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Description

I made this map mostly using excel, instead of word. It turns out its better suited for such a project.
The lore is divided in three parts.
The first lore on how it got to this is available here: www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps…. This map is a continuation of this story.
650-800
This is the '2nd part' of this althistory, 450 years further into the future. We begin this continuation in the year 664. The government of the province of Arabia Felix revolts and aims at getting independence, rather than overthrowing the entire empire. Due to its enormous distance to roman heartland, rome fails to act immediately and a long lasting war begins. Also in this time, the Curaisadi in the neighbouring vassal state get overthrown by the Abassids. They hold a more anti roman stance and also pick up the revolt spreading from arabia felix. since arabia felix is already muslim they stand on their side. The romans ask the allied aksum empire for help which they accept. At the end of the war, Axum retains a big chunk of south arabia and gets to maintain the indian trade now, as wished by rome. its seems more practical than to try to govern the area directly again.
Due to the now anti roman sentiment in the abbasid kingdom, rome reverses the right to spread it and soon persecutions start, similarly to how early christianity was treated. This in turn creates a new conflict between muslims and christians, primarily fealt on the arabian peninsula itself, where muslim arabs fight against christian arabs. However a large war affecting the empire itself is avoided.
Islam differentiates further from christianity, ending forms of syncretism.
In the beginning of the 700's the Kushan empire starts to crumble, due to internal conflicts and various 'barbaric' groups in the north. The most outstanding of these were the Hephthalites, that already conquered the northernmost reaches of Kushan 200 years prior.
In Rome, this was watched as a perfect opportunity to break the everlasting peace with the Kushans and fulfill the centuries old dream of following Alexanders steps. It was the emperor Lucian that started the invasion. With persian alliance, the various warring states in Media and Parthia fall rather quickly. New vassal kingdoms get installed, instead of governing the area directly. Media, Elymais, Parthia and a bigger Persian kingdom.
By 727, the Hephthalite empire gets attacked. This war lasts 5 years. Margiane and Bactria become fully annexed, although then include in a new type of administrative unit above the province, called an Exarkhate. Ist basically a vice kingdom, ist 'king' chosen by the empire for a term of 5 years. Khorezm, Sogdiane and Kashgar become vassal states subordinate to the exarkh. He dies in Bactria leaving his adopted son Theodosius to the throne. He seeks to accomplish what his father had begun and set his eyes on India. After the complicated conquest of Gandhara and the pushing back of the remaining Kushan kingdom behind the Hydaspes, he advances south along the Indus until the sea. The people of this area give a surpisingly low level of resistance. A second exarkhate of India gets created by 740. Arachosia becomes a vassal. In Alexander's fashion, he established numerous cities named after him in India, and some named after his father in Bactria, to honour him. He sets sail for mesopotamia, and massive festivities get held in the four cities of Ctesiphon, Antiochia, Byzantium and finally Rome. The two exarkhate are also known as the Romanobactrian and the Indoroman kingdoms.
In the emperors absence in the west, new threats emerged at the germanic borders, but the vassals still held on the area. Also, the Hunnic empire aimed to expand, also because of potential new migrants from the east. They attack the rome sponsore state of Ruthenia. It collapses. Many flee south and big parts of Roman Sarmatia get given up. The Huns advance even further and reach the baltic sea. This causes a chain reaction, that leads to more slavs and german migrating south and west.
Theodosius wants to engage in this, but dies in battle with the germanians.
Without a proper heir, the empire plunges into chaos. Bad emperor comes after bad emperor, the next crisis begins. Usurpers rise in many areas, although only two, in Hispania and Scythia, manage to hold a big amount of power. This struggle ends in 798, after the emperor Aurelianus manages to conquer the last usurpers and stabilize the empire. He also further links christianity with the empire to create a unifying force. He's known for moving the capital to Byzantium, which he renamed Aurelainopolis, and the adding of new letters to the latin alphabet, as well as a reform on writing big numbers. (These get explained at the end of this comment). Luckily for rome, the exarkhs remained largely loyal through the turbulent times along with most of the eastern parts of the empire.
800-922
in 802, Aurelians decides to abolish the current system of succession, as it was shown multiple times that a lack of heir can be very dangerous. From now on. The emperor is chosen by the imperial senate (not the roman senate, which is acity council by now) for life, although they can get rid of him, if a majority and the army is against him.
After his death a new emperor is chosen by the senate. The following years are marked by attempts to integrate the vassals into the empire, and some small wars with the muslims. Also the roman allied Jobaritae exapnd into former Arabia Felix. In the north, a new ruthenian state forms, allied with the romans and attempts to swallow up the surrounding statelets.
in 813 the second conquest of remaining Germania begins. They manage to advance beyond the Vistula, but since it is the last well defendable river out there, the new border gets set on there. The more interior tribes only slowly start to be annexed. Also the Justland peninsula is conquered, as well as its neighbouring islands in order to control the trade going into the baltic sea. In Gotland a new trading outpost is established, from where control of the entire baltic trade is assumed. Lelipa, a once 'rich' city of old ruthenia, gets annexed and begins to flourish again.
