IT III - Years 0-90 AD
Americas:
The 1st Century AD in both of the Americas is known, first and foremost, as the time of imperial consolidation and unification. At the start of the century there were three states in Mesoamerica, and three others in the northern Andes, not to mention countless tribes and tribal confederacies; towards the century's end, however, both regions were united under the rule of the two grand empires.
Mesoamerica's hegemon empire shouldn't be hard to guess - the same old Olmecs carried their 1st Century BC renaissance on, and expanded farther than even before. For the first few decades, while encouraging peace and trade with the Cuiculco Confederation, the Olmecs expanded to the east and the south; under the pretexts of the rooting out cannibalism and other "barbaric" practices, and avenging the previous raids, the Olmec fleet attacked Carib Khuba in 8 AD, destroyed most of the Carib rag-tag navy, and easily cut down the primitive defenders. The Carib state was soon discontinued (the non-Khuban components simply breaking apart), but resistance continued until genocidal and colonial efforts bore fruit, exterminating much of Khuba's native population and gradually replacing it with Olmecs (the latter process was sped up by the arrival of the refugees). In the meantime, back on the mainland, the Olmecs methodically crushed the Mayan tribes and states; after the fall of the Mayan kingdom of Miximche in 33 AD, all the Mayans were either under Olmec rule (and thus increasingly assimilated), either dead. Yet not all went well for the Olmecs...
Even as Miximche was being stormed, the new Cuiculco leader, Qlatlan, transformed the loose confederation into an empire and its ragtag army into a mighty war machine, beefed up with Toltecs from the north. Seeking to preempt an expected Olmec attack and to take advantage of the Olmec distraction in the south, Qlatlan struck in the year 34 AD, just after slaughtering all the Olmec missionaries he could find. Cuiculco-Toltec hordes poured over the entire border, raping, looting and killing, and razing city after city. The Olmec reaction was haphazard at first, and accordingly several separate Olmec armies were isolated and crushed, allowing the Cuiculcans to reach the Olmec capital Sanlorenzo itself by 40 AD. By then the 19th Crown Prince had recovered from the initial panic, and restored order within the army; the Olmecs amassed forces for a decisive battle at Sanlorenzo in 42 AD. After several brutal pitched fights and a particularily bloody assault on the city itself, the Cuiculcans had destroyed the Olmec capital as well, but by then, the tide had turned; the 19th Crown Prince preserved his realm by fleeing to Yucatan (where the new capital was established at Tlictato), the Cuiculco casualties at Sanlorenzo were decimating, and the Olmecs succesfully launched a naval invasion of the Cuiculco homelands in 46 AD. When Qlatlan died from his wounds next year, his empire, already shaken, fell apart into internicine strife. Still, this war had badly damaged the Olmecs; their core territories were decimated, and their army considerably weakened. Recovery and reconquest took several decades more, and the reurbanization was only partially succesful. Also, to ensure that the empire is never again so imperiled, the Olmecs spent the rest of the century in slow, grinding, expensive wars on their Toltec and Guaymi frontiers, pushing the barbarians back but failing to break their power. The center of power now firmly shifted to Yucatan, though it was thoroughly Olmecized by now, and to a lesser extent to Khuba; the devastation of the support base of the conservative nobles, combined with the growth of trade and with the manpower problems, had provoked great technological advancement and a new commercial network is being built in the Carib Sea, but Olmecia's future remains very much uncertain.
At the start of the century, the Andes were divided between the Huancacs, the Nazcas and the Pachacamacs, all predominant in different Andean valleys. Of the Nazcas, it is known that they made unsuccesful attempts to transform into a matriarchic empire, but failed in both parts; of the Pachacamacs, it is known that they were good engineers and had a militaristic culture. Already the facts that so little is known about those peoples tells us that they didn't survive; the history of both peoples cuts short sometimes between 60 and 80 AD - after that time, not only their empires, but also their peoples ceased to exist, thanks to the Huancacs, of whom, accordingly, more is known. The Huancacs had a sun-cult, but it is pointless to try and find any connections between them and the Solists on the other side of the Andes and the Ocean; the Huancac cult was a very unique occurance, especially on such a large scale; it combined blind faith with a socialist philosophy ("Way of the Potato"). Huancac was a theocracy, ruled by an apparently-immortal ruler, "Face-of-the-Sun", whose face was always hidden behind a golden disk; he created a caste system, rigid economic and social planning, a powerful bureaucratic apparatus and a formidable army. With a population boom caused by Face-of-the-Sun's agricultural planning, the army was soon put into use, safeguarding the pre-planned colonial settlements in nearby territories. In this manner, the Huancacs expanded in all feasible directions until 30 AD, when they bumped into the Pachacamac border. In 35 AD, a war between the two empires had started; the Huancac army stumbled at first, inexperienced as it was, but eventually the Pachacamacs were first forced out of the borderline fortifications, and then, in 44 AD, finally crushed after a bloody battle at the Pachacamac border. The people were then enslaved, and more Huancac colonists moved in...
