Zor's Bigass Alternate Roman Empire Timeline
Posted: 2005-02-23 11:27pm
This is another bit of Alternate History that I have come up with, hope you like it. More to be posted
"Grains of Thunder"
In 12 CE Sextus Terentius, a middle class Alchemist mixed of Saltpeter, Sulfur and Charcoal. He mixed it in with water, but did not find what he wanted to find (AKA turning a peace of lead into gold) and tossed the mixture into the fire. The resulting explosion restored his interest a dozen times of what it was originally, and he made more of the mixture over the next few weeks, selling it in the streets as something to liven up parties with. Within a year, he had become a wealthy man and many Nobles livened up their parties by setting off small bits of gunpowder in bowls.
Encouragement of Innovation
For the next twenty years, gunpowder was used more or less as a means of entertainment. Starting in 19 approximately a Kilo of gunpowder was set off in the Circus Maximums to signify the start of the Race. They also took to gluing gunpowder to sticks to make sparklers. How ever, this was not to be the case forever, in 32 an engineer working at a mine took a large Earthware vase, filled it with gunpowder, stuck it in a shaft and used a long string as a fuse. The result was a large blast that shattered a lot of rock quickly. The Mine owner was really impressed, and bough a lot more gunpowder and vases. Other mine owners took note of this, and began doing the same. The amount of gunpowder produced in Rome increased by a factor of Ten by 40. The mine owners began selling off some of there slaves to a number of low off jobs better than mining (such as fire stokers and construction workers) as they were a smaller need for them. A cloth with some gunpowder rubbed into it was also developed to make mining explosives easier to use.
The result of this was a spur in Invention over the next 100 years. While it was true that slaves did not receive a wage, they did require food, water, clothing, shelter, tools and overseers. Engineers took the hint from the Mine engineers and began improving tools. The Wheeled plow and Wheelbarrow are two of said inventions of this time. Many slaves were sold, advertised to "give one slave the Ability to do the work of three" and other such things. More slaves were used in construction, and the tools for construction were improved. Metal became cheaper, and became more commonly used.
Gunpowder also worked its way into the military. The first example of this was in the late 30s. First they tied gunpowder explosives to Ballista (Giant Tripod mounted Crossbow) bolts and pots of gunpowder thrown into enemy formations by Catapults. The Ballista bomb was an improvement, it disrupted enemy formations, caused some fires and minor shrapnel wounds, knocked over people (and caused them to be trampled to death) and disrupted the enemies vision. Catapult thrown Ballista bombs were only really good at setting fires. Early guns were also toyed with, these were simple tubes composed of two sheets of iron curled over each other with a ceiling at one end and a gap for inserting a match (flaming stick) inside to set off a gunpowder charge to deliver a stone or lead ball at the enemy, though single man military firearms were some time away away. During the conquest of England, one of Vespasian's pioneered the wooden frame and stock creating a man portable gunpowder weapon capable of scaring horses, was cheaper to use than a Pilum and very good threw armor but still took two men to fire and had a range of only 65 feet (slightly better than a Pilum) when fired off in salvos of over 10 weapons. The offensive into Germania was won to a good degree because of these early Gunpowder weapons.
Religions of the First Century
Polytheistic Religion (Paganism) remained the staple of Roman Religion. Jupiter, Venus and Minerva were worshiped by the vast majority of the Roman Population.
Christianity started off around 20-30, and was a minor cult for most of said time, and Rome did not take much interest in it. In the minds of the Romans Christianity was a Minor cult founded by some screwball, just like a thousand other minor cults founded by a thousand other screwballs. Some laws against Christianity were written, but enforcement was laxed, and remained laxed. St Paul was killed by an mugger in 42. One of Nero's Scandals was exposed due to a recently freed slave that was not freed in the original timeline and never became emperor. He died of natural causes on June 11th, 110. Without Nero setting off mass burnings of Christians producing Martyrs among the lower/slave classes, the religion never took hold to the same degree. In total, the number of Christians was only 20,000 people by 150.
