A Much Larger Rome that Survives until the Present Day Version 2.0
- Thread starter ericams2786
- Start date
745 (8 BCE):
Domestic: Kaeso Fabius Uticensis is elected Princeps Senatus of the Imperial Senate. The first official Imperial census is finished early in the year and the various provincial censors come to Rome to compile their findings on the population of the Empire. According to Dalmatius in De Imperia Ptolemia (On Ptolemy’s Empire), the first official census concludes that the total population of the Roman Empire is approximately 75 million, with 6.8 million people being counted as full citizens of the empire, 23.4 million people being half-citizens, 26.1 million being non-citizens, and the remaining 18.7 million being slaves. The city of Rome itself is home to nearly 800,000 people. The expansion of the Cloaca Maxima is finished in this year. In response to the growing pirate threat in the Mediterranean and the ineffective response up to this point by the Roman navy (and under considerable pressure by Agrippa), Ptolemy introduces a bill into the Senate called the lex Navalis which completely overhauls the navy, consolidating it into its own force separate from the army and creating its own hierarchy. Paullus attempts to stall passage of the bill largely out of spite for Ptolemy and the provision which states that the new Navalia Imperia (Imperial Navy) would be under the sole control of the Imperator Perpetuus. Though angered by Paullus’ insolence, he compromises with the powerful Consul and allows the bill to be amended stating that only the Senate may provide funding for the navy and that only the Senate can build and maintain a fleet on the River Tiberis. Ptolemy appoints Agrippa as the Imperial Navy’s first Praefectus Navalis (Prefect of the Navy) and appoints other Roman politicians and military commanders of the equestrian order to fill the positions created by the commissioning of several new fleets. He also fills the ranks of the new navy with foreigners who have extensive naval experience. Among the commissioned fleets are the Classis Germanica, Classis Britannica, Classis Aegyptica, and the largest, the Classis Italica, which would eventually defeat Piratus and his Homi Phasma. Strabo travels throughout Hispania and North Africa throughout the year. Pollio leaves Bactria and begins heading back to Rome late in the year due to the calmer situation on the northern border, leaving his son Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus and his subordinate, Gaius Julius Mus, in charge of his legions. The Via India is completed in this year. Livia Drusilla is killed by a guard while trying to escape from the island of Melita. Ptolemy orders Imperator (general) Mamercus Sergius Agelastus, former victor against the raiding Garamantes, to blockade Piratus’ headquarters at Meninx and reclaim the city (and island) for the Empire. Seventeen-year-old Aulus Cornelius Celsus moves to Rome from Gaul and begins intensely studying Hippocrates’ Corpus Hippocraticum, a work that will greatly affect his future work as a physician under both Ptolemy and Germanicus. Colchis, Iberia, and Albania become senatorial provinces. The Senate now has 95 members.
Military: Ramirus engages Piratus’ fleet yet again and manages to fight him to a draw off the coast of Sicilia. Piratus retires to his North African headquarters at Meninx and begins to rebuild his fleet. A large naval battle between the fleet of Sextus Autronius Drusus and the Sviones chieftain Dagfinnr ends in Roman victory and throughout the rest of the year Drusus raids several towns along the coast of Scandinavia, finally securing a tributary treaty from the Sviones, who agree to stop raiding the coast of Germania and pay a moderate tribute to Rome annually.
Literature, Art, and Science: Construction of the Palatium is finished and Ptolemy and his court officially move into the palace by August of this year. Ovidius writes his great tragedy Medea. Ovidius also writes another tragedy in this year, Avaritia Livia (Livia’s Avarice), in response to the death of Livia Drusillia.
Foreign: The Xiongnu send a spy to Bactria to report on the Roman military situation under the guise of a trading/diplomatic mission. The spy reports to Gaognu that the Romans have significantly decreased their strength along the border region and that Pollio has left his (presumably inexperienced) son in charge of the Roman legions. The spy also reports on the lack of cavalry in the Roman legions, making Gaognu even more confident about attacking the Romans in former Parthia. Himyar and Sheba enter into an alliance primarily aimed against Hadramaut and its growing power on the Arabian Peninsula. Stolo travels throughout Han China during the year, visiting the Great Wall of China by the end of the year. Stolo records an extensive description of the Wall in his Historia Serica. The Mathuran Empire absorbs the vassalized Kingdom of Bhojas via a political marriage between Prince Japooghal (son of King Lakshmigopal) of Mathura and the daughter of the king of Bhojas, Hashmaelya. King Sextus Hostilius Barbatus of Gedrosia dies and his son Sextus Hostilius Aetellus (or simply Sextus II) becomes king of Gedrosia at the age of eighteen.
Domestic: Kaeso Fabius Uticensis is elected Princeps Senatus of the Imperial Senate. The first official Imperial census is finished early in the year and the various provincial censors come to Rome to compile their findings on the population of the Empire. According to Dalmatius in De Imperia Ptolemia (On Ptolemy’s Empire), the first official census concludes that the total population of the Roman Empire is approximately 75 million, with 6.8 million people being counted as full citizens of the empire, 23.4 million people being half-citizens, 26.1 million being non-citizens, and the remaining 18.7 million being slaves. The city of Rome itself is home to nearly 800,000 people. The expansion of the Cloaca Maxima is finished in this year. In response to the growing pirate threat in the Mediterranean and the ineffective response up to this point by the Roman navy (and under considerable pressure by Agrippa), Ptolemy introduces a bill into the Senate called the lex Navalis which completely overhauls the navy, consolidating it into its own force separate from the army and creating its own hierarchy. Paullus attempts to stall passage of the bill largely out of spite for Ptolemy and the provision which states that the new Navalia Imperia (Imperial Navy) would be under the sole control of the Imperator Perpetuus. Though angered by Paullus’ insolence, he compromises with the powerful Consul and allows the bill to be amended stating that only the Senate may provide funding for the navy and that only the Senate can build and maintain a fleet on the River Tiberis. Ptolemy appoints Agrippa as the Imperial Navy’s first Praefectus Navalis (Prefect of the Navy) and appoints other Roman politicians and military commanders of the equestrian order to fill the positions created by the commissioning of several new fleets. He also fills the ranks of the new navy with foreigners who have extensive naval experience. Among the commissioned fleets are the Classis Germanica, Classis Britannica, Classis Aegyptica, and the largest, the Classis Italica, which would eventually defeat Piratus and his Homi Phasma. Strabo travels throughout Hispania and North Africa throughout the year. Pollio leaves Bactria and begins heading back to Rome late in the year due to the calmer situation on the northern border, leaving his son Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus and his subordinate, Gaius Julius Mus, in charge of his legions. The Via India is completed in this year. Livia Drusilla is killed by a guard while trying to escape from the island of Melita. Ptolemy orders Imperator (general) Mamercus Sergius Agelastus, former victor against the raiding Garamantes, to blockade Piratus’ headquarters at Meninx and reclaim the city (and island) for the Empire. Seventeen-year-old Aulus Cornelius Celsus moves to Rome from Gaul and begins intensely studying Hippocrates’ Corpus Hippocraticum, a work that will greatly affect his future work as a physician under both Ptolemy and Germanicus. Colchis, Iberia, and Albania become senatorial provinces. The Senate now has 95 members.
