Transcription
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The emperor was dead. The legions that murdered him proclaimed his successor, and empire-wide, everyone wondered what was going to happen next. Maximinus Thrax, first the "Kore's" emperor, was to double his legions' pay. And after sending his collectors to brutalize the plebs into paying up for it, he launched a campaign against the German invaders, facing them near a swamp, crushing their hearts, then launching a punitive campaign after that victory. He proclaimed his son as his heir and went to Sirmium, where he defended the border against the Nations and Sarmatians. And I bet you're wondering what the Senate thought of him, but I'll tell you anyway. They tried to kill him twice and failed twice, making Thrax hate them even more.
And just as Thrax started purging everyone who looked to Sanatorio, the very old, senatorial-looking pro-consul of Africa, Gordian, was chilling in Carthage. Born back during Pius's reign and even married his great-granddaughter. Anyway, the plebs loved the guy for throwing some awesome games as Aediles some years back. So, one day, as the plebs in Africa were ruled against in a trial by government authorities, the plebs killed set authorities, threw an open revolt, and forced Gordian to lead them as their emperor. He begged, cried against it, but they forced his hand. So he had his son join up with him, making them Gordian I and Gordian II.
Once the news reached the Senate, they debated for about 17 seconds, then proclaimed their open support for the Gordians, declaring Thrax an enemy of the state, murdering his officials in the capital, and organizing a committee of 20 senators to organize a defense against him. Meanwhile, word of all this reached the governor of Media and commander of the Soul African Legion, whom happened to hate Gordian for whatever reason. So he took this chance to march east, crush Gordian II. Battle. And when Gordian I heard of his son's death, he hanged himself with his own belt.
And where did that leave the Senate? To ask this, I'll tell you too. In Thrax's genocide list, literally. Once he heard of what happened, he finished up securing the frontiers and marched self-intent on slaughtering the entire Senate. First, they considered begging for forgiveness, realized it wasn't going to fly, so they elevated two ex-consuls, Pupienus and Balbinus, as co-emperors, sent the latter to Ravenna to raise troops, and the former remaining in Rome to maintain order. And when the plebs were informed of their new rulers, they rioted. Even the plebs couldn't stand the Senate's choice for leadership. So, to appease them, they elevated the last living Gordian, Gordian II's nephew, to the purple, making him Gordian III, the sixth emperor this year, and it's only April, March, or whatever.
Pupienus, of course, failed to gather much of an army. But good for him was that Thrax had been stopped short at Aquileia, as the city refused to grant the emperor passage. So a siege it was, and so it was, and so it was. The city's wall stood firm, and the legions began to starve. This, combined with Thrax's harsh discipline and the fact he was discovering some of his rage on his worst soldiers, those same soldiers then charged his tent in mass, murdering both him, his son, and his officers, posting their heads on spikes outside the city. They were the ones who tried competence to take. And so Pupienus took advantage of the fact the legions were all marching back to their stations in the north to order them back to their stations in the north. He then returned south to meet with Balbinus, who, of course, failed to maintain order in the city. They then started blaming each other for each other's faults as the city descended into anarchy. And guess what? Another great fire broke out in Rome. Just terrific.
In the face of such chaos, the Praetorians saw their opportunity to strike. One night, as both emperors slept away from each other, the Praetorians charged into the imperial palace, thinking each was trying to get the other. The emperor's forces didn't fight together, and thus both were killed. Having satisfied their lust for killing emperors for now, the Praetorians settled with faking support for Gordian III, the last emperor of six left. He was, of course, too young to rule, so his mother, Gordiana, stepped up to be his regent. Barely a year later, and we're already back to the status quo, not counting an African revolt that went nowhere. Gordian III's rule was cemented after not only appointing Timesitheus as his Praetorian Prefect but marrying his daughter too, making him the de facto emperor.