Conquests (60-200)
In 68, Vespasian assumed the title of Emperor. He was a Rough, coarse, practical soldier. He had seen the effectiveness of handguns, and is knowledgeable in there limitations. He ordered that each Legion have one century (80 men) be equipped with handguns, as well as making gunpowder Ballista bolts standard. In 76, After 60 years of trying, over half of Germania fell to the Roman Empire. 800,000 slaves were put onto the market and the Romans proceeded to colonize the area. A new style of matchlock was designed by an enterprising engineer in 131 using an S-Shaped iron bar to place a burning piece of string into the breach (which had been widened), resulting in a gun that could be fired by one person, allowing the rest of Germania to fall. Barrel production was also improved, no longer simply fusing two. All Legions were armed with these incredible weapons (which are called Arquebuses) by 163, Though only two Cohorts (960 men) per each legion (5,200 men strong) were armed with guns. Hibernia (Ireland) and Caledonia (Scotland) fell to the legions in 173. All three realms were settled and Rebuilt in Rome's Image within two decades of their conquest. Likewise, trousers became common in a good deal of the roman empire, Legionaries took to wearing them to fend off cold and when they returned to Italy (and other parts of the empire) they kept wearing them, causing them to spread to there families and other parts of the Empire.
Shield, Gladius and Gun (Development of firearm Tactics)
Early firearm tactics were simple, have the Legionaries armed with handguns stand in a line behind a loose shield wall, and fire a volley into the enemy's formation. Guns after that were dropped, and they began fighting like normal Legionaries. They were. The Goal was to cause a week spot in the enemy ranks and to frighten enemy horses (along with some barbarians). While they did have a slight range advantage over a Pilum (a Roman throwing spear) and very good Armor Pearceing potential, there slow reload rate and the fact that they took two men to work made them impractical.
Three inventions caused a vast improvement and an revolution in warfare. The First was the Solid barrel; this strengthened the barrel (made it less prone to explosion) and increased the range of the weapon. The Second was the Monopod; a simple stick shoved into the ground to support the Barrel give the user more stability, also increasing the range of the weapon. The third and most important development was the S-Bar; this is a simple iron (sometimes Bronze) bit that placed a burning wick (string) into the match port. This allowed the weapon to be loaded and fired effectively by one man. (In the OTL this weapon is called an Arquebus, and I will call said weapon that).
Arquebuses were used by the Romans in two ways, Velites and Heavy Infantry.
Heavy Infantry worked in formations (Layout discribed here C=Crouching swordsman, S=Standing Swordsman, A= armed Legionary)
SSA C
SS AC
SSA C
SS AC
SSA C
This Formation offered protection against Arrows and deviating barrages of gunfire. Half the Men would fire at once. Maximum range of a salvo was officially around 40-45 meters, but sometimes it was above it. The rate of fire was 2 rounds a minute, and between firings the first rank would throw Pilums into the enemy formation once they were in range. Heavy Arquebusmen were armed with swords and did use them, but bashing barbarians over the head with their guns was also done.
An improved system was developed in 322, using a spring and tumbler. This made the musket easier to fire.
Velites were used as scouts and snipers, they were lightly armored, but were quick on their feet and good shots. Barbarian formations were easily disrupted by fire from Velites, and they were capable of holding there own in HtH combat.
Some Roman cavalry bought small-scale versions of the Arquebus to some effect, but these were far from Reliable weapons. The Advent of the Spring Matchlock made these easier to use, but they were still not that reliable.
Cannons were also developed, and they were used occasionally but there was simply no real use for them. The Barbarians rarely had any fortifications more impressive than a Wooden wall around there Villages, if that. A weapon called the Viper was used. It was a wooden block on a wagon with 10-18 Gun barrels on it. A Person uses a match (burning stick) to set off said guns, allowing him to dump large amounts of fire into the enemy quite quickly, though it could only be used once in battle.
Between 140-350, the Romans held gunpowder weapons to themselves giving them a distinct advantage over everyone else in Europe. Parts of Tartaria and Poland, some of Persia and the Middle East were conquered by firearm wielding legions
Cultural advancements (150-350)
Butter was added to the Roman Diet during this time along with Sausage. Up until before the conquest of Germania these foods were considered to be only fit for barbarians, but because large portions of newly conquered territory was far from Ocean, it made Liquamen (a Roman Sauce made of Fermented Fish entrails, Not Kidding here) could not be made locally and was expensive to import for Settled Roman Nobles, so butter was often used as a stopgap measure. Sausage also made good appetizers. There ease of Production and low cost also made salted sausages a good source for supplementary food for Legions stationed in the area, which spread them across the empire.
