I'm sorry that I did not see the recent updates until today. I thought this thread was dead! It's really nice to have a proper conclusion to Romulus Augustus's reign. His reign is perhaps one of the most interesting (fictional) reign of all Roman Emperors, simply because he is the longest reigning Emperor. What I am interested to know is what sort of primary sources would we have regarding Romulus Augustus. Did the sheer length and the stability of Romulus's final years allowed more contemporary sources in the late 5th century to survive? What sort of Roman literature developed in the long reign of Romulus? Do we have some sort of cultural revival with new poems and etc being composed? The intellectual history in this world will without a doubt be very different from what we know.
As to how long the Romulus dynasty will last? I think it largely depends on how much value the Romans would place on the "brand name" of Romulus. A narrative of a single Emperor almost single-handily reversing the fortunes of the Empire would have a long lasting impact on the cultural memory of the Romans. With stories of Romulus' life being retold again and again, the idea of a legendary savior emperor would remain fresh in the minds of many around the known world. The question is how will this new political system built under Romulus be able to resist a military coup from anyone outside of the imperial family. No matter how entrenched a dynasty is, there will always be a threat from powerful generals in control of a large army. A less coup-happy Roman army would go a long way to prevent any new kingdoms from becoming a new dominant empire.
I'm interested to see how much impact the Chinese would have in the Middle East. The 8th and 9th century was a golden age for the Chinese under the Tang dynasty, with a very expansionistic China pushing deep into the Middle East. A big reason why the Chinese failed to expand further was largely due to a strong Islamic empire. I think there would be a massive incentive for the Chinese to seek a more stable silk road, so I will not rule out a battle of Talas happening in this timeline as well.
Another thing I would love to see more of is the impact of the Slavic migration on the Empire, not to mention the rise of the Vikings have on the world as a whole. The Vikings might be able to keep the Franks busy, and reducing the chances of conflict between the Franks and the Romans.
Lastly, I wonder if historians would periodize the post-Romulus age as being distinct from the late Roman Empire. The term Late Roman Empire doesn't make much historical sense in this timeline because the Western Empire never fell in the 5th century. Perhaps a different name would be used by later historians to describe the Roman Empire in the 3rd-5th century. I'm not sure if the term "medieval" would make much sense in this context. The idea of a middle age largely stems from the history of a collapsed Western Empire. It makes it easy for historians to describe a post-Roman world. However, in this timeline, the Roman Empire is pretty much intact. Perhaps the Romano-German age?
As to how long the Romulus dynasty will last? I think it largely depends on how much value the Romans would place on the "brand name" of Romulus. A narrative of a single Emperor almost single-handily reversing the fortunes of the Empire would have a long lasting impact on the cultural memory of the Romans. With stories of Romulus' life being retold again and again, the idea of a legendary savior emperor would remain fresh in the minds of many around the known world. The question is how will this new political system built under Romulus be able to resist a military coup from anyone outside of the imperial family. No matter how entrenched a dynasty is, there will always be a threat from powerful generals in control of a large army. A less coup-happy Roman army would go a long way to prevent any new kingdoms from becoming a new dominant empire.
I'm interested to see how much impact the Chinese would have in the Middle East. The 8th and 9th century was a golden age for the Chinese under the Tang dynasty, with a very expansionistic China pushing deep into the Middle East. A big reason why the Chinese failed to expand further was largely due to a strong Islamic empire. I think there would be a massive incentive for the Chinese to seek a more stable silk road, so I will not rule out a battle of Talas happening in this timeline as well.
Another thing I would love to see more of is the impact of the Slavic migration on the Empire, not to mention the rise of the Vikings have on the world as a whole. The Vikings might be able to keep the Franks busy, and reducing the chances of conflict between the Franks and the Romans.
Lastly, I wonder if historians would periodize the post-Romulus age as being distinct from the late Roman Empire. The term Late Roman Empire doesn't make much historical sense in this timeline because the Western Empire never fell in the 5th century. Perhaps a different name would be used by later historians to describe the Roman Empire in the 3rd-5th century. I'm not sure if the term "medieval" would make much sense in this context. The idea of a middle age largely stems from the history of a collapsed Western Empire. It makes it easy for historians to describe a post-Roman world. However, in this timeline, the Roman Empire is pretty much intact. Perhaps the Romano-German age?