The following 50 years remain peaceful. There is a small revolt in Cotinia. This time is marked by revolutionizing the administrative system by creating new units called dioeces and prefectures. Also many many provinces get split up to create more smaller ones. (Similar to our timelines Diocletain reforms).
Italy gets divided into the former Regions again. They dont really differ from provinces though, but they are free from direct rule by a prefecture, similar to the free cities. Also Achaea gets reformed into regions.
in 853, Meroe breaks free from Axum, and remains independent. Zancor becomes a vassal.
Thule gets settled by celtic monks mainly. It is largely self ruling, thus becoming satrapy instead of a regular province. Ist the first satrapy in the western part of the empire. In the eastern part, they were present since the establishment of the exarkhates, and later some vassals like Iberia got integrated as Satrapies.
In 867, new trouble begins, coming from central asia. Ist the rising turkic khaganate that already conquered the falling Tang dynasty in China, and recently even the south of this land. The exact timeline of the turkic invasion is shown in the small sidemaps on the map on the right side. Long story short, The turks invade eastern roman empire and its vassals, as well as India. They also reach the Hunnic empire and conquer it and also put pressure on the empire's northern border. They even besige Ctesifon, hwoever shortly after, Rome starts to get the upper hand again.
This turkic khagante was clearly inspired by the mongol empire.

922-1100
Rome manages to occupy Arachosia quickly, after the Indian part of the khaganate secedes. Turkic India offers to ally itself with rome, but requires to give Arachosia to them in turn. Ist a hard choice, but in the end it gets accepted, a rome doesnt have real ambitions in India anymore and is happy to have a supposedly friendly powerful state governing it.
Together they advance into Bactria by 943. a peace deal gets arranged.
The next emperor Publius though, wants to establish a secure border in the area like what was done in Germania. Because the Turkic empire has internal struggles, he decides to invade by 992, and advances to the Jaxartes river(Syrdarja) by year 1000 which he viewes as the perfect frontier. He also builds the Flavian wall named after him to complete the border fortifications. This is the beginning of the 'Fortress of Rome'. Many more border walls and proper fortifications follow in the centuries to come. As it is seen the empire should definitely not exapnd anymore, since its already gigantic.
He also raises the number of third level divisions to an easy to remember 200. not including vassal states.
And oh yeah, Ruthenia got big again and became a proper vassal now.
The west cost of Africa gets explored to establish new trade routes to west africa. Cerne Nova gets founded in the process after the ancient semi mythical place Cerne, once settled somewhere around there by the Phoenicians.
Meroe gets annexed by Rome which enrages axum, since it once was their territory.
The Turko Indian empire flourishes, The Turkic khaganate in the north is till sticking around comprising central Asia, North China and Korea. The norsemens start becoming a problem. New states are forming northeastern europe at the crossroads of the turks, romans and norse.
Also adventurers set sail to get to China the other way around the globe. They bring home news of a new strange place, that isnt actually China. There seems to be a big unknown landmass in between. The first voyage ended in 1075. What will happen to these places? I dont know, only time will tell. But it probably wont be like our timelines Spanish conquest of the new world.
Technologocally the empire (and the whole of eurasia really) has aspects of or timeline's 16 th century, 18th century and even 19th century. There is some grade of industrialization one could say, though ist a way slower process and not as revolutionary. In general technological advancement is conducted slower than in our timeline, although due to Romes head start, the world in the year 2000 will still be more advanced than in our timeline. Maybe like what will be in our timeline's 2200. Indian numerals are slowly taking over the empire, although roman numerals are still the most prevalent in 1100.
Now to the new letters. These are: Θ,Ω/Ѡ,Ȣ,И,Ͽ,ꓶ and Ʒ.
Θ represents the 'th' sound like in the word through. Mostly only used for greek loanwords.
Ω/Ѡ represent the greek omega. Ist an open o sound. Used in many native latin words too. Ω is used at the beginning and end of words, Ѡ in the middle. why? because to be complicated.
Ȣ represents the ch sound. Mostly used in greek loanwords, but not only. The english equivalent would be kh. Germans, Slavs and greeks should know what ch is.
Ͽ stand for 'ps'.
ꓶ stands for gh. Ist like the turkish ğ. Ist used in eastern loanwords and is very rare.
Then there's Ʒ, which isnt used in latin itself, but was invented for other languages that have this sound. It represents sh.
Let me know if you want to have the adjusted numerical system explained to you. On the map its used to depict the imperial population for example.
If you have any questions, ask me. The lore has more details than this.

