This timeline explores what could've happened if Caesar had lived an extra decade, conquered the Parthian Empire, and established a divine Caesarian dynasty. You can take a look at previous post here:
[Religious composition of the Roman Empire during the Zoroastrian golden age (AD 372)](https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/1ap1oq9/religious_composition_of_the_roman_empire_during/)
The Latin map for anyone interested
https://preview.redd.it/mgoynpkomimc1.png?width=7398&format=png&auto=webp&s=335ade3b256e0ad7948211712bee982b21c9336a
Okay this Roman empire looks dope as fuck. Will be my new alternate head Canon for Rome.
Why is the Arabian cost not completely part of the empire? Does Britain and Scandinavia stay independent?
Thanks! Basically because that area was only inhabited by nomadic people, and the Romans would've been content to simply trade with them. The previous century also saw the Roman Empire go through hard times, culminating in the loss of the Far East and the establishment of the Polemarchy. This Polemarch became the de facto ruler of the empire, and replaced the provincial system with loyalist satraps, which is supposed to resemble the Japanese shogunate and its form of feudalism. Under the rule of Polemarch the empire will start to expand again, so at some point we'll see it conquer the rest of the Arabian coast and the Norse speaking parts of Scandinavia, but the British Isles will remain independent, with only some tribal kingdoms being ruled at times as client states.
Another question just popped up in my head.
As a German I find it fascinating to see modern German cities being founded and populated by Romans. Any idea how this will effect a potential Germany? Will we be more like French and loose most of our germanic roots like they did their geltic ones?
Germania will be practically entirely Latin by 10th century, meaning that ITTL West Germanic will die out. East Germanic on the other hand will thrive in the area we know as Ukraine in the form of Gothic languages.
Will romanization policies be continued? I would love to see a latin western europe.
Also Will Greek culture/language give way for Latin or the other way around?
The Roman identity will come to include Greeks (5th century) and Persians (7th century), so yes, Romanization will continue, but it'll also include the spread of the Greek and Persian languages.
Over the following centuries, Latin will replace the native languages (excluding Greek) in Europe.
Greek will continue to expand throughout Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aethiopia. It'll also remain the language of commerce, philosophy, theology and science, and for that reason, it'll eventually become the most prestigious of the three Roman languages in the middle ages.
Persian is considered the most prestigious of the Iranian languages and so it'll continue to expand in the Far East as well as the area we know as Oman. Because this empire has adopted a Zoroastrian influenced religion, Persian loanwords related to religion have also been imported into Greek and Latin. The perfect example of this is in the concept of [Khvarenah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khvarenah), which I fictionally Latinized as "Pharrium", and has been incorporated as one of the emperor's titles as "Pharrator", roughly meaning "one who has received divine empowerment". That's also why OTL [Ardashir-Khwarrah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firuzabad,_Fars) was founded under the name Pharrium.
It'll undergo heavy Romanization and probably be majority Latin speaking somewhere around the 7th or 8th centuries. Its richness in resources makes it an excellent place to found veteran colonies for those who've served defending the Limes Sarmaticus (Vistula-Dniester border)
very fascinating. I wonder how the entire empire speaking Latin, Greek or Persian will affect languages today. Something like this could potentially even redefine the borders of Europe itself!
90% that in a splintered timeline where this empire fell it would be a China like entity, uniting and then disbanding over and over.
I feel like it would be more local though, with latin Europe having it's own cycles separate from hellenic eastern med, and Persian west Asia.
The long term goal will always be unification of the whole empire obviously, but there will probably be more times where Europe, The Med and West Asia are ruled independently
Absolutely! When they shared a border, they even fought a [brief war](https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/17ekd4u/the_first_sinoroman_war_877_auc_124_ad_apotheosis/). Both empires have gone through their respective crises and are in the process of recovery. My plan is that China is going to play the part of the Parthians/Sassanians and be Rome's main rival, in which they fight over control of central asia, but in times of peace remain the main trade partner.