But back in the East, Ardashir finished his feast. And after transforming the remnants of Parthia into his new evil empire, he focused all the dark power from the souls he feasted on into the creation of a being worthy of succeeding him. Born out of pure evil, Shapur now ruled the Sassanid Empire. The monster then invaded the empire, slaughtering his way from Mesopotamia onto Syria. The mysterious then took hold of the situation, gathering what legions he could, crushing a forest of invading nations, then landing in Syria, where he defeated the Sassanids in the Battle of Rasenae. He was, however, too late to save the civilians. The mysterious then campaigned on recovering all lost territory, linked siege to Tessaphon, and then dying out of nowhere from mysterious circumstances. Yep, this [ __ ] up everything for Gordian III, who was watching everything from Syria. Desperate, he heeded the advice from one of his Praetorians to appoint their brother as the new Praetorian Prefect, a one named Philip, a native of Arabia Petraea of plebeian origins. He proved to be the emperor's last choice, as he was then murdered by that same Praetorian. Mysterious circumstances. Yeah.
With no Gordian left to succeed him, the legions then acclaimed Philip the Arab as Augustus, all according to his brother's plan. And as emperor, Philip settled the peace with the Sassanids, sitting them hegemony over Armenia and paying up five hundred thousand denarii of gold, as if that was what Shapur was after. Guilty as hell for being complicit in his murder, Philip returned Rome of Gordian's corpse, letting him be deified by the Senate, who then ratified both him and his son as Augustus and Caesar, emperor and heir. You know, some say he was a Christ cook. Others say he was just sympathetic to Christ's cookery, making him either a coward or a traitor. The day he became Pontifex Maximus will soon see he was both. His brother had convinced him to leave him in Antioch, appointing him as dictator of the East, essentially, where he raised taxes like a maniac, triggered several revolts, and then just disappeared from the historical record. Same happened to Gordiana. If I stop mentioning someone without explanation, it's because someone killed the historian writing about them. In the future, it's about to get away. But besides the guilty conscience, Philip also had the luck of being the Roman emperor 1000 years after its founding. As the plebs expected to be entertained, Philip then threw the Secular Games. Secular as in the word "saeculum," that is, games they were held only once every century. Augustus threw them way back when, and even Claudius, just 30 years later. It was awesome, of course. 1,000 gladiators died along with animals of all sorts. And at the exact turn of the millennium, everything started to fall apart.
For a while, they partied. A gigantic Germanic horde had crossed the Danube, sacking every city and killing every living being they found. From the hellhole of Germania, they came seeking only death, pain, and destruction. Their Goths had invaded, led by the demon king, Cinuva. The Goths prepared to spread their terror through the Danube and beyond. Having been taken by surprise, the Danube legions were then attacked again by the Nations whom had moved through Dacia and crossed the Danube. Philip would eventually push them back to their station, but that's it, really. What was once meant to be a platform for further conquest was now a liability that exposed the empire for invasion.
The legions then reorganized and asked permission from Philip to lead a counter-offensive against the Dacians and Goths, but Philip refused out of cowardice. So the legions revolted against his rule. When Philip heard of the revolt, together with another three pretenders rising up against him, he considered abdicating power. But then one of those rare good senators stepped up, ensuring Philip not to worry, as the revolts would all fail in just a few days. And once they did, Philip thought of him, Decius, a genius, and granted him command over the Danube legions. But once Decius arrived in Militia to face the Gothic invaders, the pleb legions held him hostage, threatening to kill him if he didn't lead them against Philip, proclaiming him their new emperor, or else. So they dragged him on towards Italy, all while he tried to somehow reconcile with Philip, who was now certain he had been betrayed. So he attacked Decius in the battlefield, got annihilated, and with the emperor and his son dead, the Senate then recognized Decius and his son, Hostilian, as co-emperors, even naming him Trajanus, hoping that he would pamper them like Trajan used to.
And well, now that he had power, Decius did that which every virtuous Roman emperor had been wishing to do for a long time: crack down on degeneracy. To that end, he restored the office of Censor to censor public degeneracy and then ordered that every single citizen in the empire provide sacrifices to the Roman gods. This was all fine and good with most people, except one very autistic group: the Christians. Directly disobeying imperial edicts and turning their backs to Rome's gods in a period of crisis, Decius then led a vicious Christian persecution, killing thousands of Christian leaders, including their Pope. And it all coincided with the Antonine Plague making a comeback, making the kill count climb even more. In fact, disease after disease started appearing across the empire, each deadlier than the last. And to any attentive eye, it was clear Eastern magic was at play. The Christian cooks being dealt with, Decius then offered the position of Censor to the man he most respected in the whole empire, Valerian, as the most admired of all senators and a true embodiment of old Roman virtues. As an ex-consul, Valerian and his family shined bright in such a degenerate age. And so, despite the power of the position, Valerian refused Decius's offer, proclaiming the title to be true Augustus for him to deserve it.