Military: Ramirus engages Piratus’ fleet yet again and manages to fight him to a draw off the coast of Sicilia. Piratus retires to his North African headquarters at Meninx and begins to rebuild his fleet. A large naval battle between the fleet of Sextus Autronius Drusus and the Sviones chieftain Dagfinnr ends in Roman victory and throughout the rest of the year Drusus raids several towns along the coast of Scandinavia, finally securing a tributary treaty from the Sviones, who agree to stop raiding the coast of Germania and pay a moderate tribute to Rome annually.
Literature, Art, and Science: Construction of the Palatium is finished and Ptolemy and his court officially move into the palace by August of this year. Ovidius writes his great tragedy Medea. Ovidius also writes another tragedy in this year, Avaritia Livia (Livia’s Avarice), in response to the death of Livia Drusillia.
Foreign: The Xiongnu send a spy to Bactria to report on the Roman military situation under the guise of a trading/diplomatic mission. The spy reports to Gaognu that the Romans have significantly decreased their strength along the border region and that Pollio has left his (presumably inexperienced) son in charge of the Roman legions. The spy also reports on the lack of cavalry in the Roman legions, making Gaognu even more confident about attacking the Romans in former Parthia. Himyar and Sheba enter into an alliance primarily aimed against Hadramaut and its growing power on the Arabian Peninsula. Stolo travels throughout Han China during the year, visiting the Great Wall of China by the end of the year. Stolo records an extensive description of the Wall in his Historia Serica. The Mathuran Empire absorbs the vassalized Kingdom of Bhojas via a political marriage between Prince Japooghal (son of King Lakshmigopal) of Mathura and the daughter of the king of Bhojas, Hashmaelya. King Sextus Hostilius Barbatus of Gedrosia dies and his son Sextus Hostilius Aetellus (or simply Sextus II) becomes king of Gedrosia at the age of eighteen.
Painting depicting the Classis Italica in a fierce battle with Piratus and his pirate fleet.
Eurofed
Banned
It is very nice to see that Rome is developing a lively political dialectic between the Imperial executive and the Senatorial legislative. Republican Rome had its own mixed constitutional system (which, thanks to Polybius, was one of the inspiration for Montesquieu and the Founding Fathers) but it seems that ITTL Imperial Rome has avoided the trap of absolutism and it is blazing it sown original way to a vibrant constitutional monarchy. Although it is going to be much more like the US system with a President for life, than the Westminster parliamentary system, and some OTL ideas like bicameralism are in all likelihood going to be stillborn.
I seem to remember that there were already some Roman scholars that wrote about the new system, but seeing it developing in practice is something different. I expect that within the turn of the century, some Roman scholar shall write an insightful analysis of the Roman poliical system and devise the concept of separation of powers and written constitution in a modern sense.
I was wondering if down the road, this could become an interesting difference between the Roman and Chinese civilizations: the Roman "freedom" against Chinese "authocracy", of which both culture would become self-conscious.
I also wonder if Soro's description of the Chinese Wall could inspire the Romans to employ their own considerable talent for defensive fortifications to build Walls of unprecedented size to ward away the steppe nomads and the Chinese in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
I seem to remember that there were already some Roman scholars that wrote about the new system, but seeing it developing in practice is something different. I expect that within the turn of the century, some Roman scholar shall write an insightful analysis of the Roman poliical system and devise the concept of separation of powers and written constitution in a modern sense.
I was wondering if down the road, this could become an interesting difference between the Roman and Chinese civilizations: the Roman "freedom" against Chinese "authocracy", of which both culture would become self-conscious.
I also wonder if Soro's description of the Chinese Wall could inspire the Romans to employ their own considerable talent for defensive fortifications to build Walls of unprecedented size to ward away the steppe nomads and the Chinese in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The Roman historians alive at the time of the POD (mostly Livius and Cicero with a few minor folks) are writing about the changes occurring in the Republic. Later, there will be others who actually write political treatises and theory on the origin and evolution of the imperial system, one of them being Sextus Bassus, a man who is mentioned in the novel that I posted a while back. He basically coins three basic concepts that are the foundation of the imperial governing structure. *SPOILERS* Much later, when the Roman "new world" colonies revolt and form the New Republic of Rome, there will be others who will develop political theory further and more OTL US style republicanism "neo-republicanism" will become important in the further evolution of the Imperial structure. Bicameralism will develop in this TL, probably just in the New Republic of Rome and maybe in some foreign nation, but it will be slightly different than OTL.
And, in the old TL there eventually was a Roman wall in Asia to protect the frontier, though it was much shorter than the Great Wall. And yes Stolo's account of the Chinese Wall will eventually influence Roman fortifications and defensive thought.
aww, there is a Roman split, how unfortunate. I rather have a single unified empire.
Still, your thoughts on the future are very intriguing to read. I really do like how you have written comments in say the first year of the Empire which represent what will occur centuries later.
By the way, as a random thought, have you considered that maybe the Roman world will go down technological paths that we either did not pursue or ignored due to our culture. Because Roman culture was not our culture they sought and liked some different things. So they might not go with all the assumptions that we have.
Plus, from what I gather of Romans they built certain things to last, which might influence their constructions and their designs and all that.
Still, your thoughts on the future are very intriguing to read. I really do like how you have written comments in say the first year of the Empire which represent what will occur centuries later.
By the way, as a random thought, have you considered that maybe the Roman world will go down technological paths that we either did not pursue or ignored due to our culture. Because Roman culture was not our culture they sought and liked some different things. So they might not go with all the assumptions that we have.
Plus, from what I gather of Romans they built certain things to last, which might influence their constructions and their designs and all that.
Rex Romanum
Banned
Yeah, IIRC in the original TL the Romans build two "Great Walls", the first one was between Himalaya and Aral sea, and the second one was between Aral sea and Ural mountains. But IMO that kind of walls won't help too much, just look what happened to Song dynasty in OTL...
And BTW Eric, great update and great pictures too!
(although I wonder where are you get that pictures from...
