Alternate scenario.

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by JayAg47, Dec 1, 2020.

  1. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
    Imagine this- Lucius Verus never dies of plague in 169 AD, however Marcus Aurelius dies in 180 AD as usual, so Verus automatically becomes the sole emperor and lives to be around his 70s, thus denying Commodus the purple.
    How do you think this would've turned out?, also do you think Lucius would've named his own son or Commodus as the heir, or else a third person who is actually qualified for the job?!

    Coins of said emperors to keep it relevant.
    m.png
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2020
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  3. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Fun to speculate, eh? Same could be said about JC, Germanicus, Drusus or Octavian and MA, and many others.
     
  4. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Questions like this are not mere idle speculation. They are a reminder to us that history would have been radically different had not some seemingly insignificant event occurred. I don't know how this particular scenario would have played out but all history is the interaction of events and persons and changing any one of the characters or events has ripples and echoes that can totally alter the historical record. We have a tendency to see what has happened as what had to happen and to accommodate ourselves to that particular reality not taking into that account that any number and variations had at one time very real potential alternatives.
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2020
  5. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    A few years ago, an English journalist published a book called "Napoleon's Hemorrhoids". This book, which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies (and which had a sequel, The Balls of Joan of Arc), lists the "small unimportant events" that changed the course of the world's History.

    Did you know, for example, that Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo due to a hemorrhoid attack? He couldn't ride a horse to watch what was happening on the battlefield...
    Nixon lost the debate to Kennedy because he hit his knee against the door of his car.
    Kennedy could not bend over in his limo and thus avoid the second fatal bullet fired by Oswald, because he had torn a muscle while having sex with one of his mistresses, and was wearing a corset ...

    E1BEB48D-5107-46A8-979B-F3C6F0820695.jpeg

    I almost forgot we're on a numismatic forum. So here is one of my Verus clasping hand with Marcus Aurelius:

    1576E9AD-4975-4AAA-9429-520515479E45.jpeg
     
  6. benhur767

    benhur767 Sapere aude

    This alternate scenario may have actually happened in a parallel universe.
    https://www.discovermagazine.com/th...ndless-parallel-universes-a-growing-number-of
     
    +VGO.DVCKS likes this.
  7. Finn235

    Finn235 Well-Known Member

    Within the scope of Roman history, I think perhaps the most impactful would have been if either Gaius or Lucius had survived - as Lucius was 18 when he died of illness and Gaius was 23 when he died of a battle wound that didn't heal properly, it's not hard to imagine that had they succeeded their grandfather, they could have ruled for decades. This means that Tiberius never would have come to power, he never would have entrusted Sejanus to power, and the Julio-Claudian family wouldn't have been stripped of its most capable members. Heck, it very well could have gone on to rule Rome in some way or another for the rest of Classical Antiquity.

    Gaius Caesar Gaius Caesar Hierapolis phrygia Lynkeus.jpeg

    Lucius Caesar
    Lucius Caesar antioch ad meandrum.jpg

    From a broader perspective, what if Alexander the Great hadn't been forced to turn around at the border of the Magadha empire? What if he conquered them, continued his march eastward, and found China in the midst of its protracted civil war? Could he have conquered China, or at least Hellenized it as he did with Central Asia?

    Alternatively, it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to imagine that had Alexander not died at Babylon, he could have conquered the bulk of Europe.

    ZomboDroid 19032020220905.jpg
     
    JayAg47, galba68, +VGO.DVCKS and 4 others like this.
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