Description

I made this map mostly using excel, instead of word. It turns out its better suited for such a project.
The lore is divided in three parts.
The first lore on how it got to this is available here: www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps…. This map is a continuation of this story.
650-800
This is the '2nd part' of this althistory, 450 years further into the future. We begin this continuation in the year 664. The government of the province of Arabia Felix revolts and aims at getting independence, rather than overthrowing the entire empire. Due to its enormous distance to roman heartland, rome fails to act immediately and a long lasting war begins. Also in this time, the Curaisadi in the neighbouring vassal state get overthrown by the Abassids. They hold a more anti roman stance and also pick up the revolt spreading from arabia felix. since arabia felix is already muslim they stand on their side. The romans ask the allied aksum empire for help which they accept. At the end of the war, Axum retains a big chunk of south arabia and gets to maintain the indian trade now, as wished by rome. its seems more practical than to try to govern the area directly again.
Due to the now anti roman sentiment in the abbasid kingdom, rome reverses the right to spread it and soon persecutions start, similarly to how early christianity was treated. This in turn creates a new conflict between muslims and christians, primarily fealt on the arabian peninsula itself, where muslim arabs fight against christian arabs. However a large war affecting the empire itself is avoided.
Islam differentiates further from christianity, ending forms of syncretism.
In the beginning of the 700's the Kushan empire starts to crumble, due to internal conflicts and various 'barbaric' groups in the north. The most outstanding of these were the Hephthalites, that already conquered the northernmost reaches of Kushan 200 years prior.
In Rome, this was watched as a perfect opportunity to break the everlasting peace with the Kushans and fulfill the centuries old dream of following Alexanders steps. It was the emperor Lucian that started the invasion. With persian alliance, the various warring states in Media and Parthia fall rather quickly. New vassal kingdoms get installed, instead of governing the area directly. Media, Elymais, Parthia and a bigger Persian kingdom.
By 727, the Hephthalite empire gets attacked. This war lasts 5 years. Margiane and Bactria become fully annexed, although then include in a new type of administrative unit above the province, called an Exarkhate. Ist basically a vice kingdom, ist 'king' chosen by the empire for a term of 5 years. Khorezm, Sogdiane and Kashgar become vassal states subordinate to the exarkh. He dies in Bactria leaving his adopted son Theodosius to the throne. He seeks to accomplish what his father had begun and set his eyes on India. After the complicated conquest of Gandhara and the pushing back of the remaining Kushan kingdom behind the Hydaspes, he advances south along the Indus until the sea. The people of this area give a surpisingly low level of resistance. A second exarkhate of India gets created by 740. Arachosia becomes a vassal. In Alexander's fashion, he established numerous cities named after him in India, and some named after his father in Bactria, to honour him. He sets sail for mesopotamia, and massive festivities get held in the four cities of Ctesiphon, Antiochia, Byzantium and finally Rome. The two exarkhate are also known as the Romanobactrian and the Indoroman kingdoms.
In the emperors absence in the west, new threats emerged at the germanic borders, but the vassals still held on the area. Also, the Hunnic empire aimed to expand, also because of potential new migrants from the east. They attack the rome sponsore state of Ruthenia. It collapses. Many flee south and big parts of Roman Sarmatia get given up. The Huns advance even further and reach the baltic sea. This causes a chain reaction, that leads to more slavs and german migrating south and west.
Theodosius wants to engage in this, but dies in battle with the germanians.
Without a proper heir, the empire plunges into chaos. Bad emperor comes after bad emperor, the next crisis begins. Usurpers rise in many areas, although only two, in Hispania and Scythia, manage to hold a big amount of power. This struggle ends in 798, after the emperor Aurelianus manages to conquer the last usurpers and stabilize the empire. He also further links christianity with the empire to create a unifying force. He's known for moving the capital to Byzantium, which he renamed Aurelainopolis, and the adding of new letters to the latin alphabet, as well as a reform on writing big numbers. (These get explained at the end of this comment). Luckily for rome, the exarkhs remained largely loyal through the turbulent times along with most of the eastern parts of the empire.
800-922
in 802, Aurelians decides to abolish the current system of succession, as it was shown multiple times that a lack of heir can be very dangerous. From now on. The emperor is chosen by the imperial senate (not the roman senate, which is acity council by now) for life, although they can get rid of him, if a majority and the army is against him.
After his death a new emperor is chosen by the senate. The following years are marked by attempts to integrate the vassals into the empire, and some small wars with the muslims. Also the roman allied Jobaritae exapnd into former Arabia Felix. In the north, a new ruthenian state forms, allied with the romans and attempts to swallow up the surrounding statelets.
in 813 the second conquest of remaining Germania begins. They manage to advance beyond the Vistula, but since it is the last well defendable river out there, the new border gets set on there. The more interior tribes only slowly start to be annexed. Also the Justland peninsula is conquered, as well as its neighbouring islands in order to control the trade going into the baltic sea. In Gotland a new trading outpost is established, from where control of the entire baltic trade is assumed. Lelipa, a once 'rich' city of old ruthenia, gets annexed and begins to flourish again.
