What If The Western Roman Empire Never Fell? Alternative History

To hypothesize an alternate history where the Roman Empire maintains itself as a solid political entity and does not collapse in 476 AD as it actually did, we must necessarily seek an element and critical moments in Roman history and reimagine them. The main triggering factor that weighs on a series of other criticalities within the empire and exacerbates them, generating a succession of crises and finally a generalized collapse, is the expansionist thrust of a new people towards the west, the Huns.
A reality made up of warrior bands probably of Ural-Altaic origin, the Huns impose themselves in critical mass in the steppes of Eurasia, magnetizing Turanian and Indo-Iranian elements, and then descend upon the Germanic world, giving rise to the phenomenon remembered as the Barbarian Invasions or Migration Period. Even today we do not know for certain what pushed the Huns to move westward, whether it was the rise of a particularly charismatic leader, the conflict with the Mongolian reality of the Rouran Khaganate that expelled them from East Asia, or even being repelled following a failed attempt at invasion by the powerful Chinese Empire of the Jin dynasty.
In any case, let's remove the "Huns" factor from the equation: in our alternative timeline, the Huns could have merged with the Rouran Khaganate, or successfully overcome the Jin defenses penetrating deep into China, or simply failed to produce a dynasty of warrior chiefs powerful enough to magnetize a critical mass of nomadic tribes of the steppe. Or they could have descended southward, on the Sassanid Empire. The domino effect that affects the steppes of Eurasia in the 4th century AD and that makes the pressure along the Rhine-Danube limes unsustainable never takes place.
The massive volume of Gothic refugees who, fleeing from the Huns, will be welcomed into the empire in 376 AD and who, due to the corrupt imperial bureaucracy incapable of absorbing and integrating them, will rise up, will remain in their seats north of the Danube: the Gothic War of 376-382, and in particular the Battle of Adrianople of 378 AD, a bitter defeat for the empire, will never take place, nor will the mass crossing of the Rhine on December 31, 406 AD by Vandals, Alans, Burgundians, Suebi, Quadi, and Sarmatians. Similarly, not having to deploy a larger number of troops on the continent to try to hold the Rhine-Danube limes, Britain would never have fallen into the hands of Picts and Scots and then of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Although certainly tense, relations between Rome and the Barbaricum will not take that frantic and vertiginous turn that will materialize with the devastations and collapse of the 5th century AD.
The Relationship with the Barbaricum: A New Perspective
Lacking the disruptive and accelerating factor of the Huns, relations between Rome and the Germanic world manage to take a gentler turn. There is no shortage of moments of tension and conflict, but the Roman cultural influence, already exercised increasingly east of the Rhine and north of the Danube starting from the 2nd century AD, has a way of taking deep root in the Barbaricum: Emperor Valens, who does not die at Adrianople, begins a cautious and measured policy, aimed at intensifying relations between the empire and the Barbarians, particularly by favoring trade beyond the limes.
While the Germanic aristocracies, particularly those of the Goths and Franks, are romanizing exponentially, on the right bank of the Rhine and left bank of the Danube, barbarian settlements arise with a marked commercial nature, closely linked to the military castra on the opposite bank, which soon become multi-ethnic centers and vectors from which Roman culture radiates towards the hinterland of the Barbaricum. At the same time, contingents of Germanic mercenaries are hired to serve within the empire with a policing function to quell the motions of the Bagaudae, the rebellious peasants who regularly rise up, particularly in Gaul and Spain, as a consequence of fiscal pressure. In this timeline, the Bagaudae motions cannot take advantage of the climate of instability generated by the barbarian invasions, which have not taken place, and moreover, the increasingly normalized relations with the Germanic world lead to a more contained military mobilization of the empire's population, which therefore weighs less heavily on the agricultural sector, making revolts less frequent and virulent.

#ancientrome #alternativehistory #metatron

[dantereinhardt]

Metatron making an Alt history video on the western roman empire? Best birthday gift ever.

[Lorthein]

Finally. An alternative history of the Roman Empire that actually sees Christianity as a unifying factor that could have been, if the empire had lasted longer

[Fatherofheroesandheroines]

A branch of the Huns DID attack the Sassanids. They were called the White Huns, but not because of what you think. There were multiple branches of the Huns all determined by the colors they wore. Hence, the White Huns. They were also known as the Hepthalites. Interesting alternative thought!

