The Alternative History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

By M. D. Missaiel

AN ODYSSEY INTO WHAT THE WORLD COULD HAVE BEEN AND WHAT IT WILL LIKELY BE

Saul Brutus, a lobbyist for a questionable industry, is pulled into an alternate world with a different history than our own. In this strange journey, Brutus tours the strange world with his new partner Speaksall via land, water, air, and space

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ill At Ease Press
• Release date: Jul 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734953824

Book preview

AUTHOR’S NOTE

As ancient Romans had what is called Grecomania, a fascination with all things Greek, I am a history enthusiast equally fascinated with all things Roman. The stories of their lives and their religion were filled with drama and lessons. To me, the ultimate drama of ancient Rome is that when the Roman Empire fell, the civilized world also fell into a thousand-year long medieval period, and the ultimate lesson is that the signs of the decline were evident well before it fell in 476 CE. That the fall of the Roman Empire was by all measures inevitable due to many factors does not negate that any and all of these factors could have been mitigated. Only the narrow- and short-sightedness of society and leadership left these obvious issues unmitigated, keeping the empire on its trajectory of demise.

I started writing this book in 2012 with the premise that if the Roman Empire had not fallen and if humanity had made no historical errors since then, we would be more advanced by at least one thousand years’ worth of technological advancement and social reform. That premise comes from the understanding that humanity was hindered by a quantifiable thousand years of stagnant Dark Ages as well as an incalculable amount of time in regression: the loss of knowledge in the Library of Alexandria, the loss of contact by East Asia’s self-imposed isolation, and loss of life in countless wars and preventable crises. With the understanding that the forces of history are greater than individual efforts, and that even one corrected course of action could have been derailed elsewhere by the naturally error-prone human race, the message of the book is to focus on the parallels applicable today. Since I started in 2012, the signs of American decline have crystallized and now strongly mirror the signs of Roman decline: a concentration of luxury with oligarchic and increasingly autocratic tendencies, an inflated military global presence, increased negligence of public well-being, and most recently a plague.

The fall of Rome halted democracy, humanism, and science for centuries throughout the civilized world, and the fall of America could likewise end democracy and prosperity throughout the globalized world. Though I hope this book is as timeless as the lessons from all of history, I particularly hope it is most relevant as we power through the year 2020, our society elects progress. I hope we do not look in hindsight on 2020 as the year of another preventable historical error.

THE RECEPTION

Along the course of history, certain milestones set its trajectory for better or for worse. For Saul Brutus, the milestone that set the trajectory for his personal history was the day we attended the Opening Reception for the Smithsonian exhibit on the History of Maritime Travel. Though the exhibit was by the Smithsonian, it was located at the Wharf in Washington, D.C., outdoors, and composed of life-size replicas of historic ships and boats, all anchored at the dock. I was looking forward to that exhibit for a long time, and I encouraged my friend Marine and her husband Saul to go, as well as a group of mutual friends.  Marine worked as a staffer on Capitol Hill where she met Saul, a lobbyist for a few fossil fuel corporations. I had met Marine in college on the swim team, we bonded ever since over our passion for water activities: sailing, rafting, scuba diving, and even sea travel exhibits. I did not know her husband very well, but he and I shared an enthusiasm for history and discussed it often. They were largely housebound prior because Marine was pregnant and not due for another two months, but with my insistent recommendation and with this event combining their two distinct interests, they decided to attend.

I arrived at the Reception almost at the same time as Marine and Saul, and we started touring the exhibit together while enjoying the circulating hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Saul and I enjoyed some champagne, while a pregnant Marine wished she could. We could board the ships which were fully furnished to great and accurate detail. And to complete the experience, each ship was enhanced with augmented reality on our phones. Through our phones we could scan the interiors of the vessels, now virtually populated with period-specific people and moving parts. Looking out through the windows, rather than seeing the Wharf outside, we could see a period-specific exterior as well. We boarded the Roman trireme and descended into the galley. Through augmented reality, we were able to see the rowers manning their oars in the interior, and through the windows a hostile Persian ship approaching across the Mediterranean in the exterior. We then boarded the Titanic and were overwhelmed by the opulence of the amenities and spaces. Through augmented reality, we could see the socialites in the Grand Staircase, the commoners in third class, and through the windows an approaching iceberg.

Fully immersed in history, Saul and I immediately started discussing history like usual. From ancient to modern history, American and international, we were both well-versed, and we always found interesting how every event in the past had led to our present moment. We even invented a trivia game, based off Six Degrees of Separation, to find a connection between our present moment and a historical event in six steps or less.

