Sine Roma - What if Rome never existed? Wiki

Welcome to the main page of Sine Roma - What if Rome never existed!



Note that this timeline is still under construction, meaning that certain events could change anytime, until the lore is finished.

The famous brothers Romulus and Remus were never born. The non-existence of these two legendary people caused a massive butterfly event, changing the entire world forever.

Chapter 1 will take a deep dive into the world until 500 CE. Chapter 2, from 500-1000 CE.

An important thing to keep in mind, is that from now on, the term "Rasenna" will be used for Etruria or the Etruscans. This is since they are attested to call themselves "Rasenna". Though this is likely to be an exception.

* Indicates that a name is fictional, though made to fit with the timeline.

OTL = Our timeline, TTL = This timeline

If you would like to edit anything or want to participate in any way, feel free to contact me on discord (NCL#8053).

The world has changed drastically. The power vacuum left by Rome, led the way for Empires like Carthage and Pontos to rise. What follows, is a showcase of Sine Roma's Chapter 1.

Armenia

The Artaxiad Kingdom of Armenia, experienced its greatest expansion and hegemony under Tigranes II the Great, effectively ending the Seleucid Empire in 83 BCE. This was, however, not long to last, as in 54 BCE, the rising Parthian Empire, had overrun the kingdom, and thus, the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia was established.

 Arvernian Empire 

Long before, the Greek Kingdom of Massalia had influenced southern Gaul, and by 135 CE, Christianity had reached the region. The first king, *Caturix I, established the Arvernian Kingdom in 184 CE, which after his death in 202 CE, turned into the Arvernian Empire under *Leucorix I, who had a vision of a united Christian Gaul, and thus adopted Christianity. By 240, his Empire, stretched from Aquitania to Batavia, and from Aremorica all the way to the Po Valley in Italy. However, during the Age of Migrations, the Arverni suffered from instability, and in 407, collapsed from Germanic raids, by the Vandals, Suevi and Alans, and was reorganized into the federational Gallic Empire.

 Belgian Empire 

(coming soon)

 Carthaginian Empire 

Probably the greatest Empire in all of Antiquity, together with the Sassanids, the Carthaginian Empire remained the dominant power in the entire Mediterranean for almost 500 years and in the Western Mediterranean for over 700 years. Originally a colony of the Phoenician city of Sur (Tyre), the Carthaginians asserted their independence as a kingdom, in around 650 BCE. Over the next centuries, the Empire grew heavily in size, vassalizing the Rasennan Kingdom in 319 BCE, effectively gaining control over all of Italy. The Pyrrhic War, was a victory for the Carthaginians. During the time of Hannibal's conquests, Carthage managed to occupy all of Iberia by 202 BCE, interrupted by a Numidian War, which was then silenced by Hannibal. Carthage, then expanded its power into the Levantine Sea, reconquering their Phoenician homeland by 50 BCE, which would mark the beginning of the Carthaginian Golden Age. During this age, the Phoenicians, started founding cities in West Africa, and later even exploring as far south as the South cape of Africa. The Golden Age came to an end, when the Arvernian Empire, invaded Italy during the Padanian War (235-237). After suffering a defeat against the Gauls, an Italian uprising completely destroyed the Italian forces, which only managed to hold Southern Italy. Simultaneously, the Sasanian Empire, invaded the Phoenician holdings in the Western Mediterranean, including Carthaginian Egypt. At the beginning of the 5th Century CE, Vandal invasions devastated Iberia and together with Numidians, the capital, Carthago, was sacked, looted, raided and captured. However, the Phoenicians, managed to hold out in Southern Italy, and would remain the center of European civilization at this time, even as a shadow of its former self.