Which is when bad news arrived from the East. As the Goths raided the frontiers, Cinuva simulated the surrounding barbarians into his Gothic hordes, leading them straight through Dacia, destroying several cities, and laying siege to Philippopolis. To face them, Decius gathered his legates, among them one named Gallus, and pushed the Goths away. But as he did so, Cinuva's endless horde counter-attacked, scattering the legions. But Decius managed to maintain cohesion. The Goths then destroyed Philippopolis, killing all of its 100,000 inhabitants and taking what few survived to be tortured and sacrificed to their chaotic gods. Back north to save the captives, Decius set pursuit and faced the Goths at the Battle of Abrittus. As Decius led the charge, Hostilian was shot dead with an arrow. Given only seconds to react, Decius stowed his man, "Let no one mourn the death of one soldier is not a great loss to the Republic." As the legions fought deep into the swamps, Goths denied to give him reinforcements and let his legions be swarmed by the endless Gothic hordes. He was the first emperor to die in battle against barbarians, and due to treachery. For behind the scenes, Gallus made a pact with Cinuva, giving him all of Decius's plans and movements. His betrayal realized, he had his men acclaim him the new emperor, agreeing to let Cinuva go and paying a massive annual sum to keep him away. But we all know how this goes.
When news of the catastrophe arrived, the Senate elevated Decius's youngest son, Hostilian, as emperor. And to mask his betrayal, Gallus agreed to have him as his co-emperor, only for him to die of the plague that same year. Back to the East, the Armenian king refused to recognize the devil himself as the sovereign, resulting in Shapur invading Armenia and then invading the empire once again, sacking all of Syria and laying waste to Antioch. But Gallus couldn't care less, preoccupied with elevating his own son, Volusianus, as his co-emperor. And all and all, this instability really [ __ ] the economy. The main syndicates were now run by corrupt fools, making the denarius be worth 1/100 of what it used to be back in Mission's time. Inflation ran rampant, trade routes were broken, and mistrust and theft became the standard.
And back in the Danube, Cinuva demanded a new, deliberately impossible sum of gold to be kept away, which of course Gallus couldn't pay. That was the point. So he used this to invade the empire again, destroying city after city all the way through Asia Minor. As the coward he was, Gallus sent someone else, a man named Aemilian, to deal with Cinuva. But in charge of Decius's vengeful veterans and with no traitors among them, his legions then pushed Cinuva's Gothic hordes back, liberating the Danube. As the legionnaires freed the prisoners, immediately tried using this victory to get them to proclaim him their new emperor. It was either him or Gallus, so they went with it. His reign threatened, Gallus called on Valerian, the commander of the Rhine legions, to march south and protect him. But he wouldn't arrive in time, as Aemilian then landed in Italy and marched on Rome. Gallus gathered a large Praetorian militia army, but was still crushed by Decius's veterans. He then fled north, hoping to meet with Valerian, and it was then his Praetorians murdered him, hoping to be rewarded for it.
Once Aemilian got to Rome, he barely was able to heighten their eagles for a week before Valerian was seen entering Italy, marching north to face him. He was met with the largest army in the empire, led by its best legate. Never being loyal to Aemilian to begin with, Decius's veterans defected him in mass, leaving him with just enough to share Gallus's fate. Universally hailed as the new emperor, Valerian embraced his duty alongside his son, Gallienus, making them both co-emperors. Seeing as the East was being ravaged by Shapur and his withdrawal from the Rhine made the Germans invade again, Valerian set to go East and left Gallienus in charge of the West.