Footwear also was changed; the polish winter saw many Roman settlers suffer frostbite. In said Northern provinces, boots made of sewn Leather samwicthed between two pieces of wood nailed together became common among farmers, herders, soldiers and other people who did a lot of outdoor activity. Likewise, these spread across the empire.
In Rome, there are even more Gradious buildings like the Flavian Apatheatere (Coliseum). There was even more slave labor and labor saving devices that allowed each slave to do more.
The Romans did not crush Christianity, Nor did the Empire give up Polytheism outright in the name of Christ. Emperor Silvanus Legalized Christianity in 277 as long as they would Sacrifice Incense to the Spirit of the Emperor and to the Glory of the Empire. Around 60% of the Christian Population (witch was 50,000 people) accepted this forming a sect called Roman Christians, the others either left the empire for Eastern lands or stayed underground, committing acts of Violence against Roman Christians every now and again.
The End of the Matchlock Monopoly (350-600)
For nearly three centuries the Roman Empire held the secrets of Firearms to themselves and Barbarians died in droves because of it. Barbarians adjusted there tactics out of necessity, they stooped using all armor save for helmets and leather vests and focused more on ambushing the legions supply lines, but they still could not go toe to toe with a Roman Legion. Occasionally, a few barbarians would steel a couple of guns some how and they did use them, but powder was something they could not make. A few local kings and chiefs every few generations would form an alliance, rallying up a sizeable army of 10,000-20,000 Soldiers, but even then a Legion or two would easily be able to do away with the unorganized, undisciplined rabble of Barbarians collecting a few slaves in the process.
However in 355 one of said alliances managed to over-run a small Frontier fortress and capture the Gunpowder makers. They then took to beating the crap out of them until he told them how to make black powder. These Barbarians were not technological leaders at the time, but they did have blacksmiths and grinding stones, S-Bar Arquebuses were nothing incredibly complex and also they had a few captured Arquebuses. In 358 the alliance struck against the Roman Empire armed with 1,300 Guns and plenty of infantry and Cavalry. More tribes and small kingdoms rallied into this alliance, leading to an army 33,000 warriors strong. This force marched against Roman Territories winning a few early battles and destroying a Legion (something that had not been done in over 200 years) and stealing there guns. Rome quickly responded by sending in three additional Legions against them, and the number of Cohorts armed with Arquebuses per Legion was increased from two to four. S-Bar guns were completely dropped in favor of Spring-bar guns. The Barbarians were stopped by late autumn of that year, but not before a couple of cities were sacked.
The knowledge of Gunpowder spread across non-Roman Europe Europe over the next 60 years. This however did not mean the End of Roman Military supremacy, the S-bar Arquebuses was still dedicatedly Inferior to Spring-bar weapons, there guns were of shoddy manufacture (many a barbarian found this out the hard way) and their users were far less disciplined than the Romans. How ever they did upset the balance of power, the tribes that did not get blackpowder or firearms technology were absorbed by those who did and those nations with better or more firearms annexed there weaker counterparts. Agrarian villages rapidly grew into cities that were seats to new, strong kingdoms. The Introduction of Stirrups from Asia in the 500s caused them to develop heavy cavalry (Something the Romans already had, and stirrups were and improvement to them as well). Huns invaded, but never crossed into Rome. Instead they entered the area, settled and were assimilated into there culture much like the OTL Vikings. Christianity entered some of these nations, but Paganism still remained prominent in most of them.
The Great Stagnation (400-850)
Rome grew ever more complacent in it's lot in the latter half of the Forth century. There were no real wars to fight (repulsing the odd Barbarian attack and the odd slaving missions into Southern Africa aside), no major slave revolts (one of the few things that did change was that it became Illegal for a master to kill a slave and that they had to be fed at least a meal a day) nor any notable emperors either way. Beyond a few refinements in their guns, no one made any adjustments to there military. Christianity spread somewhat (and there were a few Christian Emperors), but it did not replace the old gods. Simply put, It was an Uneventful few centuries. The biggest event of this time was the gradual increase in the Senate's power over the sixth and Seventh Centuries, becoming more than a rich man's club.