 Cimbrian Kingdom 

The Cimbrian Kingdom was a Germanic kingdom, located in the area of the former Greek Kingdom of Massalia. It was established in 108 BCE, after migrating with their allies, the Teutons, Tigurini and Tougeni, into southern Gaul, after a flood in the Jutland peninsula, their homeland. Over ten thousand Greeks fled to the Iberian colonies, establishing a united kingdom, called "New Greece" (Neos Ellas). The Cimbri adopted Christianity in 185 CE, and collapsed in 223, after an invasion of the Christian Arvernian Empire.

 Dacia 

Established in 168 BCE, by king Robobostes, the Kingdom of Dacia reached its greatest expansion under Burebista, and stretched from the Black Sea to the source of the river Tisa and from the Danube to Bohemia. During the time of the Pontic Empire, both often waged war against each other. However, it was soon made a Pontic vassal until its independence in 235 CE. During the next centuries, Goths and Huns raided and devastated the region, until Dacia's independence, in 458.

 Demetrian Kingdom 

Originally a split-off state from the Second Macedonian Empire, the Demetrian Kingdom, was founded by Demetrius I, the younger, though by his legitimate wife the only son of Philip V, after he rebelled against his elder brother, Perseus I in 158 BCE. In contrast to their Ptolemaic predecessor, the Demetrians favoured more Egyptian culture, and less Greek. In 155 BCE, the Demetrians re-annexed the Levant from the declining Seleucid Empire. After a great flood and famine led to their decline, the Parthian and the Carthaginian Empire invaded Egypt from both sides, causing its collapse in 38 BCE.

 Gallic Empire 

(coming soon)

 Gothic Kingdom 

Originally from Scandinavia, the Goths had migrated from their homeland to OTL modern-day Poland and later Ukraine in 210 CE. Unlike in our timeline, however, the Goths did not split and established a powerful, united kingdom by 238, waging wars with the Sassanid Empire, for decades to come. When the Huns migrated to Eastern Europe, the Gothic Kingdom was completely ravaged, and in 448, under Attila, the Huns invaded, and conquered the Goths.

 Hunnic Empire 

Arguably the main cause of the collapse of the Arvernian and Carthaginian Empire, the Huns brought Europe a dark age, marked by instability, poverty and raiding. After migrating to OTL modern-day Ukraine, the Huns reached their greatest extent, under Attila, who not only conquered the Gothic Empire, but also waged a great war with the Sasanian Empire, before, however, being defeated at the Battle of Antioch in 451. During the next decades, the Huns began to decline, until the collapse of their Empire, in 466.

 Macedonia 

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, the Macedonian Empire, was divided by successor states, known as the Diadochi. After the Pyrrhic Wars, Macedonia slowly reestablished its hegemony over Greece. Philip V, (r. 221-158 BCE), greatly expanded Macedonian power and influence. During the Second Social War (213-211 BCE), Philip V crushed the last opposition against Macedon and its allies in all of Greece. However, after defeating the Aetolian League, Philip V provoked Epirus into attacking the Achaean League, and shortly after invaded both nations and all other members of the Hellenic League, during the Third Social War (210-207 BCE). Philip, then, made a pact with the Seleucid king, Antiochus III the Great, and together partitioned all of Anatolia and Thrace by 183 BCE, effectively laying the foundations for the Second Macedonian Empire, in the legacy of Alexander. In 179 BCE, Philip conquered the Ptolemaic Kingdom. This occupation would last until his death in 158 BCE, when one of his sons, Demetrius, established the Demetrian Kingdom of Egypt. By 88 BCE, the rising Pontic Empire under the ambitious king Mithridates VI the Great, had attacked Macedonia. However, Pontos came out successful and all of Greece was now divided into Pontic vassal states. After the collapse of Pontos, in 235, Macedon asserted its independence. However, Goths and Huns, would soon devastate the region and interrupt its independence.