And in the West, Gallienus would reform the military into relying far more on cavalry, merging all cavalry units across the Western Empire into one elite mobile force, allowing him to move around far more quickly than any emperor before. And he would need it, as he was to face a brutal challenge: another Germanic coalition, this time an alliance of Batavians (those who revolted against the Flavians), the Chatti (the tribe that Germanicus once crushed), and the Cherusci (from which Arminius was hailed). Together, they formed the Franks. As Valerian gathered the most legions to face off Shapur, Gallienus was left with barely enough to halt most of the Frankish invasion, but it was a temporary halt at best. This preoccupation left the Danube exposed again, letting the Goths invade from Dacia again, exterminating all life they encountered. Unable to leave the Rhine leaderless, Gallienus left his son, Saloninus, to represent him there, guarded by one of his best legates, Sylvanus, and a local commander named Postumus, a half-German.
But as he marched East and pushed back the Goths and even liberated from them, the Germans were added again with the Franks breaking through the Lower Rhine. His attention needed there, he left his eldest son, Valerian II, in the Danube, counselled by another legate, Ingenuus, as he attempted to push back the Franks. Not long after he left the Danube, Ingenuus had Valerian II murdered and revolted against Gallienus, forcing him to gather what troops he could to face him. But just after leaving Gaul, if the legions were now busy containing the Franks, the Alamanni also broke through, destroying the remnants of the Rhine's Germanic tribes and invading Italy with a horde of 300,000 Germans. Facing one disaster at a time, Gallienus met Ingenuus in battle, crushing his army with his cavalry. Ingenuus then fled towards a nearby lake, drowning himself to avoid capture. Focused back on the barbarians, the Franks had devastated their way south and sacked all the way to Hispania, and the Alamanni had laid waste to Northern Italy and had marched on Rome. But once they got there, the Patricians rallied the plebs of Rome to one huge militia. And since Germans are hard-coded to attack defenseless civilians first, they were diverted away. Thing is, it was a huge bluff. Rome had long since outgrown the Servian walls, and no amount of plebs was going to save them. Seeing the carnage left over by the Alamanni, himself, Gallienus gathered his 60,000 strong legions and attacked the Germanic horde, slaughtering every last barbarian through use of his cavalry divisions. Having saved Italy, Gallienus was proclaimed Germanicus Maximus by his men. However, a fraction of the horde managed to escape, trying to return north of their slaves for Gaul, only for Sylvanus to send Postumus to go crush them. He then ordered Postumus to give back all the wealth the Germans had stolen back to its owners, but Postumus refused, giving it to his pleb legions instead, and thus bribing them into claiming him the new emperor.
A while the Cyprian and Antonine plague spread further, and the economy continued collapsing. Hearing the news, Gallus side and no doubt wondered, just like you, where Valerian was during all this. I know you just had to ask. Concurrent to these events in the East, Valerian had landed his huge army and retook Antioch, pushing Shapur out of the empire and freeing the provinces from his terror. There, he had sent word to the Senate to continue Decius's persecution against Christians. If they didn't make sacrifices for Roman gods, they were to be killed. Such was the fate of Pope Sixtus II and several would-be saints, including Bishop Cyprian, whom had a plague named after him. Indeed, another plague that began killing countless Romans by the scores. While they invaded by land, the Goths also stole an entire fleet of ships, using it to raid the coastal cities of Anatolia, landing and ransacking their way into Cappadocia. Valerian then marched north to face them, but before he could, his army was struck by the Cyprian plague and struck hard. Countless legionnaires died every day, the leadership was devastated, and the legion's manpower reduced immensely. It was while leading the shadow of an army that Valerian heard Shapur had invaded Mesopotamia again. He then positioned his remaining legions outside the city of Edessa to halt Shapur, sending his treasurer Macrinus and Praetorian Prefect Ballista to await him in Antioch. But once Shapur arrived at Edessa, the legions were far too devastated to fight. Tens of thousands of second Romans were then mercilessly slaughtered in the desert, barely surviving the battle. Shapur then sent word to the emperor, wishing to negotiate terms of peace. But once he arrived, Shapur betrayed his word, having Valerian seized and thrown in chains. He was the first emperor to be captured alive by barbarians. Valerian would spend the rest of his life being tortured daily by Shapur, being beaten and humiliated at every opportunity, being used as his personal footstool. And after four years of pure torture, he told Shapur he wished to pay him whatever he wished if he could be allowed to see his family again. In response, Shapur had Valerian flayed alive and his corpse publicly displayed so that all of Shapur's victims would know that there was no hope.
