the what ifs of history: roman empire edition
we were watching the first episode of 8 Days That Made Rome, about the 8 dates that made the roman republic (later empire) what it was. the episode was about 202 BCE when rome defeated carthage, under general hannibal, at the battle of zama in modern day Tunisia & the events leading up to the battle.
my brother said if rome had lost carthage might have been the big empire & we'd be saying stuff like "carthage wasn't built in a day" or "all roads lead to carthage".
which got me thinking.
if they had won would carthage just leave rome with 10 war ships like rome had done with them? would there be a senator (or whatever carthage had) pushing for rome to be destroyed like cato the elder did? carthage might have taken over the italian peninsula & built their empire from there, like a revers roman empire (geographical wise).
would carthage have been as ruthless as rome had been in expanding their boarders? would they have cooperated with other powers in the mediterranean? greece wasn't what it used to be. egypt was in the ptolemaic dynasty by that time & it's likely carthage would've taken over there, as the romans did in 30 BCE. carthage might have been allies with the kingdom of pontus & not have expanded in that area.
in history there wouldn't be any of the big roman names we know now; no gaius julius caesar (no caesar salad or casino either), or gnaeus pompey magnus. no pliny the younger who wrote so many letters that are of historic value. no pliny the elder (his uncle) who wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia (natural history) and died during the eruption of mount vesuvius (not doubt under a different name) trying to rescue people. and for that matter, would there be something like the ruins at pompeii and herculaneum? some other cities in different locations? no major settlements there at all?
would there be a religion called carthageian catholic? or would catholicism have been based in naples (established by the greeks before all of this) instead, or somewhere else?
thanks for coming to my talk on alternative ancient history.
my brother said if rome had lost carthage might have been the big empire & we'd be saying stuff like "carthage wasn't built in a day" or "all roads lead to carthage".
which got me thinking.
if they had won would carthage just leave rome with 10 war ships like rome had done with them? would there be a senator (or whatever carthage had) pushing for rome to be destroyed like cato the elder did? carthage might have taken over the italian peninsula & built their empire from there, like a revers roman empire (geographical wise).
would carthage have been as ruthless as rome had been in expanding their boarders? would they have cooperated with other powers in the mediterranean? greece wasn't what it used to be. egypt was in the ptolemaic dynasty by that time & it's likely carthage would've taken over there, as the romans did in 30 BCE. carthage might have been allies with the kingdom of pontus & not have expanded in that area.
in history there wouldn't be any of the big roman names we know now; no gaius julius caesar (no caesar salad or casino either), or gnaeus pompey magnus. no pliny the younger who wrote so many letters that are of historic value. no pliny the elder (his uncle) who wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia (natural history) and died during the eruption of mount vesuvius (not doubt under a different name) trying to rescue people. and for that matter, would there be something like the ruins at pompeii and herculaneum? some other cities in different locations? no major settlements there at all?
would there be a religion called carthageian catholic? or would catholicism have been based in naples (established by the greeks before all of this) instead, or somewhere else?
thanks for coming to my talk on alternative ancient history.