 Parthian Empire 

Founded 247 BCE, in Central Asia, the Parthians would soon march into the declining Seleucid Empire. By 148 BCE, all of the Iranian plateau, including Eastern Mesopotamia was now under Parthian hegemony. The Parthians pushed further into Syria and together with Armenia, conquered the Seleucids. The Parthian Empire invaded Armenia in 54 BCE, breaking any ties with the Pontic Empire, which was an ally of Armenia. In 40 BCE, together with their enemy, Carthage, the Parthians invaded Egypt from both sides, ending the Demetrian Kingdom in 38 BCE. However, what followed the next centuries is a Parthian dark age. In 50 CE, a great Christian rebellion in Judea, which was supported by the Pontic Empire, effectively reverted all Parthian gains in the Levantine region. In 224 CE, the Sasanians established their own Persian kingdom, which expanded greatly. By 227, the now intact Parthian Empire was fully conquered by the Sassanid Empire.

 Pontos 

Originally only a medium-sized kingdom in Northeast Anatolia, the Kingdom of Pontos would soon follow a completely different path. Under Mithridates VI the Great, Pontos expanded drastically and by 94 BCE, the Pontic Empire, stretched from the coast of Western Anatolia to the Caucasus and from the Bosporan Kingdom to Cappadocia. However, the expansion did not halt yet, and in 88 BCE, Mithridates waged a war against the Second Macedonian Empire. Mithridates came out victorious, and divided Greece in numerous vassal states, founding the great city of Mithripolis, on the foundation of Byzantion. After the Great Christian Rebellion of 50 CE, Pontos took this oppurtunity and invaded Syria, controlled by the Parthian Empire. During the next centuries Pontos would be the only Hellenistic Empire in the known world, waging wars on their way, with the Dacians until 233 CE. This was the year when the Sassanid Persians overran the entire Middle East, annihilating and destroying the Parthian Empire and any eastern holdings of the Carthaginian Empire. The Sasanian Empire, then invaded Pontos, and by 235, the Empire utterly collapsed.

Ptolemaic Kingdom

As one of Alexander the Great's successor states, the Ptolemaic Kingdom was founded in 305 BCE by Ptolemy I Soter. Egypt retained its powerful position in the Middle East until the rise of the Second Macedonian Empire. In 179 BCE, the unstable kingdom, led by a child, was invaded by Macedon, and collapsed, with support from Macedon's ally, the Seleucid Empire, under Antiochus III the Great. The king was executed, though the remaining Ptolemies, however, would be forgotten from history and would vanish in exile.

 Rasenna 

The Rasennan League, asserted its dominance in the iron-age Italian peninsula. This changed when in the early 4th century BCE, Rasenna saw a Gallic invasion end its influence over the Po Valley and the Adriatic coast. The Kingdom of Senonia was founded in 388 BCE by the Gallic war-leader Brennos, after he sacked and subdued most Rasennan cities. Rasenna soon rose up and Brennos was killed in 359 BCE, leading the way for the Kingdom of Rasenna. However, as the following Celtic invasions constantly devastated the North, the Rasennans had to rely greatly on Carthage's protection. However, in return, the Carthaginians vassalized Rasenna in 319 BCE, in result of their dependency. After betraying the Phoenicians, in result of the Padanian War (236-237 CE), Rasenna managed to assert its independence in 237 CE.

 Sasanian Empire 

Arguably emerged from the ashes of the great Achaemenid Empire, the Sassanid Persians established their own kingdom in 224 CE. The Sasanian Empire was founded by Ardashir I, a local Iranian ruler who rose to power as Parthia weakened from internal strife and civil wars. During the following years, the Sasanians would swallow the entire Middle East, including Parthia, Arsacid Armenia, all Middle Eastern Carthaginian holdings, and at last the mighty Pontic Empire, by 235. The Empire, now stretched from Thrace all the way to Indus River, and from Egypt to Central Asia. Thus, a new age has begun, the Persian Age. Soon Goths and later Huns, would wage numerous wars, all of which unsuccessful, which even indirectly led to the collapse of those Empires. As the Carthaginian Empire, weakened, the Sassanids slowly took their place as the dominant power in the known world. Even during the Age of Migrations and the Huns, Persia, together with the last Italian holdings of Carthage, remainend the center of civilization.