After that, it was all easy; barbarians, and later Nazca, were all crushed by the seasoned Huancac troops, and the same colonial procedures were carried out. By 90 AD, the northern Andes were all Huanc, several Moche and Paracas tribes in the Amazon Basin agreed to pay tribute, and, last but not least, domestic developments took place - cordscript was adapted, administrative reforms diluted overstretchment, and a fleet - fishing, trade and military - was created.
A few years later, the first contacts between Olmecia and Huancac were established. Trade inevitably followed, as both empires increasingly turned mercantile. With the great expansion of trade networks in the late 1st Century AD, technologic advance was sped up yet again, and civilization begun to spread to the more primitive cultures of the continent as well...
Northern Europe:
The developing nations of Northern Europe were often in close economic and diplomatic contact with the powers of Southern Europe; certainly there were also significant cultural influences, especially those brought by the Greek refugees, who also played a large part in the technological development of the region. The Carthaginians were also important; their antagonism with Nortugal had inadvertly turned Armorica into the primary trading power in the Gaelic Sea [1], and the Armorican King Judicaelous the Great was definitely inspired in his reforms - administrative and military - by the Carthaginian ways. Yet one could in most cases easily omit what interaction between the two did take place - mostly because both the north and the south were busy with their own, separate wars.
Without doubt, Armorica was the most important nation in the regon in this century - and it is thus also unquestionable that the most important person here was King Judicaelous the Great, a reckless reformer and conqueror who lived to a ripe old age, despite frequent illnesses, and guided Armorica to greatness. At the start of the century, the Armoricans controlled only the peninsula of Armorica itself; however, Judicaelous immediately utilized its excellent strategic position to conquer eastwards, conquering Carnutia and the Loire. Soon enough, the Armoricans came into contact with the ascendant, Kartyrian-influenced kingdom of Belgia and the warlike Germanic tribes. The latter, disorganized and busy fighting each other and the disorganized Celts (the ones that the Armoricans had pushed out from their lands), were not a threat yet, but the Belgii definitely had to be removed; not only were they an impediment to Judicaelous' plans and a natural enemy, but they also signed a treaty with the Pictonic Gauls, archenemies of the Armoricans in the olden days, by which the Pictones became Belgii subjects in exchange for protection. This doubled Belgian territory, and barred the Armoricans from further eastwards expansion - or would've barred them, had Judicaelous not responded to this with a powerful invasion (in 13 AD). The Sol Dragonii routed the outnumbered Belgii defenders at Rotomaghus and besieged the capital, Jezetyr; the bulk of the Belgii army was in the meantime trapped in the Pictone lands and assailed by Germanics. Still, the Belgii held out, and there seemed to have been a real chance for them to turn the tables, the Armoricans unable to crush the rebellions behind their lines; this chance was left unused, though, Judicaelous reconciled with some of the Pictonic tribes in exchange for their betrayal, and large Armorican armies routed the Belgian troops in the battles at Saone and at Jezetyr (during which the Belgii royal family had perished). The mopping up took several years more, but eventually, the Belgii were crushed and the Armorican regional supremacy was assured. In the meantime, administrative reforms took place, the previous conquests were integrated and exploited, agriculture boomed, and the Greek-influenced Church of the Sol came into existence. Elsewhere in the region, other events occured: Nortuguese rulers begun introducing an atheist "religion", encouraged by the Greek and the more disillusioned Nortuguese philosophers, and at the same time the Nortuguese trade empire expanded to the north, a trade post - first of a series - being established in Caledonia, even as at home wars were fought against the Ulaid tribes; Cymru invited Greek advisors from Belgia and emulate the Armoricans by expanding eastwards and securing large swathes of land; Santonegia, a south Gaelic state, emerged under Carthaginian auspices, expanded peacefully to the east and contributed troops for the campaigns in Italy; and most importantly, the western Germanics were united by Grunwald the Vengeful (warlord of the Allemagnians, ruler of Eisenstadt) after the defeat of the Franks in 25 AD.