)Eurofed
Banned
OTOH, the Romans were among the most talented civilizations in history as fortifications went, and arguably may easily be better at defending their own "Great Walls" against the steppe nomads than the Song were.
By the way, IIIRC, there were three such "Great Walls" in the original TL, one between Himalaya and Aral sea, one alongside the Volga River, later superseded by one between Aral sea and Ural mountains and alongside the Urals.
746 AUC (7 BCE):
Domestic: Pollio returns to Rome, but his vacation is interrupted only two months after his arrival by an urgent message sent by his son stating that the Xiongnu (or the Songnii as the Romans referred to them) were attacking Roman border fortifications. Pollio, believing the breech to be a minor military raid by the Xiongnu, passes the message on to Ptolemy, but decides to remain in Rome for several months until a second message arrives describing the dire situation in Bactria. Pollio leaves Rome in August and hastily makes his way back to Bactria with his legions. Ptolemy oversees the construction of the flagship of the Classis Italica, the hexareme Ptolemy in the newly expanded port at Ostia. Strabo travels throughout Mesopotamia during the year, linking up with Pollio on his way to Bactria. This is the beginning of Strabo’s extensive travel with Pollio and his army that he will use to finish his map and description of the geography of the Empire. His notes concerning the war against the Xiongnu will heavily influence Octavianus Egnatius’ history Bello Songno (The War with the Songnii) nearly a century later. The lex Ptolemia de Ambitu is passed making illegal bribery when acquiring political offices. The draining of the Pomptine Marshes is nearing completion, as half of the vast wetlands have been significantly drained by this year according to ancient accounts. Ottodantes, son of Frisii king Erodantes, begins military training with the Roman army. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, conqueror of northern Hispania, dies in this year. Taxiana, Caesar’s former lover in Persia dies in this year.
Military: The Western Xiongnu under Gaognu and his son Diogi attempt several times throughout May to breech the Roman border defenses, finally succeeding on a third attempt by using a feigned attack led by Diogi to distract the Romans at a spot thirty miles west of the actual point of invasion. On June 3rd, Gaognu and his large army of horsemen defeat the two Roman legions protecting the border region north of the city of Bactria and manage to breech the border defenses. They quickly advance south toward Bactria, besieging the city by the third week in June. Mus and Saloninus are defeated in the Battle of Bactria by Gaognu’s superior cavalry and horse archers and the two are forced to retreat south to the Roman colony of Caesarus Bactrius, where they hastily fortify the city and augment their legions with native Bactrian infantry. The Xiongnu completely conquer the province of Bactria by the end of August and completely surround Caesarus Bactrius in the process. Saloninus remains in the colony while Mus takes several legions and retreats further south to recruit more troops and mercenaries for an eventual counterattack into Bactria. The city is besieged for several months, as Saloninus and his severely outnumbered army struggle to hold on until adequate reinforcements can arrive. Agelastus blockades Meninx in North Africa and manages to assault the island in August with heavy losses. He captures the city of Meninx, but is unable to capture Piratus and his gang, as they simply move their fleet (after defeating Agelastus’ fleet) and small mercenary army further west to Thena, another pirate stronghold sympathetic to Piratus (and his wealth).
Literature, Art, and Science: Ovidius finishes writing Amatoria Cleopatra (Cleopatra’s Lovers). Ahenobarbus carves a giant Egyptian obelisk for the Pyramidia Cleopatra and presents it to Ptolemy as a birthday gift. The obelisk, called the Obelisk Ahenobarbo still stands to this day in the central atrium of Cleopatra’s Pyramid.
Foreign: In Judea, the future Jewish prophet Menahem Galileius is born near Sepphoris. Emperor Cheng of Han dies and his nephew Ai of Han ascends the throne at 20 years old. Stolo accounts in his history how the people are excited about Emperor Ai’s ascension to power, though many in the Han court fear the political power of his grandmother, Consort Fu, who is very influential over her grandson. Stolo also recounts how several influential members of Ai’s court (primarily led by Consort Fu and Wang Mang) disapprove of his uncle’s infatuation with Rome [and himself], and many begin pushing Ai to not open up full diplomatic ties with Rome, primarily out of fear that the secret of Chinese silk production will be discovered.
Domestic: Pollio returns to Rome, but his vacation is interrupted only two months after his arrival by an urgent message sent by his son stating that the Xiongnu (or the Songnii as the Romans referred to them) were attacking Roman border fortifications. Pollio, believing the breech to be a minor military raid by the Xiongnu, passes the message on to Ptolemy, but decides to remain in Rome for several months until a second message arrives describing the dire situation in Bactria. Pollio leaves Rome in August and hastily makes his way back to Bactria with his legions. Ptolemy oversees the construction of the flagship of the Classis Italica, the hexareme Ptolemy in the newly expanded port at Ostia. Strabo travels throughout Mesopotamia during the year, linking up with Pollio on his way to Bactria. This is the beginning of Strabo’s extensive travel with Pollio and his army that he will use to finish his map and description of the geography of the Empire. His notes concerning the war against the Xiongnu will heavily influence Octavianus Egnatius’ history Bello Songno (The War with the Songnii) nearly a century later. The lex Ptolemia de Ambitu is passed making illegal bribery when acquiring political offices. The draining of the Pomptine Marshes is nearing completion, as half of the vast wetlands have been significantly drained by this year according to ancient accounts. Ottodantes, son of Frisii king Erodantes, begins military training with the Roman army. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, conqueror of northern Hispania, dies in this year. Taxiana, Caesar’s former lover in Persia dies in this year.
Military: The Western Xiongnu under Gaognu and his son Diogi attempt several times throughout May to breech the Roman border defenses, finally succeeding on a third attempt by using a feigned attack led by Diogi to distract the Romans at a spot thirty miles west of the actual point of invasion. On June 3rd, Gaognu and his large army of horsemen defeat the two Roman legions protecting the border region north of the city of Bactria and manage to breech the border defenses. They quickly advance south toward Bactria, besieging the city by the third week in June. Mus and Saloninus are defeated in the Battle of Bactria by Gaognu’s superior cavalry and horse archers and the two are forced to retreat south to the Roman colony of Caesarus Bactrius, where they hastily fortify the city and augment their legions with native Bactrian infantry. The Xiongnu completely conquer the province of Bactria by the end of August and completely surround Caesarus Bactrius in the process. Saloninus remains in the colony while Mus takes several legions and retreats further south to recruit more troops and mercenaries for an eventual counterattack into Bactria. The city is besieged for several months, as Saloninus and his severely outnumbered army struggle to hold on until adequate reinforcements can arrive. Agelastus blockades Meninx in North Africa and manages to assault the island in August with heavy losses. He captures the city of Meninx, but is unable to capture Piratus and his gang, as they simply move their fleet (after defeating Agelastus’ fleet) and small mercenary army further west to Thena, another pirate stronghold sympathetic to Piratus (and his wealth).