The Raiders of Norvegia (800-1,023)
Norvegia (Norway) was never viewed as a target for conquests by the Roman Empire, a cold barren wasteland that was not worth the cost of shipping the soldiers there to conquer it. The Norwegians imported Roman Inventions for agriculture, and had acquired guns threw trade with the Nations to the southeast. This means that they are larger population of Vikings than in the OTL. They spread into Northern Tartaria around 750, which was largely unclaimed due to the harsh Climate. However, the Vikings did not just go to Tartaria, Iceland, Greenland, Vinland (Newfoundland) and along the St Lawrence and far south on the eastern Atlantis (America) Coast New York were also colonized by the Vikings successfully. But these were not the only places were the Norvegians went.
Starting in 952, Vikings fleets moved onto Hibernia, Scotia and Britannia, they extended there attacks to Germania and coastal Gaul (France) within a decade. They had large (up to forty meters long, though 20-15 meters was the Norm) Longboats with two masts armed with 6-12 cannons. These ships were more flexible than Roman craft, and could deliver troops to coastal areas quickly and without warning. They struck cities and left before the Legions could arrive. They built forts, and set up towns and some of them stood up for more than a year (There was no Hibernian Legion for example, the island's total population at the time was only 160,000, nearly half of that being slaves and most of the free population being Farmers). The Roman "Navy" was a handful of Galleys with Rams and a couple of cannons, and the Vikings were at an advantage with speed and the crews manning their ships. Hibernia fell from Roman Control briefly in 963, and parts of Northern Scotia were over-run. The Vikings were among the best Musketmen of there time (Experienced sharpshooters, they had large numbers of Spring-Bar weapons and there muskets tended to had axe heads to make them deadly in close combat), powerful warships and good leaders. But even that was not enough to save the Vikings from the Romans. They began building Fortresses with cannons to keep them from their Coastlines. They redesigned there ships and launched two assaults against Norvegia, The first in 993 took away a lot of coastline from them, the second in 1033 made sure they were never a threat to the Empire again.
The Great Revival (800-1050)
The Great Stagnation could not last forever, eventually the Old Nobility fell apart and they were finally replaced with new non-complacent counterparts. Inventors, Artisans, moneylenders and other such people rose threw the ranks and became wealthy. They formed new Alliances, which became corporations and Banks were formed. A slew of New Inventions came in, the wheel-lock musket, Printing, windmill, rotary Saw and the blast Furnace being notable ones. The Viking attacks helped this period along.
Spellchecked for your viewing pleasure
Zor
"Grains of Thunder"
In 12 CE Sextus Terentius, a middle class Alchemist mixed of Saltpeter, Sulfur and Charcoal. He mixed it in with water, but did not find what he wanted to find (AKA turning a peace of lead into gold) and tossed the mixture into the fire. The resulting explosion restored his interest a dozen times of what it was originally, and he made more of the mixture over the next few weeks, selling it in the streets as something to liven up parties with. Within a year, he had become a wealthy man and many Nobles livened up their parties by setting off small bits of gunpowder in bowls.
Encouragement of Innovation
For the next twenty years, gunpowder was used more or less as a means of entertainment. Starting in 19 approximately a Kilo of gunpowder was set off in the Circus Maximums to signify the start of the Race. They also took to gluing gunpowder to sticks to make sparklers. How ever, this was not to be the case forever, in 32 an engineer working at a mine took a large Earthware vase, filled it with gunpowder, stuck it in a shaft and used a long string as a fuse. The result was a large blast that shattered a lot of rock quickly. The Mine owner was really impressed, and bough a lot more gunpowder and vases. Other mine owners took note of this, and began doing the same. The amount of gunpowder produced in Rome increased by a factor of Ten by 40. The mine owners began selling off some of there slaves to a number of low off jobs better than mining (such as fire stokers and construction workers) as they were a smaller need for them. A cloth with some gunpowder rubbed into it was also developed to make mining explosives easier to use.
The result of this was a spur in Invention over the next 100 years. While it was true that slaves did not receive a wage, they did require food, water, clothing, shelter, tools and overseers. Engineers took the hint from the Mine engineers and began improving tools. The Wheeled plow and Wheelbarrow are two of said inventions of this time. Many slaves were sold, advertised to "give one slave the Ability to do the work of three" and other such things. More slaves were used in construction, and the tools for construction were improved. Metal became cheaper, and became more commonly used.