Just after the news of his father's fate and annihilation of his legions arrived in the Danube, another imperial pretender arose. But before Gallienus could deal with him, a Sarmatian horde invaded, killing him and invading Italy, leaving Gallienus to defeat them at Verona. He didn't even have time to mourn. Now in open rebellion, Postumus laid siege to Cologne, where Sylvanus and Saloninus resided, breaking in and murdering them both. As news of Valerian's capture arrived and with Postumus promising to protect the devastated provinces, the West seceded from Rome, proclaiming their new Gallic Empire. This Gallienus could not allow, gathering his forces to avenge his son and reunite the empire. But as he tried gathering recruits for the campaign, all he could find were corpses and whipping mothers. The plagues by then had claimed millions of victims. In the East, Shapur was allowed to continue devastating the Eastern provinces, spreading his terror throughout Cilicia and Cappadocia, destroying 36 cities and killing countless of innocent civilians. Seeking to make the entire East burn, having finished one of his rampages and returning East with his slaves, Shapur's hordes were suddenly attacked out of nowhere. With the Assassins beaten back, the prisoners found themselves saved by an unexpected hero: Septimius Odaenathus, the king of Palmyra and a descendant of the family Severus once favored. And now with what Odaenathus having saved them, Macrinus, together with Ballista, took advantage of Odaenathus's capture, proclaiming both of his sons, Macrinus Minor and Quietus, as co-emperors, as he was too much of a [ __ ] to be emperor himself. He then took what legions were still left in the East, living with his eldest son to face off Gallienus, while Ballista stayed with Quietus in Syria. But once he landed in Europe, Gallienus just sent his cavalry, led by Aureolus, to go crush him. And in Syria, Odaenathus refused to betray Gallienus, having them both executed for treason. This show of loyalty won over Gallienus's approval, so he formalized Odaenathus's authority over the East as Duke's Romanorum, Corrector Totius Orientis, governor and commander of Romans in the East, charged with the task of keeping Shapur at bay, cementing his reputation as the savior of the East. Odaenathus crossed the Euphrates, retaking Mesopotamia and even invading the Sassanid Empire, beating Shapur's forces again and again. He was acclaimed King of Kings while still being a life subject of Gallienus, who then named him Parfucus Maximus, of course, granting all these titles while still fighting Postumus. And with Aureolus rejoining him, they managed to kick him back, retaking Rhaetia. Gallienus then sent Aureolus to hunt him down, but he just let him escape. You know why? Yes, another corrupt legate with imperial ambitions. In his case, he was butthurt at how Gallienus wasn't defending his utterly indefensible home province of Dacia, furious at how he dared focusing on saving the empire's capital instead. This insubordination only got him demoted, though, and even angrier, Gallienus then launched another campaign, going as far as encircling Postumus in a city. But as they were about to breach in, he was shot with an arrow. But Gallienus absolutely refused to die. He would reunify the empire, and not even death was going to stop him. Nevertheless, injured, Gallienus appointed a new commander of the cavalry, Claudius, one of the many Illyrian generals he relied on, sending Aureolus to Rhaetia to guard against any possible Germanic invasions. During this stalemate, the governor of Egypt would also revolt against Gallienus, losing Egypt's grain supply would cause mass starvation and death in Rome. So Gallienus sent a fleet to retake Egypt, which he did, killing governor Aemilianus. He shared the exact same name as the usurper his father killed. There were so many usurpers in this time period that the gods just ran out of names. Just then, the Goths started raiding Anatolia again, this time gathering a fleet of 500 ships, sailing through the Bosphorus, utterly failing to take Byzantium, and then sieging Cyzicus. Gallienus then sent the imperial fleet of Ravenna to scatter the Goths, but in doing so, many surviving Goths got through the Hellespont, landing in Greece and sacking every Greek city they found. Some cosmic karma for Thrace. But among the Greeks was a Romanized historian, Dexippus, who was writing about all this chaos. Seeing the Goths destroy Athens, he refused to be yet another historian whose