Literature, Art, and Science: Ovidius finishes writing Amatoria Cleopatra (Cleopatra’s Lovers). Ahenobarbus carves a giant Egyptian obelisk for the Pyramidia Cleopatra and presents it to Ptolemy as a birthday gift. The obelisk, called the Obelisk Ahenobarbo still stands to this day in the central atrium of Cleopatra’s Pyramid.
Foreign: In Judea, the future Jewish prophet Menahem Galileius is born near Sepphoris. Emperor Cheng of Han dies and his nephew Ai of Han ascends the throne at 20 years old. Stolo accounts in his history how the people are excited about Emperor Ai’s ascension to power, though many in the Han court fear the political power of his grandmother, Consort Fu, who is very influential over her grandson. Stolo also recounts how several influential members of Ai’s court (primarily led by Consort Fu and Wang Mang) disapprove of his uncle’s infatuation with Rome [and himself], and many begin pushing Ai to not open up full diplomatic ties with Rome, primarily out of fear that the secret of Chinese silk production will be discovered.
747 AUC (6 BCE):
Domestic: Consul Petrus Larcius Paullus barely passes a measure in the Senate ending funding for the newly founded Classis Italica stating that the project is a waste of imperial funds and that the existing navy is sufficient to handle the pirate threat in the Mediterranean. Ptolemy, once again outraged at Paullus’ petty attempts to undermine his rule, issues an edict overruling the measure passed by the Senate promising to use his own wealth to fund the fledgling Navalia Imperia. Paullus moves to veto Ptolemy’s edict with a three-fourths vote in the Senate, but the vote is defeated by Princeps Senatus Kaeso Fabius Uticensis (a supporter and friend of Ptolemy) and his band of sixteen senators opposed to Paullus’ meddling. Many in Uticensis’ camp want to avoid confrontation and see the imperial navy as necessary to end the pirate threat (especially those senators representing provinces in the western Mediterranean). After defeating the measure to veto Ptolemy’s edict, the Senate votes to restore funding to the Classis Italica. Paullus, humbled but defiant, gives an impassioned speech on the floor of the Conloquium condemning Ptolemy for his heavy-handedness and accuses him of not respecting the laws of the Republic. Ptolemy largely ignores his rhetoric, choosing to focus instead on the pirate threat and the invasion by the Xiongnu in the east, but does begin to pay more attention to the internal workings of the Senate (which he largely ignored when Octavius was in power). The third wife of Julius Caesar, Calpurnia Pisonis dies in this year. Opiter Burrienus Ingennus, the famous Roman metallurgist and early alchemist during the reign of Germanicus is born in Londinium in Britannia to a local politician and equite. Strabo continues to travel with Pollio. Ottodantes completes his military training with the Roman army and returns to Frisia.
Military: Pollio arrives at Dara in Parthia to take command of the fifteen legions in the area and moves northeast to relieve the siege at Bactria. Mus joins him with his revamped army and helps Pollio defeat the Xiongnu at the Battle of Dara, twenty miles from the city. Pollio and Mus campaign toward Merv, but are soundly defeated by the Xiongnu general Hzuizi and his superior cavalry forces. The defeat is bad enough on Pollio and Mus, that except for several small skirmishes the last four months of the year, they remain at Dara in preparation for another massive push east to engage the bulk of the Xiongnu army at Merv the next year. Saloninus fights a series of largely inconclusive battles against the Xiongnu chanyu, Gaognu, after defeating him in his attempt to take Bactria. Saloninus begins modeling his limited cavalry forces on those of the former Parthian cataphracts and his ingenuity allows him to defeat the far-superior cavalry forces of the Xiongnu during several smaller skirmishes. Saloninus is finally defeated at the Battle of the River Haraeus [Hari River OTL], forcing him to retreat south into Arachosia and Drangiana. Gaognu pursues Saloninus and besieges Farah in November. Gaognu’s son Diogi campaigns in Gandhara against limited Roman resistance (as most of the border legions have inadequate cavalry forces to effectively engage the highly mobile Xiongnu). Gaognu’s four commander-kings (guli) (those chieftains below him who ruled semi-autonomous regions within his empire), Hzuizi, Jouzhou, Dongowoa, and Xiangi begin several simultaneous invasions into former northern Parthia (Hyrcania) and Margiana. Agelastus is defeated by Piratus off the coast of Melita in June and is fatally wounded during the battle. Agelastus dies three days later, leaving his decimated fleet leaderless. A relatively unknown foreign-born equite named Spurius Uzocosis takes command of the fleet and moves it east to Leptis Magna, where he spends the rest of the year re-building the fleet. Piratus begins terrorizing the North African coast again by August and begins interdicting sea trade lanes between Sicily and Aegyptus, causing a grain shortage Rome.
Literature, Art, and Science: The Thermae Ptolemae are completed in this year. Marcus Otarchus writes Historia de Graecii, a comprehensive treatise on Greek history and language.
Foreign: The Mathurans receive word of Rome’s struggle with the Xiongnu and King Lakshmigopal begins making preparations to invade across the Indus and establish control of the trans-Indus regions of the Roman Empire in the ensuing chaos. The Roman Empire begins trading with Hadramaut. Stolo recounts in his Historia Serica how the Han court under Emperor Ai begins to shun him during his visits to the Imperial palace and he decides to return to Rome despite not being able to complete the trade agreement worked out earlier with the deceased Emperor Cheng. Instead of taking a land route back to Rome (especially considering the Roman war with the Xiongnu), Stolo decides to ride on a Chinese junk trading ship on its way to India. He provides a detailed description and drawing of the Chinese junk ship in his history that will go on to greatly effect Roman naval technology. By the end of the year, Stolo recounts landing in a port that the natives called Tambralinga (Stolo Latinized the name to Tambria) and that the Chinese referred to as Poling. According to his Historia Serica, he remained at the court of the Tambrian king who he called “Nakhonius” for the rest of the year and much of the next.
