Largest Greece in antiquity
- Thread starter mork23
- Start date
I believe in irony that the majority of contiguous primarily ethnic-Greek land for pre-Alexander and even after, in the Hellenistic Age and Roman/Byzantine Empires, was roughly equivalent to the Megali Idea Greece of modern times alongside the eastern 3/4ths of Sicily and toes and heel of Italy for Magna Grecia’s extent. Stuff like Anatolia was Hellenized in language but not always entirely in general culture or not at all ethically.
The obvious answer is Byzantium keeping Anatolia for centuries more instead of eventually losing it, allowing ethnic Greeks to move in and locals to fully Hellenize alike.
The obvious answer is Byzantium keeping Anatolia for centuries more instead of eventually losing it, allowing ethnic Greeks to move in and locals to fully Hellenize alike.
Skallagrim
Banned
Philipos II of Macedon lives longer, carries out his expedition against Persia, and accepts the deal that his son declined in OTL. Basically, Anatolia, Syria, the Levant and Egypt are ceded to him in perpetuity. He starts consolidating. Meanwhile, the Akhaimenids are humiliated by this shameful defeat, and Persia collapses into a renewed bout of civil war / succession struggle. (And they just had one.) When Philippos dies, the Greek poleis briefly rebel, but Alexander gives them a beating and fully incorporates them into the empire his father left him. Instead of going East, he then heads West, annexing Megale Hellas into the Empire. Carthage offers him a nice sum in gold and a lot of flattery, and as a result, he leaves them alone. They have to accept his claim to all Greek colonies in the Western Med, though. (Most notably, Massalia.) Alexander then spends some time warring in Italy and Illyria, eventually annexing all of those areas into his Empire. He also annexes the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporos, and endeavours to turn the Black Sea into a 'Greek Lake'.
Congratulations, the rise of Rome has been averted, and this whole region is now governed by a single Greek empire:
All the newly-added regions had already seen quite some Hellenisation, but this is now ramped up. Regions that are densely populated and distinctly un-Greek have been deliberately left out, so as to avoid cultural syncretism that would run counter to the premise of this thread. We want this Empire to be unquestionably Greek. Well, give it a few centuries, and what I've outlined here will be completely Hellenised.
Congratulations, the rise of Rome has been averted, and this whole region is now governed by a single Greek empire:
All the newly-added regions had already seen quite some Hellenisation, but this is now ramped up. Regions that are densely populated and distinctly un-Greek have been deliberately left out, so as to avoid cultural syncretism that would run counter to the premise of this thread. We want this Empire to be unquestionably Greek. Well, give it a few centuries, and what I've outlined here will be completely Hellenised.
This is what I wanted honestly thank you.
I do wonder if they can get farther into lands that they never even knew about and if they can colonize them. Something like having them discover Australia and putting themselves there. Or maybe they start to put outposts in Africa and eventually lead to them discovering the southern tip of Africa. It wouldn't have to be a large settlement they would just have to get there first.
I do wonder if they can get farther into lands that they never even knew about and if they can colonize them. Something like having them discover Australia and putting themselves there. Or maybe they start to put outposts in Africa and eventually lead to them discovering the southern tip of Africa. It wouldn't have to be a large settlement they would just have to get there first.
Skallagrim
Banned
Yes. Just as @mork23 says: substantially more gains would lead to a cosmopolitan empire such as the one Alexander envisioned in OTL. It would cease to be precisely Greek.