This "Tribal Confederation of Rhineland" was Armorica's next foe. In 32 AD, the yet-unaligned Germanic tribes in eastern Gaul were attacked by the Armoricans, and requested Rhinelander assistance; Grunwald was all too glad to provide it, especially as he had contacted a Belgii general, Medash, beforehand; this Medash soon led a Belgii rebellion in Jezetyr, while several ill-trained, but large Rhinelander armies invaded Armorica, throwing the Armoricans out of the Germanic lands and massacring their attack force there. However, in 37 AD the Rhinelanders were checked at Remi, and in 38 they were defeated at Aedun, stopping their southern advance as well. As the Armoricans recovered from the shock and Grunwald died in Eisenstadt, it seemed like the tables were about to be turned...
But then konig Hols came to power in Rhineland and, at the price of crippling the country's economy and unity, pressed a large portion of the male population into the army. The Rhinelander numbers swelled further with Cimbrian/Sudgermanic volunteers. And lastly, King Judicaelous fell seriously ill, further hindering the Armorican war effort. The war dragged on, and though in 44 AD, with Santonegian help, the Armoricans won at Geneva and exploited this nicely to relieve the fortress-city of Remi (besieged by the Rhinelanders for several years), that decade too saw no final solution, with skirmishes, raids and economic attrition. Fortunately that latter fact worked in Armorica's favour, as the Rhinelander economy was poorly-organized and manpower was stretched thin, but still, Hols was in position to cripple Armorica and deny it its place under the Sol. As Judicaelous finally recovered, he set about to prevent that. An alliance (strenghthened by royal marriage and prozelytization of the Church of Sol) with Cymru was achieved, while Santonegia, with the tacit consent of Carthage, merged with Armorica altogether. At this point it is also valuable to mention that two new Germanic powers arose since 30 AD - the Rasmussen trade empire of Copenhagen, and Childeric's Frankish Tribal Confederation (founded by the refugees fleeing from Grunwald's wrath long ago). The former, one must add, was quite powerful - a combination of trade, diplomacy and simple warfare allowed the Copenhageners to subdue vast areas in the western Baltic. In any case, both of these two states were persuaded by the Armorican diplomats to attack Rhineland as well. All this came in the nick of time - in 52 AD, Remi was finally captured by the Rhinelanders, the Armoricans staging a fighting retreat from their untenable position into a homeland threatened by religious and tribal strife. The arrival of the allies changed everything; Armorico-Cymrese forces took Jezetyr/Aemelsteldam in 55 AD (crushing Medash's rebellion), Franks looted Eisenstadt, and the Copenhageners raided down the Rhine, dealing Rhineland the one final blow it needed to collapse. Still, the Rhinelanders stubbornly resisted; they burned Remi to the ground, and fought against their enemies to the last drop of blood, though with little coordination. It took until 62 AD to destroy Rhineland completely; resistance mostly collapsed after the death of Hols II at the hands of a traitor, but even then not all accepted their fate. Lands west of the Rhine went to Armorica, lands east were partitioned between Copenhagen and Frankland (as the Frankish Tribal Confederation was now known).
Peace didn't come. In 72-76, a new Rhinelander rebellion raged, though after its eventual defeat the resistance was broken for good. That, however, wasn't the most important additional war - far more important was the Nortuguese attack on Copenhagen. It seems unlikely that this attack was motivated by the Nortuguese atheism (as there was an entire world of religious people for them to punish other than the distant Copenhageners); rather, the reasons were probably more mundane, like fear of Copenhagener military power, or dislike for the competition that the Copenhageners had established in Scandinavia, considerably hampering Nortugal's trade expansion. In any case, while the Copenhageners were trying to conquer Germany and Norge, they themselves were attacked by the Nortuguese and, outnumbered, lost their capital and much of their coherence. As Rhinelanders before them, the Copenhageners were not crushed this easily, and fought to the end; but with Germanic revolts and Norge attacks, they were forced to fight a three-front war, and without naval supremacy they were unable to retake Copenhagen or even put some limit to the Nortuguese attacks and raids. Towards the century's end, Copenhagen was destroyed, its German lands defecting to Frankland...