The California Gold Rush, I started. Go.

Well, Saul paused to think, the California Gold Rush sped up the California statehood. With the California statehood came the Compromise of 1850, between free and slave states. That raised tensions in the following decade until the Civil War. The Union won the Civil War. And today we are at the capital of the saved Union. Now, your turn. The Spanish Inquisition.

The Spanish Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand, I replied, who propagated the Spanish Inquisition, also defeated the Muslim stronghold of Granada and signed an Expulsion Decree against the Jews of Spain in 1492. In that same year, they decided to commission Christopher Columbus to find a trade route to India and stumbled upon the Americas. A decade later, that discovery is named America, instead of the Indies, after Amerigo Vespucci. In 1620 the Mayflower lands in Plymouth Harbor with the first English settlers. The Americans fight the Revolutionary War, gain their independence, and establish Washington, D.C. as the capital. Now, your turn. The fall of the Roman Empire.

Saul took a moment to think. The game grows progressively more challenging the further back you go in history. He finally said, I think without the fall of the Roman Empire, all of this would be different, could be better or worse, but definitely different. But I can think of one small change. The Roman Empire fell in 476 CE. Saint Benedict was born to Roman nobles in 480 after the fall. He went to Rome after 500 and left shortly after out of disappointment. He turned to a life of monasticism. Out of his legacy came the Order of Saint Benedict. Benedictine monks invented the champagne we are drinking.

We continued playing and walking, but before we were about to enter the Mayflower replica our group of friends arrived: a Senator, an Architecture Professor, an Attorney, and a Public Health Researcher.

Did anyone see the debate before coming today?, the Senator said.

The presidential primary debate had aired immediately before our event. The main story was one of the candidates suggested establishing a U.S. colony on the moon. The online news and social media jumped at that story, and the topic Lunar or Lunatic? was trending within seconds. I agreed it was a ridiculous proposition, and then I turned off the debate prematurely because I had to get ready for the reception.

Yes, that was interesting! I responded.

A lunar colony! said the Attorney, A pipe dream, clearly.

Why not? Marine said, inspiring a collective incredulous laughter from the group.

What do you mean why not? Where will we get money for that? asked the Professor.

We have money, Marine responded. In this country, there is money for nation building abroad, endless war, and corporate subsidies, but no money for a grand national project? Or even nation building here at home?

"Do you think he can achieve that?"

I don’t even like the guy, she said. He has issues in his personal life and his political record, but if we as a society, a powerful society, keep dismissing ambitious thinking, nothing will be achieved.

Marine worked for a progressive Congressman, formerly a direct opponent of our Senator friend’s. She was not only an employee of this Congressman, but a political supporter. She did not simply work for the money, as there was no money behind this particular Congressman from wealthy donors or institutions. She was very principled and had clearly come to D.C. to make change. That cost her opportunities, and her only connection to D.C. society was through her husband. Saul was not the same way. His connection to D.C. was through his family’s ties to government extending back generations. He continued that legacy with his lobbying career. I admired Marine’s convictions, but I believed she could not enact the changes she was advocating with her principles. On the other hand, I understood Saul’s pragmatism, but I so wished he had chosen a different industry to represent, other than fossil fuels.

Marine and I conversed some more with our friends until we heard Saul scream from inside the Mayflower. We had not even noticed he was gone, and yet he ran out of the Mayflower alone, delusional, and for some reason exhausted. We all rushed to help him, but he was physically fine, simply traumatized. The shock on his face rendered him incoherent and at some point speechless, but before long, after a waiter gave him water, Saul settled into his calm and eloquent self. The commotion caused by his outburst also settled as the guests quickly returned to their respective conversing and exploring, but our group of friends, Marine, and I remained to make sure of Brutus’ well-being. We tried to ask him what startled him, but he himself was trying to make sense of it, and he was almost trying to awaken himself after a bad dream.

I do not know myself what happened, he said, still somewhat dazed. Not for the lack of clarity because I know what I saw, but I do not know what to make of it or whether or not it is even possible.

Was it something in the Mayflower? the Professor asked.

It started inside the Mayflower, replied Brutus. "but then it took me out, way out. That was quite the journey, and hopefully when I tell it you can all help me make some sense of the world I was in.

DAY ONE

"As victors, the Third Triumvirate were expected to follow in the tradition