The following 50 years remain peaceful. There is a small revolt in Cotinia. This time is marked by revolutionizing the administrative system by creating new units called dioeces and prefectures. Also many many provinces get split up to create more smaller ones. (Similar to our timelines Diocletain reforms).
Italy gets divided into the former Regions again. They dont really differ from provinces though, but they are free from direct rule by a prefecture, similar to the free cities. Also Achaea gets reformed into regions.
in 853, Meroe breaks free from Axum, and remains independent. Zancor becomes a vassal.
Thule gets settled by celtic monks mainly. It is largely self ruling, thus becoming satrapy instead of a regular province. Ist the first satrapy in the western part of the empire. In the eastern part, they were present since the establishment of the exarkhates, and later some vassals like Iberia got integrated as Satrapies.
In 867, new trouble begins, coming from central asia. Ist the rising turkic khaganate that already conquered the falling Tang dynasty in China, and recently even the south of this land. The exact timeline of the turkic invasion is shown in the small sidemaps on the map on the right side. Long story short, The turks invade eastern roman empire and its vassals, as well as India. They also reach the Hunnic empire and conquer it and also put pressure on the empire's northern border. They even besige Ctesifon, hwoever shortly after, Rome starts to get the upper hand again.
This turkic khagante was clearly inspired by the mongol empire.

922-1100
Rome manages to occupy Arachosia quickly, after the Indian part of the khaganate secedes. Turkic India offers to ally itself with rome, but requires to give Arachosia to them in turn. Ist a hard choice, but in the end it gets accepted, a rome doesnt have real ambitions in India anymore and is happy to have a supposedly friendly powerful state governing it.
Together they advance into Bactria by 943. a peace deal gets arranged.
The next emperor Publius though, wants to establish a secure border in the area like what was done in Germania. Because the Turkic empire has internal struggles, he decides to invade by 992, and advances to the Jaxartes river(Syrdarja) by year 1000 which he viewes as the perfect frontier. He also builds the Flavian wall named after him to complete the border fortifications. This is the beginning of the 'Fortress of Rome'. Many more border walls and proper fortifications follow in the centuries to come. As it is seen the empire should definitely not exapnd anymore, since its already gigantic.
He also raises the number of third level divisions to an easy to remember 200. not including vassal states.
And oh yeah, Ruthenia got big again and became a proper vassal now.
The west cost of Africa gets explored to establish new trade routes to west africa. Cerne Nova gets founded in the process after the ancient semi mythical place Cerne, once settled somewhere around there by the Phoenicians.
Meroe gets annexed by Rome which enrages axum, since it once was their territory.
The Turko Indian empire flourishes, The Turkic khaganate in the north is till sticking around comprising central Asia, North China and Korea. The norsemens start becoming a problem. New states are forming northeastern europe at the crossroads of the turks, romans and norse.
Also adventurers set sail to get to China the other way around the globe. They bring home news of a new strange place, that isnt actually China. There seems to be a big unknown landmass in between. The first voyage ended in 1075. What will happen to these places? I dont know, only time will tell. But it probably wont be like our timelines Spanish conquest of the new world.
Technologocally the empire (and the whole of eurasia really) has aspects of or timeline's 16 th century, 18th century and even 19th century. There is some grade of industrialization one could say, though ist a way slower process and not as revolutionary. In general technological advancement is conducted slower than in our timeline, although due to Romes head start, the world in the year 2000 will still be more advanced than in our timeline. Maybe like what will be in our timeline's 2200. Indian numerals are slowly taking over the empire, although roman numerals are still the most prevalent in 1100.
Now to the new letters. These are: Θ,Ω/Ѡ,Ȣ,И,Ͽ,ꓶ and Ʒ.
Θ represents the 'th' sound like in the word through. Mostly only used for greek loanwords.
Ω/Ѡ represent the greek omega. Ist an open o sound. Used in many native latin words too. Ω is used at the beginning and end of words, Ѡ in the middle. why? because to be complicated.
Ȣ represents the ch sound. Mostly used in greek loanwords, but not only. The english equivalent would be kh. Germans, Slavs and greeks should know what ch is.
Ͽ stand for 'ps'.
ꓶ stands for gh. Ist like the turkish ğ. Ist used in eastern loanwords and is very rare.
Then there's Ʒ, which isnt used in latin itself, but was invented for other languages that have this sound. It represents sh.
Let me know if you want to have the adjusted numerical system explained to you. On the map its used to depict the imperial population for example.
If you have any questions, ask me. The lore has more details than this.