Gunpowder also worked its way into the military. The first example of this was in the late 30s. First they tied gunpowder explosives to Ballista (Giant Tripod mounted Crossbow) bolts and pots of gunpowder thrown into enemy formations by Catapults. The Ballista bomb was an improvement, it disrupted enemy formations, caused some fires and minor shrapnel wounds, knocked over people (and caused them to be trampled to death) and disrupted the enemies vision. Catapult thrown Ballista bombs were only really good at setting fires. Early guns were also toyed with, these were simple tubes composed of two sheets of iron curled over each other with a ceiling at one end and a gap for inserting a match (flaming stick) inside to set off a gunpowder charge to deliver a stone or lead ball at the enemy, though single man military firearms were some time away away. During the conquest of England, one of Vespasian's pioneered the wooden frame and stock creating a man portable gunpowder weapon capable of scaring horses, was cheaper to use than a Pilum and very good threw armor but still took two men to fire and had a range of only 65 feet (slightly better than a Pilum) when fired off in salvos of over 10 weapons. The offensive into Germania was won to a good degree because of these early Gunpowder weapons.
Religions of the First Century
Polytheistic Religion (Paganism) remained the staple of Roman Religion. Jupiter, Venus and Minerva were worshiped by the vast majority of the Roman Population.
Christianity started off around 20-30, and was a minor cult for most of said time, and Rome did not take much interest in it. In the minds of the Romans Christianity was a Minor cult founded by some screwball, just like a thousand other minor cults founded by a thousand other screwballs. Some laws against Christianity were written, but enforcement was laxed, and remained laxed. St Paul was killed by an mugger in 42. One of Nero's Scandals was exposed due to a recently freed slave that was not freed in the original timeline and never became emperor. He died of natural causes on June 11th, 110. Without Nero setting off mass burnings of Christians producing Martyrs among the lower/slave classes, the religion never took hold to the same degree. In total, the number of Christians was only 20,000 people by 150.
Conquests (60-200)
In 68, Vespasian assumed the title of Emperor. He was a Rough, coarse, practical soldier. He had seen the effectiveness of handguns, and is knowledgeable in there limitations. He ordered that each Legion have one century (80 men) be equipped with handguns, as well as making gunpowder Ballista bolts standard. In 76, After 60 years of trying, over half of Germania fell to the Roman Empire. 800,000 slaves were put onto the market and the Romans proceeded to colonize the area. A new style of matchlock was designed by an enterprising engineer in 131 using an S-Shaped iron bar to place a burning piece of string into the breach (which had been widened), resulting in a gun that could be fired by one person, allowing the rest of Germania to fall. Barrel production was also improved, no longer simply fusing two. All Legions were armed with these incredible weapons (which are called Arquebuses) by 163, Though only two Cohorts (960 men) per each legion (5,200 men strong) were armed with guns. Hibernia (Ireland) and Caledonia (Scotland) fell to the legions in 173. All three realms were settled and Rebuilt in Rome's Image within two decades of their conquest. Likewise, trousers became common in a good deal of the roman empire, Legionaries took to wearing them to fend off cold and when they returned to Italy (and other parts of the empire) they kept wearing them, causing them to spread to there families and other parts of the Empire.
Shield, Gladius and Gun (Development of firearm Tactics)
Early firearm tactics were simple, have the Legionaries armed with handguns stand in a line behind a loose shield wall, and fire a volley into the enemy's formation. Guns after that were dropped, and they began fighting like normal Legionaries. They were. The Goal was to cause a week spot in the enemy ranks and to frighten enemy horses (along with some barbarians). While they did have a slight range advantage over a Pilum (a Roman throwing spear) and very good Armor Pearceing potential, there slow reload rate and the fact that they took two men to work made them impractical.
Three inventions caused a vast improvement and an revolution in warfare. The First was the Solid barrel; this strengthened the barrel (made it less prone to explosion) and increased the range of the weapon. The Second was the Monopod; a simple stick shoved into the ground to support the Barrel give the user more stability, also increasing the range of the weapon. The third and most important development was the S-Bar; this is a simple iron (sometimes Bronze) bit that placed a burning wick (string) into the match port. This allowed the weapon to be loaded and fired effectively by one man. (In the OTL this weapon is called an Arquebus, and I will call said weapon that).
Arquebuses were used by the Romans in two ways, Velites and Heavy Infantry.