Again, it wouldn't hurt to mention, in the passing at least, the other events of the time. In Nortugal, atheism finally gained greater following, while a colonial-commercial empire was being built, with the colonization of Thule. In northern Britannia, Dal'Riata (created by the Ulaid refugees), Pictavia and Nortugal warred, with no decisive result, but with an amiable peace. In Cymru, Brenin Owain Dda won in a brief civil war of the 40s, and proceeded to conquer over a half of Britannia. He converted to Solism on his deathbed (he died in 57 AD), and the rest of the nation gradually followed suit; meanwhile, gains were consolidated, ties with Armorica grew and trade prospered. Armorica, meanwhile, was no more; under Dumnorix Sativoleous, sweeping and oft-controversial reforms took place, Armorica was transformed into the Gaelic Empire of Aquitaine, royality was reduced in religious significance, scholars from nearby countries were invited, an Inquisition was set up, Remi was rebuilt and so on. In any case, GEA, both through its military and economic might and through its great religious influence, remains the most important power in the region. Lastly, as Copenhagen burned, a new power arose on the other side of the Baltic Sea - united by population pressure and by the great commercial opportunities, but also by the emergence of a new religion (Tarunism), the Finno-Ugrians and Ugro-Finns of the east had created an united nation - Tarunia - which quickly became a notable power, expanding into Svear. Other Germannic, Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes in the region are also increasingly influenced and threatened by civilization, and it seems inevitable that soon, they shall form nations of their own. The future of the region is uncertain, but holds much promise no matter how the dice roll.
Transpoenic-Mediterranean Seas (and Eastern Europe):
With both Rome and Carthage fully recovered from the effects of the previous war and the civil wars that followed it, it was only a matter of time until a new Transpoenic War. Surprisingly, peace lasted until 11 AD; during the last decade of peace, both empires did some expanding and military buildup, the Roman Consul Julius Caeser going particularily far with his large-scale military reorganization (which transformed the Roman army into one of the most efficient fighting forces in the world) and the invasion of Germanic "Cimberland" in the north.
Curiously enough, the new round of bloodshed in the Transpoenic-Mediterranean did not start in Italy, but instead in Haemus [2]. The Romans were ofcourse aware that the Carthaginians were probably going to attack them again soon, and, remembering that it was the Byzantine betrayal that caused Rome's defeat in the Third Transpoenic War, decided to quickly knock out the Byzantines, securing Rome's eastern flank and allowing the Romans to concentrate on a single front. A great opportunity appeared, too; the previous Byzantine emperor had died earlier than expected, and the new ruler - Constantine the Unlucky - was also the Very Unready. By 11 AD, Marcus Antonius was Consul; in cooperation with Spartan and Macedonian separatists in the Byzantine lands, the Romans invaded in force and quickly secured Epirus. Despite some initial logistical problems and the fierce Byzantine resistance, in 14 AD the Romans finally forced the main Byzantine forces to two separate decisive battles. Both Chaeronia and Vergina went down in history as devastating defeats that doomed the Byzantines, though this was not immediately apparent as the Byzantine fleet defeated the Roman one in a series of skirmishes, grabbing the naval supremacy and cutting the supply routes, while in 16 AD the Carthaginians finally struck, eliminating the Roman Tyrrhenian Fleet in the great battle at Pontiae and then landing large armies in northern and southern Italies. The First Imperial Army secured the Po River Valley and cut off Caeser's forces (still in Cimberland) from Italy; the Second Imperial Army occupied Megala Hellas [3]. Yet though neither Antonius nor Caeser were there to save Rome, the other Roman Consul, Gnaeus Pompeius, was. In a series of seemingly-haphazard, but brilliant maneuvers, the Romans had stopped the First Imperial Army at Volaterrae, and routed the southern one at Heraclea, forcing the Carthaginians and their Garamantean Berber allies to stage a fighting retreat down the Calabria. Just as it seemed that Rome was saved, however, the Eternal City itself was attacked. In 20 AD the Carthaginian Imperial Stormtroopers launched a sudden assault, taking Ostia and Rome itself and simply overwhelming all defenders. This was a major blow to Rome, and perhaps it had sealed its doom. Yet even beheaded, the Republic proved to be far harder to kill than any chickens in a similar situation. Realizing this, the Carthaginian Empress Carvellagh threw more and more money at the problem, while the Romans ordered a mobilization of all the levies. Already it became clear that this war will be a total war, and that by its end, the map of the Transpoenic - and the Mediterranean - would be completely redrawn. In what manner exactly this shall be done remained far from certain, though.
