subject matter, but it's exceptionally well done. It's tragic to see the fate of the Syrian Muslim population, and presumably the devastation of an ancient and brilliant culture, but unfortunately logical. It brought to mind for me something of a blend of the Spanish Inquisition and religious persecution in the 30 Years' War - the latter especially considering the time frame and the nearby grindhouse battlefield in Mesopotamia.
I do wonder what the long-term consequences of the Great Crime will be, especially demographically. The expulsion of 1 - 1.5 million from the region and the turning over of formerly agricultural land to pasturage will certainly have an effect on the long-term impacts on the productivity of the region, especially with the Little Ice Age looming. Between the Great Crime and Egypt, the Romans seem to be doing a great job and stunting the generational productivity built up in these regions.
Also, a thought I had - I kind of hope that at least some of the Syrian Muslims wind up a vibrant community wherever they end up, like the Ladino Jews in Constantinople in OTL. It'd be nice for the Romans to get bit for the Great Crime simply by the virtue of another realm reaping the benefits of a population that the Romans so callously persecuted, murdered, and expelled.
The OOC reason for not having a Syrian Sunni diaspora community was that it would be a locus for anti-Roman sentiment (quite reasonably) and would, for logistical reasons, be in Persia, and that would change my planned Romano-Persian arc. For an OTL comparison, I’m thinking of the Moriscos that emigrated to North Africa and were a major impetus behind retaliatory raids on the Spanish coast. So some prominent Syrian-descended Muslims are a possibility, but as individuals rather than a community.
As for reaping benefits, that’s the OOC reason for why I mentioned that the benefits go to the various minority populations of Syria. When the Sunnis rebelled, it was they who received the brunt of it, so it seems fitting to me that they get the gains. There were suggestions earlier in the thread of how after expelling the Sunnis the Romans could flood the area with settlers and intensely develop and populate the area. Yes, that has happened IOTL (see the colonization of the American West and the Russian East), but it doesn’t have to happen that way, especially since the context here is different (larger surviving native population resistant to disease and a relatively small settler pool), and I don’t feel like rewarding this ethnic cleansing.
In essence, the Romans sold their souls and didn’t even get a cookie for it. (Which is a pity, because the cookies from Hell’s Bakery are really good.)
Has Athena made provisions to appoint an Orthodox Bishop of Rome? Or maybe plans to hold a Ecumenical Council with the Avignon Papacy with a view to solve the question of Rome (and possibly score a diplomatic coup) in the future? On the matter of the papacy, is Clement VIII, Pope in the HRE still ruling in Prague? Does that make him Archbishop of Prague by default?
Orthodox stuff is going to be coming up in the next update. Catholic stuff will be in a later update, position undetermined.
A chilling and well written update. Really drives home how much the Rhoman sphere has lost all patience for minority populations that don't assimilate. Between the Egyptian genocide and now this centuries and millennia old cultures have been crushed and scattered. I don't see the Syrians maintaining much of a distinct culture; the update makes clear that even in states that are taking them in there is mistrust of them and they are being broken up into penny packets and scattered throughout the realms. Syrian culture in the modern day likely consists of little more than a couple family recipes passed down and the names of the people themselves.
Speaking on Bishop of Rome for the first time in over 1000 years the pentarchy (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem) are not only all under the control of a single Christian denomination but are fully under the control of a single power. At a time when states get a fair amount of legitimacy from religion I do wonder how controlling all 5 of the original Bisphorics will impact not only Rhoman cultural development but how the other Christian powers will react as well over the medium to long term. Good things are often chalked up to "God's favour" while bad things happening are due to "God's punishment" so how will various Catholic states explain the continuing split between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. It doesn't need to be a fully coherent answer or even a great one but some sort of explanation of how Rhomania has been able over the last 400 years to recover all of them would need an explanation to prevent a pious population from wondering if they are perhaps on the wrong side of the split.
I’m going to be touching on the Catholic response to Roman Pentarchy at some point, when the TL shifts focus back to Latin Europe to deal with the hanging HRE thread.
Eh, I am an Orthodox Christian and I have to admit that the idea of “the Pentarchy” as this sort of ancient ring of power a la the CK2 “men the schism” decision is sort of post-hoc. Those five were probably *the* most important early sites, but “Latins” have always maintained Rome is preeminent and even if Rome itself is occupied the “rightful” bishop resides elsewhere. And cities like Lyon, Milan and Canterbury (as well as non-western sites like Axum) have very venerable sees as well. Controlling the cities of the Pentarchy is more of a prestige boost to Orthodoxy than anything.
But the Patriarchs were all of them deceived, for another See was made.
One See to rule them all, One See to find them,
One See to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Latium where the shadows lie.
This reminds me of the Japanese nationalists and their stance towards Korea and China. Misdirections, whataboutisms, and outright revisionisms to remove Japan's crimes from history.
This is a very realistic update, one that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Great writing
@Basileus444.
There was a bad taste in my mouth writing it. One refrain I had consciously running through my head was ‘get rid of passive voice’. The Romans may try to absolve/justify themselves with various arguments, but I don’t have to help them.
I wonder where all those slaves ended up.
Mix of Americas and various Mediterranean households and estates.
1. Wow, the Great Crime was messed up.
2. Just curious, is technology more or less advanced than OTL?
It varies from field to field, but somewhat more advanced than OTL. The most noticeable areas are military tech (flintlock muskets for example) and astronomy (astronomical discoveries like Saturn’s rings are known now ITTL when IOTL it took another few decades). OOC, it’s because those are the areas that I’m most knowledgeable about and most interested.
It's interesting how the scale of it has resulted in it being remebered - many crimes of the same type from the medieval/early modern periods are just ignored today as a function of them time. Really, it's only till you get to the 1800s/Victorian Era that most people OTL consider it a shameful act undertaken by people they are connected to.
It’s entirely due to scale. Massacring 10,000 rebellious peasants wouldn’t bat an eye in the 1600s. The concept here is the same, but when it’s scaled up to a million plus and across such a big reason, it gets attention. The numbers would be huge today, and this is in a much less populated world.
Plus it is a pivotal moment in Syrian history, which completely changes course afterwards. The TTL future of Syria makes no sense without the Great Crime and the demographic aftereffects. It’s the historical equivalent of the layer of iridium at the end of the Cretaceous geological layer.