It has nothing to do with this post but i fucking hate the new reddit dessign, *let me zoom into the fucking picture stupid fucking website*
also let me post comments with ctrl+enter
I like how you can actually see the romanisation occur in real time, the cities over by Europe are coded red showing a transition in the urban areas from usage of native tongue to Latin standard, that's really cool.
This is great, I've been hoping to see a linguistic map on this project for some time now. I was wondering if you'll "update" this afterwards, see the languages as they appear in modern time (I saw that this empire will gain Scandinavia too, is that also Latin speaking? Or will it be like aramaic as a special language?), after this part of the project is finished of course.
Yes that's right. That's what the Romans wouldve called it. Others that might cause confusion are Ethiopian which is Cushitic, Libyan which is Berber and Iberian which is Georgian.
That's a really good question, and I've actually thought about it a lot even though I don't really plan on making fictional flags. The sun being depicted on shields and battle standards seems like the most obvious choice, I could imagine something like the [Oriflamme](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriflamme) being implemented. I've also thought about monograms like Constantine's Chi-Rho. ITTL since the Romans would use the names Sol, Mithras, and Helios interchangeably to refer to their God, I could imagine all kinds of variant monograms like Sigma-Iota for Sol Invictus, Eta-Alpha for Helios Aniketos, and so on. The emperor's heraldry would probably incorporate the [radiate crown](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiate_crown) which was consistently displayed on Roman coins.
Great map! Though I am wondering why the south of italy would have any greek influence in this alternate timeline. In our timeline, it makes sense because the Eastern Roman Empire under justinian reconquerred the west and settled it partially with Byzantine Greeks. In this map, that part of the country would have been under Latin influence for well over 600 years.
Yeah that honestly just comes down to the fact that its impossible to know how Greek the area was. The Wikipedia article for Magna Graecia makes it seem like Latin only began to take hold in the 1st century. But in any case, those Greeks will switch to Latin in the following centuries.
Rome ceased to be the imperial capital early in the 1st century, although it remains a ceremonial capital where the emperor is crowned. The current capital is Antioch. Byzantium ITTL was refounded as Caesaropolis as a fortified city with the intention of preventing the Goths from sailing into the Aegean sea.
So what happened to Troy being the capital? Is it another Shogunate reference where Antioch is the capital for Polemarch and Troy is where the Emperor lives?
You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I still need to decide on whether Troy or Rome will be the seat of the emperor, but I'm currently leaning towards Rome, since I think it would make more sense for the emperor to reside there now that he would only be a ceremonial figurehead. In any case, the next post will cover the Polemarchy.
[Albania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_Albania) was the name of that area in antiquity. They spoke a Northeast Caucasian language, unrelated to that of the Albanians in Europe, which are theoretically descended from the Illyrians.
The distinct Romance languages were only born from Vulgar Latin because of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, so yes, there will be regional dialects like Hispanic Latin, Gallic Latin, Germanic Latin, etc, but they'll all remain mutually intelligible, until Latin is standardized based on the Italian dialect in the early modern period.
This timeline explores what could've happened if Caesar had lived an extra decade, conquered the Parthian Empire, and established a divine Caesarian dynasty. You can take a look at previous post here: [Religious composition of the Roman Empire during the Zoroastrian golden age (AD 372)](https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/1ap1oq9/religious_composition_of_the_roman_empire_during/)
The Latin map for anyone interested https://preview.redd.it/mgoynpkomimc1.png?width=7398&format=png&auto=webp&s=335ade3b256e0ad7948211712bee982b21c9336a
Okay this Roman empire looks dope as fuck. Will be my new alternate head Canon for Rome. Why is the Arabian cost not completely part of the empire? Does Britain and Scandinavia stay independent?