The war dragged on, and soon expanded. Already in 21 AD, King Rhemaxos II of Dacia, though busy fighting the insurgency in Illyria, had officially sided with Rome - perhaps out of fear of Carthaginian might, perhaps simply wishing to take part in the "Scramble for Byzantium" that begun in the earnest after the Battle at Chaeronia. On the next year, the Khorvashid Empire of Luca too decided to look west for imperial glory to regain, and launched a sneak attack on Byzantium, sneaking into the lightly-guarded capital in merchant ships and easily taking the city, only barely failing to catch Constantine. As if that was not enough, the situation at the sea changed again with the great Dacian naval victory at Corcyra and the coup de grace landed by the Lucans upon the Byzantine navy at Lemnos. In 23 AD, the last Byzantine army was destroyed by the Romano-Lucan troops at Xanthea. With the de facto rebirth of a Macedonian state and the Dacian conquest of far northern Thrace, all that remained of the once-grand empire were the scattered bands of troops and rebels unwilling to reconcile with their defeat, and the Byzantine refugees, led by Emperor Constantine himself, who went on to found the city of Constantinople in North Africa, in 35 AD.
But while the newborn anti-Punic Coalition carried the day in Haemus, elsewhere the Carthaginians were on the march. The Dacian expeditionary force in Cimberland was thrown back with contemptous ease in 22 AD. Unrelieved, Julius Caeser still waged a relentless war of maneuver in the north, but, outnumbered, was forced to flee from Cimberland. In former Kartyria, he seized the city of Dido, but soon found himself trapped there and was slaughtered with his entire army by the Carthaginian reinforcements. In Italy, the Romans were partly relieved by the Carthaginian distraction to the north, and pressed on with their counteroffensives, but the Siege of Sybaris in 24 AD ended in a catastrophe; attacked by Carthaginian forces from within and without the occupied city, the Romans were mowed down, and the same was repeated in 27 AD near Rome, only on a greater scale. From that defeat, the Romans proved unable to recover, as almost all their Italian forces were massacred, with only a few holding out in the east until 31 AD. In Egypt, after the death of the last Pharaoh (Menmen-Ra), Grand Commander Tanus easily stopped the succession procedures, destroyed the old Pharaonic monarchy and created an Imperial Republic in its place (with himself as Emperor); this Imperial Republic soon aligned itself with Carthage once more, and in 28 AD, a combined Carthago-Egyptian expedition to Haemus took place. Although the Dacian naval might was confirmed with the great Admiral Lemieux' victory at Aous which basically thwarted the Carthaginian plans for a full-scale intervention, Carthaginian and Egyptian forces had nevertheless secured the southern Peloponessian, Tanus' army entering Athens in 30 AD. The Dacian naval supremacy worsened the supply situation for the attackers and prevented further advances, but total victory in the theater was denied to the Coalition. And lastly, Germanic tribes and resurgent Illyrian rebels, cheered on and assisted by Carthaginian agents, struck at Dacia and Free Illyria. Though both were mere nuisances, the Coalition's strategic situation was compromised further by this development.