works are lost and led a counter-offensive. The Greeks by then had long since been transformed into either twink sex slaves or subservient plebs by the Romans, but he nevertheless managed to form a militia strong enough to kick the Goths north, where Gallienus and Claudius's mobile cavalry crashed on them. The Occipus then later returned to write about all this chaotic period. However, the Goths continued raiding Anatolia, invading it again, just as Odaenathus was preparing to take Tessaphon. As they were attacking their promises he was sworn to protect, he marched north to kick them out. As they marched, Odaenathus went on a brief hunting trip with his eldest son, only for it to be ruined due to sheer disrespect from his nephew, who was then punished for talking back to him. Soon after, the nephew was approached by Odaenathus's wife, Zenobia, yet another spiteful reincarnation of Dido. After being defeated by Augustus as Cleopatra, she spent centuries in the dark, casting plagues on Rome with her Eastern magic. Having perfected this cruel practice, she came back again as Zenobia, seeking to attack Rome now that it laid at its weakest to further her revenge. Zenobia had first get rid of both her husband and his son with his first wife, riling up the nephew to do just that during a celebration. Odaenathus would suddenly die together with his eldest son. His nephew then arose and proclaimed himself the new King of Kings, only for Zenobia to order his immediate execution. With her son now the King of Palmyra, Zenobia declared that all titles Gallienus bestowed her husband now transferred to her son, who was too young to rule, so she would be his all-powerful regent.
But Gallienus was given no time to react. For a while, he battled the remaining Goths in the Balkans. Aureolus abandoned Rhaetia and occupied Mediolanum, expressing open support for Postumus once more. Gallienus marched on to deal with another imperial usurper, facing him outside Mediolanum, utterly crushing Aureolus's forces and sieging him with the cavalry he used to command. As the siege progressed, Gallienus mourned for the family members he had lost so far. The Nepotian Guard rushed to him, warning that Aureolus and his forces were leaving Mediolanum for an attack. Gallienus then rushed outside to defend his men, getting surrounded by the Praetorian Guard and brutally murdered by them. And don't you even dare to ask me why their utterly nonsensical crime committed. The legions acclaimed Claudius as their new emperor, who had little choice but to accept, becoming Claudius II. He then sent words to the Senate to deify Gallienus and protect his family from harm, right after they had murdered his remaining family and damned his memory. But at least Claudius's brother, Quintillus, and niece, Claudia, weren't harmed. Quintillus, as we'll see, was better off dead.
With Claudius's ascension, he made sure his fellow Roman Illyrians, bred in the fires of the Danube, rose together with him. Among them, a skilled legate named Probus, a brilliant soon-to-be governor, Diocletian, and his own great-nephew, a young prodigy named Constantius. But as his second in command, Claudius appointed a man that would outshine them all. Hearing of Gallienus's death and with Postumus ignoring his bid for help, Aureolus surrendered to Claudius. And while the emperor thought of what to do with him, the Praetorians murdered him out of nowhere. That reminded him to put all of Gallienus's assassins to death. Regardless, Claudius was needed elsewhere, as after Aureolus left Rhaetia, the Alamanni invaded the empire again, seeking to plunder Italy again. But Claudius halted their advance, crushing their hordes and kicking the remnants back north. That then, Claudius then marched to the Danube to do that which he would become most famous for: getting back to the Goths. As they gathered to the greatest fleet yet, six thousand ships carrying 320,000 Goths sailed through the Bosphorus, failed to take Byzantium again, got scattered by the imperial fleet again, and landed on Europe, gathering one hundred thousand Goths who then began destroying all cities they got to again. Claudius then quickly marched south, meeting a Gothic horde and Nice was more than twice his army's size. Nonetheless, the legions held firm, baiting the Goths further into his cavalry commander charged directly into their lines, slaughtering the barbarians. What few survived were then hunted down, and the emperor was immortalized as Claudius Gothicus, Conqueror of the Goths.