[drahcir]

What, no civil wars? Come on Metatron, it's not Rome without a civil war or two.

[ershovmisha]

Great, I just hadn't thought about the Roman Empire today yet.

[azahel]

You know... As much as I like the roman empire, it is basically the father of western civilization. When I look at the world right now, considering how ridiculous everything is, I can't shake the feeling of "I'm glad your father isn't here to see what you've become."

[tomkerruish]

Star Trek already taught me the answer. There'd be televised gladitorial combat and magazine ads for Mars toothpaste. Strangely, however, they would speak English.

[cpcupcake]

The real question: would there be an Italian going by Metatron doing an alternate history video if the Western Empire fell?

[Intranetusa]

@FrankinDallas - The Romans actually did manage the mass immigration of most Germanic tribes successfully. The real failure was internal politics. The Germanic tribes that crossed into the Roman Empire became fairly Romanized and the fall of Western Roman was basically a civil war among Romanized people who all wanted to become Roman rulers. Odoacer (who deposed the last WRE emperor) set up a Roman kingdom, called himself a Roman ruler, considered himself a vassal of the Eastern Roman Empire, even revived the Roman Senate, and continued Roman traditions and Roman government. Alaric (who sacked Rome in 410) served the Roman army as a Roman foederati/auxilliary commander and wanted to be promoted to a Roman commander who commanded regular Roman units. However, he was basically betrayed - he and his foederati/auxillary troops were used as cannon fodder and the promises of promotion made to him were ignored/breached.

[deeipomar]

As a Muslim Egyptian Arab who is insanely passionate about Roman civilization, I really enjoyed this speculative alternative history you created from the concept of the Roman empire not falling

[gabrielinostroza]

There were two things definitely missing from this: climate change and plagues. The Roman empire was brought very low by the Antonine plague, in this timeline it would face the Justinian plague AND the black plague, possibly even earlier due to more frequent contact with the eurasian steppes. It would also as in our timeline face the end of the Roman warm period and face decreasing agricultural yields regardless of new technology which would affect the economy of the empire and kneecap its growth and development. In times of strain the internal turmoil would lead to a lot of civil wars, revolts and invasions that, even if it survived, would prevent it from really growing like this. They would struggle to produce all the inventors, scientists, philosophers, artists and the huge pool of talented thinkers needed for it.

[Geyr]

Number me amongst them who would enjoy this series developed to fullest possible extent within both credibility and believability.

Also want to note there are those of us who are convicted Roma never fell. Rather it changed garb.

Truly did appreciate this video.

[timothywilliams]

I love "what if" alt-history speculations! Please, a series would be great!

[maissthro]

These are the kind of mental exercises I like: building a logical and pragmatical scenario taking into consideration a big quantity of factors and unraveling the consequences as time goes by.
Great video. Hope there are more like it.

[Mand.alor-the-Rebel]

Reminds me on the old piont-and klick-adventure game "Imperium Romanum". It's set in a world where the Roman Empire never fell (because of time travel).
There's also the novel "Imperator" by Kirk Mitchell where the Roman Empire invades America (which is ruled by the Aztecs) with steam galleys.

I love alternate-history-stories.
Please continue with the story.

[zrzroyk]

Speculation like this is always interesting, especially when done with people who are both intelligent and knowledgeable. I hope this idea gets support, it's a fun idea

[JamesClark-ujoh]

I'd honestly love to see a series on this, ive never been more invested.

[FrankinDallas]

Roman Empire couldn't manage mass immigration of Goths due to corruption of the Empire's Leaders. Interesting. That couldn't possibly happen today. (LOL).

[dantereinhardt]

Honestly, I think that despite getting rid of the barbaric invasions, the western roman Empire was already on its last legs and was decaying too much to actually strengthen itself again. I imagine that the Western Roman Empire itself would eventually restrict itself to Italy while maintaining relationships with the east, maybe even as a vassal state.

[MrRabiddogg]

one small issue. The Norse used their colonies in the United Kingdom as a stepping stone to Iceland and Greenland. If it was still Roman, they would not likely had the ability to make it. the North fleet of the Roman Empire could have though, using the same course.