In late 35 AD, Leo IV - the last Prince of Free Illyria - died. His successor was Leo Burebista, son of Rhemaxos II and his Illyrian wife. But when, in 36 AD, he planned to ascend to the Free Illyrian throne, a sudden change of plans occured - the elderly Rhemaxos II abdicated in the favour of his son as well, and so Free Illyria and Dacia were united (as was long planned by Rhemaxos) into the Dacian-Illyrian Empire (DIE); the capital was soon moved to the primary Dacian port city, Burebistatuza - this move had a triple symbolism, for it signified the start of a new era in the history of both countries, bound the two peoples closer together (Burebistatuza, once Illyrian Salonae before becoming a Dacian enclave, still had a mixed population) and also confirmed the ascendance of Dacia as a naval power, alongside with the much-advertised Admiral Lemieux, the victories at Corcyra and at Aous and the mighty Juggernaught ships, the largest warships in the world. This and the defeat of the Germanics and the Illyrians had allowed Leo Burebista to become the leader of the anti-Carthaginian Coalition. Revitalized, able to concentrate on Carthage (after Byzantium's collapse and the Egyptian withdrawal, caused by the increasingly low chances of victory in Haemus and the radical republican rebellion in al-Akam) and imbued with a grim determination, the Coalition struck back. Even though the Carthaginians crushed remaining Roman resistance and the Graeco-Sicilian rebels, considerably forces were tied down by these efforts, while without the Egyptian assistance the Carthaginian puppet state of Sparta was soon knocked out by the larger Coalition armies; the Carthaginians in the Peloponessian were exterminated too, giving full control over Haemus to the Coalition, although already, the ominous first disagreements between Lord Krichevskoy's Macedonia and the other Coalition members appeared. In any case, 37-39 AD saw the lowest point in the Carthaginian fortunes; a Romano-Lucano-Daco-Illyrian Expeditionary Force was assembled, under the command of great military leaders - Admiral Lemieux and Consul Domitius Ahenobarbus - and set sail from Haemus to Carthage itself. The journey was long, further delayed by Carthaginian harrasment and by the need to keep a single formation with the slow Dacian Imperial Juggernaughts, but it was succesful. In 38 AD, the First Battle of Malta saw the destruction of an entire Carthaginian fleet - after that, the Coalition forces advanced undeterred. The far-outnumbered defenders of Carthage were slaughtered, and the imperial capital fell for the first time in its history. Empress Carvellagh and her closest advisors took their lives rather than fall to the enraged Romans. Gisco Naples I was hastily crowned Emperor in Barcelona, and almost immediately set about to save the empire, but for the first few months he and the rest of the Carthaginians were filled with very real panic - suddenly, sweet victory transformed into a bitter defeat and all seemed lost, at least until they looked on the big picture.
For in truth, the Coalition Expeditionary Force's successes, though very notable, were not all that great in the realm of grand strategy. Although the capture of Carthage had put the Carthaginians off their balance, while the First Battle of Malta decimated the Carthaginian seapower, forcing the Emperor to resort to privateering, neither Carthage's economy nor its military were defeated beyond recovery. Still, the Coalition scored a very major short-term victory, and did its best to exploit it. In 40 AD, Carthage was burned down (Rome and four other major Italian cities were immediately destroyed in retaliation), and the CEF withdrew to Haemus, to regroup and then attack Italy. Along the way, the CEF was intercepted by a huge Carthago-Constantinoplian fleet; though taking a severe beating, the CEF fleet and half the expedition force was saved by Admiral Lemieux; after receiving reinforcements in Epirus, the Coalition forces moved to Italy, the Dacians attacking overland (unsuccesfully) and the CEF landed at Tarentum. Taken off-guard by the attack, the outnumbered Carthaginians retreated and retreated, and, coming under a renewed, reinforced Daco-Roman offensive in the north, were thrown out of Italy altogether after a fourteen-year occupation and a four-year campaign. Yet this victory too wasn't final, as future events showed. Though the Romans had reconquered Italy, their homeland was devastated, and the people weary of war. Still, Domitian Ahenobarbus - now appointed Dictator - decided to fight on (not that the Carthaginians gave him a real choice), and with Carthage still on the retreat it seemed that the Coalition had gained a fighting chance.
Yet in the 50s AD, the war expanded once more, and this time, ofcourse, its expansion benefited Carthage. The expansion of the war to the Middle East shall be covered in a different section, but Israel was not the only country to jump into the fray. Two betrayals occured that shifted the balance in Carthage's favour: the first was that of Macedonia, whose ambitious and paranoid ruler Lord Krichevskoy wished to unite Greece under his rule AND feared that the Romans would unite it under theirs if they were to defeat Carthage. Having by then genocided all the Byzantines he could get his hands on and generally consolidated his power and influence, Krichevskoy went virtually unopposed as he occupied all of mainland Greece in 55 AD.