Heavy Infantry worked in formations (Layout discribed here C=Crouching swordsman, S=Standing Swordsman, A= armed Legionary)
SSA C
SS AC
SSA C
SS AC
SSA C
This Formation offered protection against Arrows and deviating barrages of gunfire. Half the Men would fire at once. Maximum range of a salvo was officially around 40-45 meters, but sometimes it was above it. The rate of fire was 2 rounds a minute, and between firings the first rank would throw Pilums into the enemy formation once they were in range. Heavy Arquebusmen were armed with swords and did use them, but bashing barbarians over the head with their guns was also done.
An improved system was developed in 322, using a spring and tumbler. This made the musket easier to fire.
Velites were used as scouts and snipers, they were lightly armored, but were quick on their feet and good shots. Barbarian formations were easily disrupted by fire from Velites, and they were capable of holding there own in HtH combat.
Some Roman cavalry bought small-scale versions of the Arquebus to some effect, but these were far from Reliable weapons. The Advent of the Spring Matchlock made these easier to use, but they were still not that reliable.
Cannons were also developed, and they were used occasionally but there was simply no real use for them. The Barbarians rarely had any fortifications more impressive than a Wooden wall around there Villages, if that. A weapon called the Viper was used. It was a wooden block on a wagon with 10-18 Gun barrels on it. A Person uses a match (burning stick) to set off said guns, allowing him to dump large amounts of fire into the enemy quite quickly, though it could only be used once in battle.
Between 140-350, the Romans held gunpowder weapons to themselves giving them a distinct advantage over everyone else in Europe. Parts of Tartaria and Poland, some of Persia and the Middle East were conquered by firearm wielding legions
Cultural advancements (150-350)
Butter was added to the Roman Diet during this time along with Sausage. Up until before the conquest of Germania these foods were considered to be only fit for barbarians, but because large portions of newly conquered territory was far from Ocean, it made Liquamen (a Roman Sauce made of Fermented Fish entrails, Not Kidding here) could not be made locally and was expensive to import for Settled Roman Nobles, so butter was often used as a stopgap measure. Sausage also made good appetizers. There ease of Production and low cost also made salted sausages a good source for supplementary food for Legions stationed in the area, which spread them across the empire.
Footwear also was changed; the polish winter saw many Roman settlers suffer frostbite. In said Northern provinces, boots made of sewn Leather samwicthed between two pieces of wood nailed together became common among farmers, herders, soldiers and other people who did a lot of outdoor activity. Likewise, these spread across the empire.
In Rome, there are even more Gradious buildings like the Flavian Apatheatere (Coliseum). There was even more slave labor and labor saving devices that allowed each slave to do more.
The Romans did not crush Christianity, Nor did the Empire give up Polytheism outright in the name of Christ. Emperor Silvanus Legalized Christianity in 277 as long as they would Sacrifice Incense to the Spirit of the Emperor and to the Glory of the Empire. Around 60% of the Christian Population (witch was 50,000 people) accepted this forming a sect called Roman Christians, the others either left the empire for Eastern lands or stayed underground, committing acts of Violence against Roman Christians every now and again.
The End of the Matchlock Monopoly (350-600)
For nearly three centuries the Roman Empire held the secrets of Firearms to themselves and Barbarians died in droves because of it. Barbarians adjusted there tactics out of necessity, they stooped using all armor save for helmets and leather vests and focused more on ambushing the legions supply lines, but they still could not go toe to toe with a Roman Legion. Occasionally, a few barbarians would steel a couple of guns some how and they did use them, but powder was something they could not make. A few local kings and chiefs every few generations would form an alliance, rallying up a sizeable army of 10,000-20,000 Soldiers, but even then a Legion or two would easily be able to do away with the unorganized, undisciplined rabble of Barbarians collecting a few slaves in the process.
However in 355 one of said alliances managed to over-run a small Frontier fortress and capture the Gunpowder makers. They then took to beating the crap out of them until he told them how to make black powder. These Barbarians were not technological leaders at the time, but they did have blacksmiths and grinding stones, S-Bar Arquebuses were nothing incredibly complex and also they had a few captured Arquebuses. In 358 the alliance struck against the Roman Empire armed with 1,300 Guns and plenty of infantry and Cavalry. More tribes and small kingdoms rallied into this alliance, leading to an army 33,000 warriors strong. This force marched against Roman Territories winning a few early battles and destroying a Legion (something that had not been done in over 200 years) and stealing there guns. Rome quickly responded by sending in three additional Legions against them, and the number of Cohorts armed with Arquebuses per Legion was increased from two to four. S-Bar guns were completely dropped in favor of Spring-bar guns. The Barbarians were stopped by late autumn of that year, but not before a couple of cities were sacked.