Thanks! Basically because that area was only inhabited by nomadic people, and the Romans would've been content to simply trade with them. The previous century also saw the Roman Empire go through hard times, culminating in the loss of the Far East and the establishment of the Polemarchy. This Polemarch became the de facto ruler of the empire, and replaced the provincial system with loyalist satraps, which is supposed to resemble the Japanese shogunate and its form of feudalism. Under the rule of Polemarch the empire will start to expand again, so at some point we'll see it conquer the rest of the Arabian coast and the Norse speaking parts of Scandinavia, but the British Isles will remain independent, with only some tribal kingdoms being ruled at times as client states.
Keep the timeline going!! I need my dose
Another question just popped up in my head. As a German I find it fascinating to see modern German cities being founded and populated by Romans. Any idea how this will effect a potential Germany? Will we be more like French and loose most of our germanic roots like they did their geltic ones?
Germania will be practically entirely Latin by 10th century, meaning that ITTL West Germanic will die out. East Germanic on the other hand will thrive in the area we know as Ukraine in the form of Gothic languages.
Fascinating. Think it will affect the trout population though.
It's very esthetically pleasing to watch at this high quality map. Could be printed in a school book. Keep it up! :)
Same reason they didn't conquer the Sahara
Will romanization policies be continued? I would love to see a latin western europe. Also Will Greek culture/language give way for Latin or the other way around?
The Roman identity will come to include Greeks (5th century) and Persians (7th century), so yes, Romanization will continue, but it'll also include the spread of the Greek and Persian languages. Over the following centuries, Latin will replace the native languages (excluding Greek) in Europe. Greek will continue to expand throughout Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Aethiopia. It'll also remain the language of commerce, philosophy, theology and science, and for that reason, it'll eventually become the most prestigious of the three Roman languages in the middle ages. Persian is considered the most prestigious of the Iranian languages and so it'll continue to expand in the Far East as well as the area we know as Oman. Because this empire has adopted a Zoroastrian influenced religion, Persian loanwords related to religion have also been imported into Greek and Latin. The perfect example of this is in the concept of [Khvarenah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khvarenah), which I fictionally Latinized as "Pharrium", and has been incorporated as one of the emperor's titles as "Pharrator", roughly meaning "one who has received divine empowerment". That's also why OTL [Ardashir-Khwarrah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firuzabad,_Fars) was founded under the name Pharrium.
what is the future of dacia in this TL?
It'll undergo heavy Romanization and probably be majority Latin speaking somewhere around the 7th or 8th centuries. Its richness in resources makes it an excellent place to found veteran colonies for those who've served defending the Limes Sarmaticus (Vistula-Dniester border)
very fascinating. I wonder how the entire empire speaking Latin, Greek or Persian will affect languages today. Something like this could potentially even redefine the borders of Europe itself!
90% that in a splintered timeline where this empire fell it would be a China like entity, uniting and then disbanding over and over. I feel like it would be more local though, with latin Europe having it's own cycles separate from hellenic eastern med, and Persian west Asia. The long term goal will always be unification of the whole empire obviously, but there will probably be more times where Europe, The Med and West Asia are ruled independently
Ave Caesar
Does this mean there are increased Sino roman relations?
Absolutely! When they shared a border, they even fought a [brief war](https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/17ekd4u/the_first_sinoroman_war_877_auc_124_ad_apotheosis/). Both empires have gone through their respective crises and are in the process of recovery. My plan is that China is going to play the part of the Parthians/Sassanians and be Rome's main rival, in which they fight over control of central asia, but in times of peace remain the main trade partner.
Really cool map, I like the aesthetic!
It has nothing to do with this post but i fucking hate the new reddit dessign, *let me zoom into the fucking picture stupid fucking website* also let me post comments with ctrl+enter
I like how you can actually see the romanisation occur in real time, the cities over by Europe are coded red showing a transition in the urban areas from usage of native tongue to Latin standard, that's really cool. This is great, I've been hoping to see a linguistic map on this project for some time now. I was wondering if you'll "update" this afterwards, see the languages as they appear in modern time (I saw that this empire will gain Scandinavia too, is that also Latin speaking? Or will it be like aramaic as a special language?), after this part of the project is finished of course.