Domestic: Consul Petrus Larcius Paullus barely passes a measure in the Senate ending funding for the newly founded Classis Italica stating that the project is a waste of imperial funds and that the existing navy is sufficient to handle the pirate threat in the Mediterranean. Ptolemy, once again outraged at Paullus’ petty attempts to undermine his rule, issues an edict overruling the measure passed by the Senate promising to use his own wealth to fund the fledgling Navalia Imperia. Paullus moves to veto Ptolemy’s edict with a three-fourths vote in the Senate, but the vote is defeated by Princeps Senatus Kaeso Fabius Uticensis (a supporter and friend of Ptolemy) and his band of sixteen senators opposed to Paullus’ meddling. Many in Uticensis’ camp want to avoid confrontation and see the imperial navy as necessary to end the pirate threat (especially those senators representing provinces in the western Mediterranean). After defeating the measure to veto Ptolemy’s edict, the Senate votes to restore funding to the Classis Italica. Paullus, humbled but defiant, gives an impassioned speech on the floor of the Conloquium condemning Ptolemy for his heavy-handedness and accuses him of not respecting the laws of the Republic. Ptolemy largely ignores his rhetoric, choosing to focus instead on the pirate threat and the invasion by the Xiongnu in the east, but does begin to pay more attention to the internal workings of the Senate (which he largely ignored when Octavius was in power). The third wife of Julius Caesar, Calpurnia Pisonis dies in this year. Opiter Burrienus Ingennus, the famous Roman metallurgist and early alchemist during the reign of Germanicus is born in Londinium in Britannia to a local politician and equite. Strabo continues to travel with Pollio. Ottodantes completes his military training with the Roman army and returns to Frisia.
Military: Pollio arrives at Dara in Parthia to take command of the fifteen legions in the area and moves northeast to relieve the siege at Bactria. Mus joins him with his revamped army and helps Pollio defeat the Xiongnu at the Battle of Dara, twenty miles from the city. Pollio and Mus campaign toward Merv, but are soundly defeated by the Xiongnu general Hzuizi and his superior cavalry forces. The defeat is bad enough on Pollio and Mus, that except for several small skirmishes the last four months of the year, they remain at Dara in preparation for another massive push east to engage the bulk of the Xiongnu army at Merv the next year. Saloninus fights a series of largely inconclusive battles against the Xiongnu chanyu, Gaognu, after defeating him in his attempt to take Bactria. Saloninus begins modeling his limited cavalry forces on those of the former Parthian cataphracts and his ingenuity allows him to defeat the far-superior cavalry forces of the Xiongnu during several smaller skirmishes. Saloninus is finally defeated at the Battle of the River Haraeus [Hari River OTL], forcing him to retreat south into Arachosia and Drangiana. Gaognu pursues Saloninus and besieges Farah in November. Gaognu’s son Diogi campaigns in Gandhara against limited Roman resistance (as most of the border legions have inadequate cavalry forces to effectively engage the highly mobile Xiongnu). Gaognu’s four commander-kings (guli) (those chieftains below him who ruled semi-autonomous regions within his empire), Hzuizi, Jouzhou, Dongowoa, and Xiangi begin several simultaneous invasions into former northern Parthia (Hyrcania) and Margiana. Agelastus is defeated by Piratus off the coast of Melita in June and is fatally wounded during the battle. Agelastus dies three days later, leaving his decimated fleet leaderless. A relatively unknown foreign-born equite named Spurius Uzocosis takes command of the fleet and moves it east to Leptis Magna, where he spends the rest of the year re-building the fleet. Piratus begins terrorizing the North African coast again by August and begins interdicting sea trade lanes between Sicily and Aegyptus, causing a grain shortage Rome.
Literature, Art, and Science: The Thermae Ptolemae are completed in this year. Marcus Otarchus writes Historia de Graecii, a comprehensive treatise on Greek history and language.
Foreign: The Mathurans receive word of Rome’s struggle with the Xiongnu and King Lakshmigopal begins making preparations to invade across the Indus and establish control of the trans-Indus regions of the Roman Empire in the ensuing chaos. The Roman Empire begins trading with Hadramaut. Stolo recounts in his Historia Serica how the Han court under Emperor Ai begins to shun him during his visits to the Imperial palace and he decides to return to Rome despite not being able to complete the trade agreement worked out earlier with the deceased Emperor Cheng. Instead of taking a land route back to Rome (especially considering the Roman war with the Xiongnu), Stolo decides to ride on a Chinese junk trading ship on its way to India. He provides a detailed description and drawing of the Chinese junk ship in his history that will go on to greatly effect Roman naval technology. By the end of the year, Stolo recounts landing in a port that the natives called Tambralinga (Stolo Latinized the name to Tambria) and that the Chinese referred to as Poling. According to his Historia Serica, he remained at the court of the Tambrian king who he called “Nakhonius” for the rest of the year and much of the next.
Rex Romanum
Banned
Ah yes, finally...the internal conflicts...
Afterall, TTL Roman emperor held less power than OTL, so I think internal conflicts like that could come more frequently.
Although I wonder would that kind of conflicts causing really BIG problem for Rome in the future...?
And btw Eric, why you use Dara as command center for Parthian legions? IIRC Dara was only a minor village until OTL Emperor Anastasius I rebuilded and fortified it so Dara could become a base for war against Sassanids. (hence its another name, Anastasiopolis) Why not use an already great city, like Ctesiphon or Seleucia?
Other than that, excellent!
Afterall, TTL Roman emperor held less power than OTL, so I think internal conflicts like that could come more frequently.
Although I wonder would that kind of conflicts causing really BIG problem for Rome in the future...?
And btw Eric, why you use Dara as command center for Parthian legions? IIRC Dara was only a minor village until OTL Emperor Anastasius I rebuilded and fortified it so Dara could become a base for war against Sassanids. (hence its another name, Anastasiopolis) Why not use an already great city, like Ctesiphon or Seleucia?
Other than that, excellent!
Ah yes, finally...the internal conflicts...
Afterall, TTL Roman emperor held less power than OTL, so I think internal conflicts like that could come more frequently.
Although I wonder would that kind of conflicts causing really BIG problem for Rome in the future...?
And btw Eric, why you use Dara as command center for Parthian legions? IIRC Dara was only a minor village until OTL Emperor Anastasius I rebuilded and fortified it so Dara could become a base for war against Sassanids. (hence its another name, Anastasiopolis) Why not use an already great city, like Ctesiphon or Seleucia?
Other than that, excellent!
Thanks for the comment! Dara in this TL is larger than in OTL at the same point, as it has grown considerably since the Roman conquest - plus it is near the frontline at this time and is considered a strategic city that needs to be held before either side can move on (the Romans east toward Merv and Bactria and the Xiongnu west toward Hecatompylos and Media).
excelent update, now that ptolomy as iniciate his government, lets see the pirate question deal once and for all. cant ardely wait for the next update.
cant ardely wait for the next update.excelent update, now that ptolomy as iniciate his government, lets see the pirate question deal once and for all.
Thank you for the comment. Yes the pirate situation will be dealt with soon.