The knowledge of Gunpowder spread across non-Roman Europe Europe over the next 60 years. This however did not mean the End of Roman Military supremacy, the S-bar Arquebuses was still dedicatedly Inferior to Spring-bar weapons, there guns were of shoddy manufacture (many a barbarian found this out the hard way) and their users were far less disciplined than the Romans. How ever they did upset the balance of power, the tribes that did not get blackpowder or firearms technology were absorbed by those who did and those nations with better or more firearms annexed there weaker counterparts. Agrarian villages rapidly grew into cities that were seats to new, strong kingdoms. The Introduction of Stirrups from Asia in the 500s caused them to develop heavy cavalry (Something the Romans already had, and stirrups were and improvement to them as well). Huns invaded, but never crossed into Rome. Instead they entered the area, settled and were assimilated into there culture much like the OTL Vikings. Christianity entered some of these nations, but Paganism still remained prominent in most of them.
The Great Stagnation (400-850)
Rome grew ever more complacent in it's lot in the latter half of the Forth century. There were no real wars to fight (repulsing the odd Barbarian attack and the odd slaving missions into Southern Africa aside), no major slave revolts (one of the few things that did change was that it became Illegal for a master to kill a slave and that they had to be fed at least a meal a day) nor any notable emperors either way. Beyond a few refinements in their guns, no one made any adjustments to there military. Christianity spread somewhat (and there were a few Christian Emperors), but it did not replace the old gods. Simply put, It was an Uneventful few centuries. The biggest event of this time was the gradual increase in the Senate's power over the sixth and Seventh Centuries, becoming more than a rich man's club.
The Raiders of Norvegia (800-1,023)
Norvegia (Norway) was never viewed as a target for conquests by the Roman Empire, a cold barren wasteland that was not worth the cost of shipping the soldiers there to conquer it. The Norwegians imported Roman Inventions for agriculture, and had acquired guns threw trade with the Nations to the southeast. This means that they are larger population of Vikings than in the OTL. They spread into Northern Tartaria around 750, which was largely unclaimed due to the harsh Climate. However, the Vikings did not just go to Tartaria, Iceland, Greenland, Vinland (Newfoundland) and along the St Lawrence and far south on the eastern Atlantis (America) Coast New York were also colonized by the Vikings successfully. But these were not the only places were the Norvegians went.
Starting in 952, Vikings fleets moved onto Hibernia, Scotia and Britannia, they extended there attacks to Germania and coastal Gaul (France) within a decade. They had large (up to forty meters long, though 20-15 meters was the Norm) Longboats with two masts armed with 6-12 cannons. These ships were more flexible than Roman craft, and could deliver troops to coastal areas quickly and without warning. They struck cities and left before the Legions could arrive. They built forts, and set up towns and some of them stood up for more than a year (There was no Hibernian Legion for example, the island's total population at the time was only 160,000, nearly half of that being slaves and most of the free population being Farmers). The Roman "Navy" was a handful of Galleys with Rams and a couple of cannons, and the Vikings were at an advantage with speed and the crews manning their ships. Hibernia fell from Roman Control briefly in 963, and parts of Northern Scotia were over-run. The Vikings were among the best Musketmen of there time (Experienced sharpshooters, they had large numbers of Spring-Bar weapons and there muskets tended to had axe heads to make them deadly in close combat), powerful warships and good leaders. But even that was not enough to save the Vikings from the Romans. They began building Fortresses with cannons to keep them from their Coastlines. They redesigned there ships and launched two assaults against Norvegia, The first in 993 took away a lot of coastline from them, the second in 1033 made sure they were never a threat to the Empire again.
The Great Revival (800-1050)
The Great Stagnation could not last forever, eventually the Old Nobility fell apart and they were finally replaced with new non-complacent counterparts. Inventors, Artisans, moneylenders and other such people rose threw the ranks and became wealthy. They formed new Alliances, which became corporations and Banks were formed. A slew of New Inventions came in, the wheel-lock musket, Printing, windmill, rotary Saw and the blast Furnace being notable ones. The Viking attacks helped this period along.
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