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An Alternate History of the Roman Empire: The End of Constantine
- Thread starter Gary Oswald
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This is probably my favourite article in Tim's series because it sums up so much what this serial does well.
Which is the point here is that Tim, in his vigorous research, discovered OTL plans that Constantine, one of the most powerful and competent Emperors, had to partition the Persian Empire but died before he could carry them out. So in this scenario wherein Constantine's rule is a little more secure, the Empire is a little more powerful and he lives a little longer, those plans are carried out and we get to see what Constantine could have achieved against the Persians.
And the answer is: very little because of logistics.
Which is great.
Which is the point here is that Tim, in his vigorous research, discovered OTL plans that Constantine, one of the most powerful and competent Emperors, had to partition the Persian Empire but died before he could carry them out. So in this scenario wherein Constantine's rule is a little more secure, the Empire is a little more powerful and he lives a little longer, those plans are carried out and we get to see what Constantine could have achieved against the Persians.
And the answer is: very little because of logistics.
Which is great.
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I do love the theme in the timeline of 'The Emperor marched east, confident of his scheme to conquer Persia. He failed.'
Next entry:
'The Shahanshah marched west, confident of his plan to secure Anatolia and the Levant. He failed.'
Next entry:
'The Shahanshah marched west, confident of his plan to secure Anatolia and the Levant. He failed.'
heraclius
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Later on we will see how Julian fares in the same pursuit of conquering Persia if he has more luck and a larger/ better co ordinated army than in OTL. As well as the standard history works on Constantine, his sons, and Julian (mainly Charles Odahl on Constantine, Robert Browning on Julian, and AHM Jones on the Empire as a whole, backed up by Gibbon and from 353 the contemporary history of Ammianus Marcellinus ) , I used Gore Vidal's novel 'Julian' for these articles to get a flavour of the background and characters.
It's notable that there is very little published material in English on the Sassanid side of relations in this period or the internal history / dynamics of Persia, and when I was drawing up my initial version of this period as a student I mixed the Cambridge History of the Ancient World with the fictional depiction of the (earlier) Achaemenid court in Mary Renault's novel of Alexander the Great in Persia, 'The Persian Boy'.
It's notable that there is very little published material in English on the Sassanid side of relations in this period or the internal history / dynamics of Persia, and when I was drawing up my initial version of this period as a student I mixed the Cambridge History of the Ancient World with the fictional depiction of the (earlier) Achaemenid court in Mary Renault's novel of Alexander the Great in Persia, 'The Persian Boy'.