Here is a short story that I wrote for my book. Please let me know what you guys think of it. This story is from the view point of the "author" of the historical portion of the book I've posted on this forum before. If anyone would like to submit stories from my TL let me know because I'd like to start a thread for the stories I am going to be writing and eventually combining with the historical portions to create a novel that I hope to actually publish one day. Also, I haven't edited this thing yet, so there may very well be some mistakes in it, if you catch any, let me know. Thank you again to all of my readers.
XVI November 2756 AUC, PM 18:34
Heraclea, Bithynia: Imperium Romanum
Academae Bithynia
The sound was nearly intolerable. The low, steady sound of his voice droned on about some insignificant historical fact, one that he believed held the greatest of importance in our minds, yet in reality simply served to further drain the energy from our nearly lifeless bodies. For almost two hours Dr. Censius had continued, without regard for the utter despair in his classroom, about the significance of the Neo-Republican movement in the factions of the Imperial Senate of the early 21st Century AUC. The drab color of the room, a ridiculously small rectangular space completely devoid of decoration or of anything remotely related to excitement, did not help our situation, as many of us simply gave up hope of leaving before the onset of the storm approaching from the west.
“And it is important to remember my friends that the most profound effect of the revolt of the Agnetian colonies was to inspire the next generation of imperial lawmakers that dire changes needed to be made to the existing Imperial order and particularly the inefficient nature of many of the legislative procedures. Though these badly needed changes would not…”
Dr. Censius trailed off and muttered some profoundly important piece of information that no doubt would find its way onto our next essay test – just four days away – though somehow managed to completely bypass our ears, disappearing somewhere among the atoms making up the air in the room, never to exist in the same form again. Though many of us tried in vain to hear the good (yet incredibly boring) doctor, we all failed miserably to understand what this master of history had wished to impart into our young, malleable minds.
“One can clearly see”, Dr. Censius whispered, as if only he existed in the cramped room, “that the idea of complete equality between citizens and non-citizens, between those of privileged birth and those of the plebs was a pressing issue of the day. Though many Senators, including Consul Gnaeus Bantius, clearly articulated the need for a change in the ascendancy of citizenship from the old imperial system to that more approaching the New Republic of Rome, none were able to bring enough votes to the Senate floor to exact the change that was needed. According to the history of Tiberius Axumite, “the Consul…”
Once again the learned doctor trailed off into obscurity, surely making some epiphanous statement that no doubt would have changed the world – had anyone had the ability to actually hear his profound words. “Perhaps some canine wondering outside would pick up his words, though he too would probably be lulled to sleep by the sheer boredom resonating from the doctor’s mouth”, I thought to myself as I pondered what the rest of my night would bring.
Suddenly a horrifyingly loud sound erupted from behind me, startling me from my deep thoughts. I jolted the desk so hard that my drink spilled on the old wooden floor and found its way onto the skirt of the cutest woman in the class, Julia Avidius Maccalus, the daughter of the Decanus of the School of History here at the Academae. I panicked and fumbled around, trying desperately to find a handkerchief or other article of cloth to dry the mess before the attention of the good doctor could be focused completely on me. My efforts did not pay off however, as the doctor quickly announced, “seeing as how Aerokius is so excited about my lecture that he finds it necessary to throw his drink to convey his uncontrollable enthusiasm, I believe it is time to dismiss class before anyone else explodes with joy about the development of…”
This time Censius did not have to mutter ingenious statements of world-shattering importance that everyone struggled to hear, as the sound of twenty students shuffling and stampeding out of the tiny classroom completely drowned out any sound emanating from the old man. I tried to recover my dignity and exit the room without incident, but of course the doctor interrupted my hurried efforts by asking me to stop by his desk on my way out.
I reluctantly shuffled past the thin row of desks in the center of the room, nearly slipping on the wet floor twice before reaching the doctor's desk. He motioned for me to come closer as I approached his desk and said, “Ah, the best student in the class...I wish I had more students like you, as it would definitely make my job a great deal easier. I wanted to tell you that I began looking over the rough draft of your dissertation outline and was immediately struck by the structure and eloquence of it. Anyhow, I wanted to impart on you the importance of bringing together an all-encompassing theme to your work. It seems that your dissertation outline is a mighty stallion, trampling through the past works of lesser student authors, but without any discernible direction. Before bringing your topic before the committee, you need to converge all of your wandering ideas into an over-arching theme. You should put some thought into your first sentence, for it is through this first sentence that you shall find your way through the darkness of dissertation writing, ha! That was almost a good joke...Have a good evening Aerokius, and do try to stay dry!”
I thanked the doctor and moved quickly to exit the room before he could think of something else brilliant to say to me. I rushed through the ancient and intimidating corridors of the Academae, trying desperately to get back to my apartment before the menacing storm unleashed the unrivaled power of nature on the streets of Heraclea, an ancient town in Bithynia. I was the only student left in the long, dimly lit hallway and the sharp echoes of my steps against the shiny marble floor was quite unnerving. I looked around in my rush toward the front of the building, gazing quickly from painting to painting. As if the tall Romano-Gothic columns and arches lining the School's central hallway weren't daunting enough, the gigantic paintings hanging on either side of the massive stone walls filled me with a sense of foreboding that seemed to consume all of the courage not already shaken by the formidable architecture surrounding me on all sides.
I began to look at the floor, hoping to avoid the eyes of those painted on the massive canvases hanging over the hallway, when suddenly a glimmer on the floor caught my eye. Disregarding my rather juvenile fear of the Academae's magnificent atrium (for I have stalked these hallways many times in the past several years and truly there was no real reason to be frightened, even in twilight), I instinctively gazed upwards toward the inner side of the painted dome above the center of the room. Though I had seen (and admired) this painting by Guido Oporhanius Auxentius, the highly gifted 17th Century AUC Silver Age Gothic painter, I had never truly taken the time to appreciate the shear magnificence of the work or its inherent “heaviness” upon the atmosphere of the atrium.
For years now it had struck me as rather odd that a place of academia, particularly one more devoted to the development of science and business systems would display a historical painting, much less one so obscure as Parthia Naked Before the Mighty Caesar. It seemed to me that only a true fan of Auxentius and a lover of the Silver Age of Gothic art could genuinely appreciate the back-breaking detail and agonizing raw power of the theme of the painting, emphasized by the desperation and complete capitulation of the noblemen of Parthia at the feet of Caesar, highest among them the son of the “Scourge of the East”, the last Parthian king, Ghriapatius. Never before (though I am a huge fan of Auxentius and his many works) had I really given the painting at the top of the atrium much thought, so consumed in my life's work and not being late for class, that I often paid the painting as much attention as everyone else – admittedly no where near the admiration it deserved.
