Before I begin, I feel I must explain a few things about myself and where this is all coming from. In order to do so, I have to travel back a good 11 or 12 years (please, bare with me!). It was roughly around that time that I, a High School student with a deep interest in history, and some rather odd ideas about life, discovered Soc.History.What-If. I spent the better part of my later High School and college years posting to that group, before eventually drifting away. I'd found work as a High School teacher, and found little time for posting and, after leaving that job, I found myself back in school working on my Master's degree.
But all that same later. Back in 2000, I'd been a part of SHWI for the better part of a year or two, and had finally built up the nerve to try my very first multi-part WI. I entitled the work "For Want of a Son," and focused my attention on charting what would have happened in Theoderic the Great had had a son to carry on for him. In hindsight, it wasn't that great, but I was 18 or 19, and it was fun. I felt like I was playing with the big boys, if you would, and really enjoyed the chance to show that I knew a thing or two about history! It ended up being the longest thing i ever posted (save for a few contributions to Decades of Darkness a few years later, which the author gracefully let me submit0
So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, a few months ago I rediscovered SHWI after a few years hiatus, and was distraught to see that it had faded to a shadow of its former self! That was until a few days ago when I discovered this group. It was life old times all over again!
Furthermore, a few weeks back I had been telling my best friend, an avowed Byzantine fanatic, about For Want of a Son. While discussing it over a few beers, the thought came to me that maybe it was time to brush the old thing off and rewrite it. Certainly, I knew a great deal more about the Germanic peoples and later Antiquity than I did when I first wrote it. Ever since beginning work on my Masters degree, and especially my Thesis (an analysis of Wisconsin politics from the 1930s through the 1950s. I swear its more interesting that it sounds!), reading about the early Germanic people have been a side interest and a place to run when my eyes start bleeding from looking at election statistics. Although I still felt that the general outline of events seemed solid, it would be fun to go into more depth, get rid of some of the Deus Ex Machina, and just have fun with it.
And so, here you have it, the revived "For Want of a Son" under the new title "The Amalingian Empire," because, lets face it, it just sounds cooler!
So, what is the goal of this Timeline? Part of it, of course, is to follow the history of the Goths if they had had a direct male descendent of Theoderic. More to the point, if the son lived up to the potential of his Father and was able to hold the realm together and, possibly, expand it. But that is only one part. The second is to see what would happen if the Goths had really stuck it out and become permenant players in the European scheme of things. Timelines have been done before where the Goths reform the Western Roman Empire and are then culturally assimilated. This just strikes me as too ... easy.
In this timeline, the Goths may be influenced by Roman Culture, and the Romans by Gothic Culture, but they remain seperate groups. This may seem unlikely to some, but I'd point to the history of the Anglo-Saxons who managed to maintain their cultural identity despite a large Briton population under them (there are differences of course and, yes, I plan to deal with them!).
One final thing, and then I'll post the true introduction. Does anyone know a good source for maps, and the best way to edit them. I would love to produce maps to illistrate the events of this Timeline, something I was never able to do with the original. I'd appreciate any helpI could get!
With that said ...
But all that same later. Back in 2000, I'd been a part of SHWI for the better part of a year or two, and had finally built up the nerve to try my very first multi-part WI. I entitled the work "For Want of a Son," and focused my attention on charting what would have happened in Theoderic the Great had had a son to carry on for him. In hindsight, it wasn't that great, but I was 18 or 19, and it was fun. I felt like I was playing with the big boys, if you would, and really enjoyed the chance to show that I knew a thing or two about history! It ended up being the longest thing i ever posted (save for a few contributions to Decades of Darkness a few years later, which the author gracefully let me submit0
So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, a few months ago I rediscovered SHWI after a few years hiatus, and was distraught to see that it had faded to a shadow of its former self! That was until a few days ago when I discovered this group. It was life old times all over again!
Furthermore, a few weeks back I had been telling my best friend, an avowed Byzantine fanatic, about For Want of a Son. While discussing it over a few beers, the thought came to me that maybe it was time to brush the old thing off and rewrite it. Certainly, I knew a great deal more about the Germanic peoples and later Antiquity than I did when I first wrote it. Ever since beginning work on my Masters degree, and especially my Thesis (an analysis of Wisconsin politics from the 1930s through the 1950s. I swear its more interesting that it sounds!), reading about the early Germanic people have been a side interest and a place to run when my eyes start bleeding from looking at election statistics. Although I still felt that the general outline of events seemed solid, it would be fun to go into more depth, get rid of some of the Deus Ex Machina, and just have fun with it.
And so, here you have it, the revived "For Want of a Son" under the new title "The Amalingian Empire," because, lets face it, it just sounds cooler!
So, what is the goal of this Timeline? Part of it, of course, is to follow the history of the Goths if they had had a direct male descendent of Theoderic. More to the point, if the son lived up to the potential of his Father and was able to hold the realm together and, possibly, expand it. But that is only one part. The second is to see what would happen if the Goths had really stuck it out and become permenant players in the European scheme of things. Timelines have been done before where the Goths reform the Western Roman Empire and are then culturally assimilated. This just strikes me as too ... easy.
In this timeline, the Goths may be influenced by Roman Culture, and the Romans by Gothic Culture, but they remain seperate groups. This may seem unlikely to some, but I'd point to the history of the Anglo-Saxons who managed to maintain their cultural identity despite a large Briton population under them (there are differences of course and, yes, I plan to deal with them!).
One final thing, and then I'll post the true introduction. Does anyone know a good source for maps, and the best way to edit them. I would love to produce maps to illistrate the events of this Timeline, something I was never able to do with the original. I'd appreciate any helpI could get!
With that said ...
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