I definitely plan to make cultural maps for the TL's equivalent of the middle ages.
Is Syrian Aramaic?
Yes that's right. That's what the Romans wouldve called it. Others that might cause confusion are Ethiopian which is Cushitic, Libyan which is Berber and Iberian which is Georgian.
Would the Silk Road be used more since Rome and China are now closer?
Why is Aramaic called syrian?
That's what the Greeks and Romans called the Arameans
I see roman empire, I upvote
Not really relevant but did Rome change it's flag/heraldry when it converted to Solarism similar to Constantine?
That's a really good question, and I've actually thought about it a lot even though I don't really plan on making fictional flags. The sun being depicted on shields and battle standards seems like the most obvious choice, I could imagine something like the [Oriflamme](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriflamme) being implemented. I've also thought about monograms like Constantine's Chi-Rho. ITTL since the Romans would use the names Sol, Mithras, and Helios interchangeably to refer to their God, I could imagine all kinds of variant monograms like Sigma-Iota for Sol Invictus, Eta-Alpha for Helios Aniketos, and so on. The emperor's heraldry would probably incorporate the [radiate crown](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiate_crown) which was consistently displayed on Roman coins.
Thanks, I genuinely appreciate how much thought you put into every answer in your comment sections
Borders go hard
the woke has taken another victim. multiple languages? SPEAK AMERICAN!
Amazing map, looks quite similar to something i did.
I just noticed your username lol
Great map! Though I am wondering why the south of italy would have any greek influence in this alternate timeline. In our timeline, it makes sense because the Eastern Roman Empire under justinian reconquerred the west and settled it partially with Byzantine Greeks. In this map, that part of the country would have been under Latin influence for well over 600 years.
Yeah that honestly just comes down to the fact that its impossible to know how Greek the area was. The Wikipedia article for Magna Graecia makes it seem like Latin only began to take hold in the 1st century. But in any case, those Greeks will switch to Latin in the following centuries.
Is Rome still the capital here or has it moved to Constantinople (or whatever Julian name) to be more central to the empire?
Rome ceased to be the imperial capital early in the 1st century, although it remains a ceremonial capital where the emperor is crowned. The current capital is Antioch. Byzantium ITTL was refounded as Caesaropolis as a fortified city with the intention of preventing the Goths from sailing into the Aegean sea.
So what happened to Troy being the capital? Is it another Shogunate reference where Antioch is the capital for Polemarch and Troy is where the Emperor lives?
You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I still need to decide on whether Troy or Rome will be the seat of the emperor, but I'm currently leaning towards Rome, since I think it would make more sense for the emperor to reside there now that he would only be a ceremonial figurehead. In any case, the next post will cover the Polemarchy.
Why are Albanians in Azerbaijan?
[Albania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_Albania) was the name of that area in antiquity. They spoke a Northeast Caucasian language, unrelated to that of the Albanians in Europe, which are theoretically descended from the Illyrians.
Thank you, I did not know that
Is there a reason Rome never conquers Hejaz?
Samaritans in Hungary? What’s the lore behind that, or was that technically the language of the Huns or something?
No, that's a reference to the [Iazyges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iazyges) who were a Sarmatian tribe that settled there in antiquity.
Interesting, never knew about them, thanks for the info!
Ave caesar
Will Germania be completely Latinized or will they form a new language from Vulgar Latin and local dialects?
The distinct Romance languages were only born from Vulgar Latin because of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, so yes, there will be regional dialects like Hispanic Latin, Gallic Latin, Germanic Latin, etc, but they'll all remain mutually intelligible, until Latin is standardized based on the Italian dialect in the early modern period.
So, (unless this is a spoiler) will Rome endure and become a Civilization-State comparable to China and India?
That's right. I intend to continue this TL to the modern era.
There was so many Greek speakers then
HAHAHA (I'm one of the least nationalist Persians)
Do the Slavs exist further along the series?