Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

[Kristopher]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

One thing that was happening towards the end of the Roman Empire, the thing that led directly to the rise of Christianity, was a move towards religions with a promise of a happy afterlife. The Romans decided they weren't all that into an eternity of chilly darkness, and started looking around for something better. Christianity ended up winning out in the real world, but other big contenders were Mithraism and the cult of Osiris and Isis.

 

If your decision to leave Christianity out is because you want to avoid potentially insulting one of your players' religious beliefs, you could use these and/or some similar religions as the rising frontrunners. If you wanted to leave it out because of its overwhelming influence in the real world, you could just tone it down and make it part of the crowd of afterlife religions.

 

Of course, in either case, the standard Roman gods would still be around, serving their official/ceremonial functions in state holidays, etc.

 

Assuming you don't want to diverge too far from real world history, the Black Plague would have happened regardless of whether Rome fell or not, and a lot of its aftereffects (labor shortages, increasing wages, and the rise of the middle class) would have happened as well.

 

In a lot of ways, I'm thinking that aside from stalled technology for a few hundred years, the world wouldn't have been too different if Rome hadn't fallen. Roman civic structures would have lasted a lot longer, rather than moving to a feudal system. Other than a few flavor changes, you could probably graft Roman government onto Italian city-states and have a convincing extrapolation.

 

I'm not sure if I should admit this, but right now this is entirely an accademic and writing exercise, which may never see a single session of gaming within the setting being discussed.

 

In this setting, there is no Christianity, or Judaism, or any other real-world religion, because this is not our real world. It's another world, for which I am trying to give depth and life to the various nations and cultures. I should have made that clearer from the beginning, I think.

[Kristopher]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

You don’t even need magic to have a printing press.

 

As it happens, in the Real World ™ the printing press was invented in the 15th century. There is no reason it COULDN’T have been invented much earlier. The ancient Romans had wine presses, ink, access to both parchment and papyrus, and for that matter, making paper is not really high-tech either. The Chinese had already been producing paper when the Roman Empire rose.

 

Had the Romans discovered paper (and they did import silk from China, so there was some indirect contact) and woodblock printing, they’d have been only one conceptual leap from movable type and the printing press. As it was, the Roman Empire at its highest had a literacy rate of, if I recall correctly, something like 15% - higher than any culture would have again for many centuries. With the printing press, widespread literacy would have followed, with books and even newspapers. With a largely literate populace (especially among “citizens†who were about 1/6 of the population according to sources I’ve seen) and newspapers, posters, and political pamphlets, then participation in the political process could have become possible even for a much larger population, most of whom were not in or near Rome itself. I think that it might have been quite possible for Rome to both expand, and avoid developing the entirely autocratic institutions associated with the historical Empire. As it is, by the way, it is worth remembering that as an idea the Republic endured for many generations after the reality became a dictatorship.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary notes that the Romans were also fortunate enough to have the Roman alphabet.

 

This is a world in which at least one other, distant state almost certainly does have the moveable-type printing press, as it takes no great technology to come up with the thing (as you said), and the Chinese invented it 400 years or so before Guttenburg, and the culture of that other state is inclined to such things.

 

I like your suggestion.

[Kristopher]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

That changes everything. Utterly.

 

Now it becomes vital to know when Rome gains this instant (or quick) communication magic. That will be when your prospective timeline diverges from the Real Worldâ„¢. All the wars and other 'international' events will change with this ability, as will everything about how Rome administers the provinces, how trade and commerce are carried on, etc., etc.

 

 

BTW: I think you mean "no ordinary Roman."

 

Did any real Roman have access to that kind of communication?

 

It's a world that's always had magic of some sort. The more I work on it, the more I'm leaning towards limiting magic mainly to ritual work and object-bound effects.

[Kristopher]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

More information: in this particular setting, there are many gods, and in particular the people of the "Roman" culture particularly revere the God of the Sun. At this time, the Sun God is making a push for greater power and influence. (Yes, there is a deliberate parallel to the religious upheavals that the rise of Christianity was just a part of.)

[Kristopher]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

Before this thread dies completely, can anyone recommend websites or books for brushing up on Roman culture, religion, etc?

 

Thanks.

[Theron]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

You might want to see if you can find a copy of "FVLMINATA," a RPG set in a Roman empire that never fell because of the discovery of Terra Fvlminata (gunpowder). It's set in AD 248, so it's by no means a Renaissance setting, but it does provide for a strong empire where Christianity is still a small Judean cult that appeals mostly to slaves.

 

You might also want to take a look at Thomas Harlan's "Oath of Empire" series, which also deals with a later Rome that never fell (this time, thanks to magic.) One of the interesting subplots in the first novel (and possibly continuing, I never got through the entire series) is that someone or something magical is killing people and destroying technological innovations like moveable type and the keel.

[Kristopher]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

Thanks. I'll check those out.

 

Any suggestions on non-fiction resources?

[Cancer]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

I've just started a book titled "Following Hadrian". It is not nonfiction, but there's a fair slug of historical information that went into it. Might be useful for flavor.

[Markdoc]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

Thanks. I'll check those out.

 

Any suggestions on non-fiction resources?

 

Makers of Rome by Plutarch (I've got the Penguin Classics version). Roman politics and history as written by a Roman.

 

Cheers, Mark

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Alternate History - Roman Republic and the Renaissance

 

I'm reading The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough, which was recommended on another thread by Curufea, and I have to second that recommendation here. For a good Rome feel (although I realize you're not going for a true alternate Rome, but...) this book is full of examples of daily life, food, politics, religion, etc. Good stuff.