The Rise of the Roman Empire: An Alternative History, AD 375-641

Timothy Venning

• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• eBook ISBN:
  9781399034432
• Year: 2025

Explores the rise of two empires through division, conflict, and eventual reunification, blending historical events with vivid narratives. An alternative history of success rather than decline anf fall. The actual history is set out and the alternative history with Old Time Lines (OTL) for reference. It is a vivid narrative, deeply researched, full of events and people, great and minor igur6es who come to life. It is a story of division and controversy concerning imperial and dynastic ambition and struggle, often caustic family relationships, cultural and religious disputes with surviving paganism and the classical philosophy of Neo-Platonism, and exandng Christianity in church and state in both Empires. The Empires are expanding in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Division and crisis is followed by restoration, more division but finally re-unification.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Book Title
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I Restoration. Showdown with the Goths. Julian, the Pagan, Succeeded by Valentinian and Theodosius, the Christians. 375 to 407
• Chapter 1 The House of Valentinian
• Chapter 2 The House of Theodosius – and the Children of Valentinian
• Chapter 3 Challenges to Theodosius in the West: Magnus Maximus and the Deaths of Gratian and Valentinian II
• Chapter 4 Reunification
• Plates
• Part II Division, 407 to 491
• Chapter 5 Crisis: The Barbarians at Large Inside the Empire, and the Fall of Stilicho
• Chapter 6 A Return to Stability? Pulcheria Rules the East, and Constantius III and Aetius Rule the West
• Chapter 7 Battle for the Empire: Aetius vs Attila, Monophysites vs Catholics
• Chapter 8 Aetius (and his Son Gaudentius as Western Emperor 455–469), Majorian, and the Rise of the Anthemii in the West
• Part III Reunification. 491 to 542
• Chapter 9 The Road to Union: Titus II in the West, Anastasius in the East, to 516
• Chapter 10 After Reunion in 516: The Dynasty Of Titus II
• Part IV Expansion, 542 to 641. The Conquest of Eastern Persia and Bactria: To the Indus
• Chapter 11 Heraclius I 542–559: The Scholar
• Chapter 12 Anastasius II 551–559: The Maverick
• Chapter 13 Nerva II 559–570: The Man of Justice
• Chapter 14 Gallus 570–582: The Warlord
• Chapter 15 Rillanus 582–590: The Idealist
• Chapter 16 Carus I 590–615: The Bureaucrat
• Chapter 17 Claudius III 615–630: The Conqueror
• Chapter 18 Carus II 630–641: The Orientophile
• Conclusion
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Back Cover