 Seleucid Empire 

The Seleucid Empire, was founded as a diadochi successor state in 305 BCE, by Seleucus I Nicator, located in Mesopotamia and OTL modern-day Iran. In the early second century BCE, Antiochus III the Great expanded the empire greatly into the west and east. He would bring peace and prospertiy into the Seleucid Kingdom until his death in 161 BCE. However, the Seleucids began to slowly decline soon after. Mithridates I of Parthia conquered much of the remaining eastern lands of the Seleucid Empire in the mid-second century BCE, while the independent Greco-Bactrian Kingdom continued to flourish in the northeast. The Seleucid kings were thereafter reduced to a rump state in Syria, until their conquest by Tigranes the Great of Armenia in 83 BCE.

 Thrace 

The Thracian, earlier known as the Odrysian Kingdom was a Thracian kingdom that existed from the early 5th century BCE, until 189 BCE. This was the year, when the Thracian League, consistent of Thrace, Bithynia, and Pergamon was partitioned and conquered by the Second Macedonian Empire, and its ally, the Seleucid Empire. Thrace, was then occupied by Pontos, Sassanids, Goths, and Huns. Finally, in 458 CE, Thrace asserted its independence, however, the land left behind by the Huns, was completely devastated and pillaged.

 The question about Christianity: 

Around 4 BCE, a person is born, who would spread his religion far beyond the borders of the known world. Jesus Christ dies around 50 CE, arrested and stoned by the Jewish client king of Parthia. Because of his much longer life, he managed to get more supporters than in OTL. Shortly after his death, according to Christians, there was a resurrection, which brought Jesus back to life. The Apostles then travel around the known world, spreading the word.

My opinion:

I'd say Christianity could have spread as well, if Rome never existed (of course not as far as in OTL), though Jesus and his Apostels would have still existed and some Jews would follow him likely even more than in OTL because of his longer life, though again there would always be "anti-Christ" Jews. Jesus would likely be murdered by these Jews possibly somewhere in 50s, and his apostels would start spreading the religion. I think it would even be easier to spread a religion, in a continent that has rather many divided states than in a vast empire (Rome always saw Christianity as a threat). If lets say a few states adopt it, they would spread it to the other states, because the main point of Christianity is to spread it. Other than pagan religions, which were based on their culture and were rather hard to spread.



The World of Sine Roma in 150 BCE. (A low quality resolution as Fandom doesn't allow files over 10mb). Higher resolution: https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/comments/q77mdg/sine_roma_a_world_without_rome_150_bce/

If you're interested in more detailed information, below you will find a list of all the current articles.

Nations
Armenia (Arsacid)

Armenia (Artaxiad)

Arvernian Empire

Belgian Empire

Carthaginian Empire

Cimbrian Kingdom

Dacia

Demetrian Kingdom

Epirus

Gallic Empire

Gothic Kingdom

Hunnic Empire

Macedonia

Parthian Empire

Pontos

Ptolemaic Kingdom

Rasenna

Sasanian Empire

Seleucid Empire

Senonia (Kingdom of Brennos)

Thrace

Persons
Antiochus III the Great

Arsaces I of Parthia

Attila

Balamber

Dengizich

Jesus Christ

Mithridates I of Parthia

Mithridates II of Parthia

Mithridates VI the Great

Paul the Apostle

Tigranes II the Great

Uldin

Battles
Battle of Nedao

Siege of Hippo

Wars
Establishment of the Arvernian Empire and Conquest of Gaul

First Hunnic-Sasanian War

Fifth Hunnic-Sasanian War

Fourth Hunnic-Sasanian War

Second Hunnic-Sasanian War

Third Gothic-Sasanian War

Third Hunnic-Sasanian War

Cities
Mithripolis

Lists
List of Gallic Tribes

Other Events
 