I found myself inexplicably drawn into the painting, as if I was a legionnaire in one of Caesar's mighty legions, standing adjacent to him on that stormy day at Hecatompylos nearly twenty-one centuries earlier. It was as if I could feel the shear dominance of Caesar and his unequaled presence or the utter hopelessness inundating the bodies of the exhausted and humbled noblemen, each of which just years earlier had probably owned more land than the men of an entire legion contemporary to their time. For a moment I felt that I was surely in the midst of history itself, and that should I be so bold as to bury a knife into Caesar at that very moment (or perhaps simply imagine such a macabre action), history itself would change and I would, at that very instant, be standing in a completely different world from the one I now presently inhabit.
And it was at this very same moment, among the lifeless figures painted onto the scene some forty feet above me, that I was stunned by an epiphany so obvious, so excruciatingly simple, that I contemplated kicking myself at the very fact that I had not hitherto considered this thought in all of the time I had spent over the past few months trying in vain to think of the very thought that was now flooding my mind. “Of course!”, I proclaimed to myself as I studied the stern and confident look on Caesar's face.
“Gaius Julius Caesar, of course he is the answer! He can be the “over-arching theme” Dr. Censius was talking about!” I forced myself to look away from the enigmatic and powerful image painted above me and I continued quickly toward the front door of the Brocconian School of Science and History, one of the oldest buildings on campus. Rushing through the door, I was completely caught off guard by the violent force of the wind heralding the coming of the massive storm predicted several days earlier by the Imperial Weather Service. The scene was even more intimidating than the dimly lit corridor of the Brocconian and I moved with much haste to avoid the debris flying around me. For a moment it seemed as though the trees in the court yard had conspired to take me out, as I dodged numerous sticks and branches falling from the trees under the force of the wind. A mangled street sign began to heave back and forth from the power of the growing storm, its pole visibly straining to keep the sign upright.
I turned to the right onto the via Academae Occidia, one of the four central roads dissecting campus into four squares, and ran quickly toward the Library located on the western end of the campus where I had stupidly decided earlier to leave my new ten-speed birotae. For some reason now unknown to even myself, I had decided earlier in the day (because the sun was out for the majority of the morning) to park my birotae at the Library rather than the Bocconian. I now regretted the decision and it was certainly true now that the leisurely walk which I earlier enjoyed from the Library to the School of Science and History was, in hindsight, definitely not worth the trouble I was now experiencing in returning to the Library.
Upon arriving at the Bibliotheca Felissimus, named after the founder and first Magister Praeceptor of the great Academy, Marcus Baebius Felissimus, I unlocked my birotae from the securing rack and peddled as quickly as my legs would allow back to my apartment on the via Augusta. I struggled the entire distance back to my apartment to keep balance against the ridiculously strong wind which buffeted me constantly on my right side. I managed to reach my apartment in the Old District of town just as sprinkles of water, foreshadowing the deluge to come, began falling from the darkened sky.
I fumbled for the key card to my apartment building, finally managing to wrestle the card loose from the jumble of receipts and coins stuffed tightly into my front left pocket. Entering the heavy glass door, I exhaled a loud sigh of relief as I was finally free of the spiteful wind blowing incessantly outside, bringing forth the wrath of nature. “Well, I suppose I should work on that dissertation now...I hope the electricity doesn't go out before I can at least work out these thoughts racing through my head. Yes! Julius Caesar, the assassination attempt on his life, his wars, the Imperial Constitution! Why did I not think of these things earlier!?! So much to do, please Jupiter do not let the power go out tonight!”
XVI November 2756 AUC, PM 18:34
Heraclea, Bithynia: Imperium Romanum
Academae Bithynia
The sound was nearly intolerable. The low, steady sound of his voice droned on about some insignificant historical fact, one that he believed held the greatest of importance in our minds, yet in reality simply served to further drain the energy from our nearly lifeless bodies. For almost two hours Dr. Censius had continued, without regard for the utter despair in his classroom, about the significance of the Neo-Republican movement in the factions of the Imperial Senate of the early 21st Century AUC. The drab color of the room, a ridiculously small rectangular space completely devoid of decoration or of anything remotely related to excitement, did not help our situation, as many of us simply gave up hope of leaving before the onset of the storm approaching from the west.
“And it is important to remember my friends that the most profound effect of the revolt of the Agnetian colonies was to inspire the next generation of imperial lawmakers that dire changes needed to be made to the existing Imperial order and particularly the inefficient nature of many of the legislative procedures. Though these badly needed changes would not…”
Dr. Censius trailed off and muttered some profoundly important piece of information that no doubt would find its way onto our next essay test – just four days away – though somehow managed to completely bypass our ears, disappearing somewhere among the atoms making up the air in the room, never to exist in the same form again. Though many of us tried in vain to hear the good (yet incredibly boring) doctor, we all failed miserably to understand what this master of history had wished to impart into our young, malleable minds.
“One can clearly see”, Dr. Censius whispered, as if only he existed in the cramped room, “that the idea of complete equality between citizens and non-citizens, between those of privileged birth and those of the plebs was a pressing issue of the day. Though many Senators, including Consul Gnaeus Bantius, clearly articulated the need for a change in the ascendancy of citizenship from the old imperial system to that more approaching the New Republic of Rome, none were able to bring enough votes to the Senate floor to exact the change that was needed. According to the history of Tiberius Axumite, “the Consul…”
Once again the learned doctor trailed off into obscurity, surely making some epiphanous statement that no doubt would have changed the world – had anyone had the ability to actually hear his profound words. “Perhaps some canine wondering outside would pick up his words, though he too would probably be lulled to sleep by the sheer boredom resonating from the doctor’s mouth”, I thought to myself as I pondered what the rest of my night would bring.
Suddenly a horrifyingly loud sound erupted from behind me, startling me from my deep thoughts. I jolted the desk so hard that my drink spilled on the old wooden floor and found its way onto the skirt of the cutest woman in the class, Julia Avidius Maccalus, the daughter of the Decanus of the School of History here at the Academae. I panicked and fumbled around, trying desperately to find a handkerchief or other article of cloth to dry the mess before the attention of the good doctor could be focused completely on me. My efforts did not pay off however, as the doctor quickly announced, “seeing as how Aerokius is so excited about my lecture that he finds it necessary to throw his drink to convey his uncontrollable enthusiasm, I believe it is time to dismiss class before anyone else explodes with joy about the development of…”
This time Censius did not have to mutter ingenious statements of world-shattering importance that everyone struggled to hear, as the sound of twenty students shuffling and stampeding out of the tiny classroom completely drowned out any sound emanating from the old man. I tried to recover my dignity and exit the room without incident, but of course the doctor interrupted my hurried efforts by asking me to stop by his desk on my way out.
I reluctantly shuffled past the thin row of desks in the center of the room, nearly slipping on the wet floor twice before reaching the doctor's desk. He motioned for me to come closer as I approached his desk and said, “Ah, the best student in the class...I wish I had more students like you, as it would definitely make my job a great deal easier. I wanted to tell you that I began looking over the rough draft of your dissertation outline and was immediately struck by the structure and eloquence of it. Anyhow, I wanted to impart on you the importance of bringing together an all-encompassing theme to your work. It seems that your dissertation outline is a mighty stallion, trampling through the past works of lesser student authors, but without any discernible direction. Before bringing your topic before the committee, you need to converge all of your wandering ideas into an over-arching theme. You should put some thought into your first sentence, for it is through this first sentence that you shall find your way through the darkness of dissertation writing, ha! That was almost a good joke...Have a good evening Aerokius, and do try to stay dry!”
I thanked the doctor and moved quickly to exit the room before he could think of something else brilliant to say to me. I rushed through the ancient and intimidating corridors of the Academae, trying desperately to get back to my apartment before the menacing storm unleashed the unrivaled power of nature on the streets of Heraclea, an ancient town in Bithynia. I was the only student left in the long, dimly lit hallway and the sharp echoes of my steps against the shiny marble floor was quite unnerving. I looked around in my rush toward the front of the building, gazing quickly from painting to painting. As if the tall Romano-Gothic columns and arches lining the School's central hallway weren't daunting enough, the gigantic paintings hanging on either side of the massive stone walls filled me with a sense of foreboding that seemed to consume all of the courage not already shaken by the formidable architecture surrounding me on all sides.
I began to look at the floor, hoping to avoid the eyes of those painted on the massive canvases hanging over the hallway, when suddenly a glimmer on the floor caught my eye. Disregarding my rather juvenile fear of the Academae's magnificent atrium (for I have stalked these hallways many times in the past several years and truly there was no real reason to be frightened, even in twilight), I instinctively gazed upwards toward the inner side of the painted dome above the center of the room. Though I had seen (and admired) this painting by Guido Oporhanius Auxentius, the highly gifted 17th Century AUC Silver Age Gothic painter, I had never truly taken the time to appreciate the shear magnificence of the work or its inherent “heaviness” upon the atmosphere of the atrium.
For years now it had struck me as rather odd that a place of academia, particularly one more devoted to the development of science and business systems would display a historical painting, much less one so obscure as Parthia Naked Before the Mighty Caesar. It seemed to me that only a true fan of Auxentius and a lover of the Silver Age of Gothic art could genuinely appreciate the back-breaking detail and agonizing raw power of the theme of the painting, emphasized by the desperation and complete capitulation of the noblemen of Parthia at the feet of Caesar, highest among them the son of the “Scourge of the East”, the last Parthian king, Ghriapatius. Never before (though I am a huge fan of Auxentius and his many works) had I really given the painting at the top of the atrium much thought, so consumed in my life's work and not being late for class, that I often paid the painting as much attention as everyone else – admittedly no where near the admiration it deserved.
I found myself inexplicably drawn into the painting, as if I was a legionnaire in one of Caesar's mighty legions, standing adjacent to him on that stormy day at Hecatompylos nearly twenty-one centuries earlier. It was as if I could feel the shear dominance of Caesar and his unequaled presence or the utter hopelessness inundating the bodies of the exhausted and humbled noblemen, each of which just years earlier had probably owned more land than the men of an entire legion contemporary to their time. For a moment I felt that I was surely in the midst of history itself, and that should I be so bold as to bury a knife into Caesar at that very moment (or perhaps simply imagine such a macabre action), history itself would change and I would, at that very instant, be standing in a completely different world from the one I now presently inhabit.
And it was at this very same moment, among the lifeless figures painted onto the scene some forty feet above me, that I was stunned by an epiphany so obvious, so excruciatingly simple, that I contemplated kicking myself at the very fact that I had not hitherto considered this thought in all of the time I had spent over the past few months trying in vain to think of the very thought that was now flooding my mind. “Of course!”, I proclaimed to myself as I studied the stern and confident look on Caesar's face.
“Gaius Julius Caesar, of course he is the answer! He can be the “over-arching theme” Dr. Censius was talking about!” I forced myself to look away from the enigmatic and powerful image painted above me and I continued quickly toward the front door of the Brocconian School of Science and History, one of the oldest buildings on campus. Rushing through the door, I was completely caught off guard by the violent force of the wind heralding the coming of the massive storm predicted several days earlier by the Imperial Weather Service. The scene was even more intimidating than the dimly lit corridor of the Brocconian and I moved with much haste to avoid the debris flying around me. For a moment it seemed as though the trees in the court yard had conspired to take me out, as I dodged numerous sticks and branches falling from the trees under the force of the wind. A mangled street sign began to heave back and forth from the power of the growing storm, its pole visibly straining to keep the sign upright.
I turned to the right onto the via Academae Occidia, one of the four central roads dissecting campus into four squares, and ran quickly toward the Library located on the western end of the campus where I had stupidly decided earlier to leave my new ten-speed birotae. For some reason now unknown to even myself, I had decided earlier in the day (because the sun was out for the majority of the morning) to park my birotae at the Library rather than the Bocconian. I now regretted the decision and it was certainly true now that the leisurely walk which I earlier enjoyed from the Library to the School of Science and History was, in hindsight, definitely not worth the trouble I was now experiencing in returning to the Library.
Upon arriving at the Bibliotheca Felissimus, named after the founder and first Magister Praeceptor of the great Academy, Marcus Baebius Felissimus, I unlocked my birotae from the securing rack and peddled as quickly as my legs would allow back to my apartment on the via Augusta. I struggled the entire distance back to my apartment to keep balance against the ridiculously strong wind which buffeted me constantly on my right side. I managed to reach my apartment in the Old District of town just as sprinkles of water, foreshadowing the deluge to come, began falling from the darkened sky.
I fumbled for the key card to my apartment building, finally managing to wrestle the card loose from the jumble of receipts and coins stuffed tightly into my front left pocket. Entering the heavy glass door, I exhaled a loud sigh of relief as I was finally free of the spiteful wind blowing incessantly outside, bringing forth the wrath of nature. “Well, I suppose I should work on that dissertation now...I hope the electricity doesn't go out before I can at least work out these thoughts racing through my head. Yes! Julius Caesar, the assassination attempt on his life, his wars, the Imperial Constitution! Why did I not think of these things earlier!?! So much to do, please Jupiter do not let the power go out tonight!”