Meanwhile, in the Gallic Empire, Postumus's rule was challenged by usurpers and mines. He was eventually defeated, and the pleb legions demanded him to let them sack mines. But then the Roman half of Postumus spoke out against it, for once, angering his troops and getting him murdered. He was then usurped by a legate who was then usurped the next day by another one who was then observed by a man he cucked, who was then usurped by a man favored by the cucked man's wife. Patrickus came to rule the Gallic Empire, or what was left of it anyway. Hispania rejoined Rome during all this chaos, and Claudius's forces retook their own valley as well, later joining up with him in Sirmium, where he prepared to defend against a Vandal invasion. But despite dedicating his life towards preserving the empire, Claudius was yet another emperor who wouldn't see his dreams of reunification realized, catching a severe case of the Cyprian plague, putting him on his deathbed. Right then, terrible news from all over began undermining decades of hard work. In the East, Zenobia put her plans into motion, demanding personal loyalty from the Eastern governors, killing all who refused and ordering massacres in their provinces to ensure her rule. Once she heard of Claudius's sickness, she seized the chance to backstab the empire, taking the East for herself and thus proclaiming her new Palmyrene Empire. Finding common ground with Shapur, they ceased hostilities and shared on their ambition to destroy civilization. With the Gallic Empire's traitorous legions under Tetricus, he prepared to retake the provinces Rome had just recovered. Zenobia's plagues continued to rage, annihilating whole legions and making it easy for her forces to slaughter what few men survived. In Rome, the Senate usurped power, installing Quintillus as emperor, who in exchange allowed their corruption and the debasement of the currency to go unpunished. The few provinces not being directly attacked were thrown into anarchy with a destroyed economy and weak government, letting lawlessness reign supreme. Smelling blood in the water, Cinuva rebuilt his Gothic hordes, agreeing to simultaneously invade the empire with the Vandals. The Germans up north did the same, marching south to invade Italy and finally sack Rome. The empire was weaker than ever, its legions and legates killed with all of its enemies attacking at once. Nearing his death and seeing the fall of Rome was near, Claudius knew there was still one hope left and proclaimed his successor. Throughout the last millennium, Rome endured many dark times, each producing great men of their own. The fruits of their efforts were enjoyed by weak men whose degeneracy brought back dark times. The empire was now at the mercy of evil and chaos, enemies within and abroad tearing it apart. And in these darkest of times, the greatest of all manners to fulfill the legend of prophecy in Illyria, a son priestess of the Aurelianus clan gave birth to a divine son, Aurelian. At the start of the crisis, he enlisted on the legions to serve Rome when she needed him most. Battle after battle, he defeated Rome's enemies with talent and skill never seen before. Emperor after emperor, he served, killing barbarians and traitors alike, always loyal and victorious. With tears in his eyes, Claudius begged Aurelian to save Rome as its emperor with his last breath. For God and empire, he put on the mask, marching on Italian, depositing the usurper Quintillus. When the Vandals dared invade his home, he marched back and slaughtered every last one of them. And as the Germans dared invade Italy itself, he crushed their hearts against the ocean, denying any mercy. Once in Rome, he restored the economy from decadence, cleansing the city of all corrupt senators to make Rome eternal. He ordered built the Aurelian Walls so he would stand a thousand years more. After decades of terrorizing the Danube, Aurelian crushed the Goths, delivering justice to Geneva for the empire's sake. He evacuated the citizens of Dacia, strengthening the Danube against invasion. Sailing East, Aurelian gathered his cavalrymen and slaughtered Zenobia's army, making her flee away. Palmyra was then destroyed for all time. As a little bit captured before fleeing to the Assassins, punished by soul, Shapur was banished from this mortal realm and Valerian's remains recovered. Returning West, he defeated Tetricus's legions of traitors, making him bow again to the light of Rome, restoring the empire from the brink of collapse. Aurelian was acclaimed to restore Orbis, the Restorer of the World. In his triumph, he had Zenobia judged guilty, having her executed and lifting Dido's curse forever. Ruling alongside his wife, he eradicated degeneracy from the streets, restoring law and order to Rome, bringing peace, freedom, justice, and security to his empire. He began rebuilding it from the ashes. As the hero of prophecy, Aurelian was the only emperor to be luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan to establish an eternity of order. Aurelian served as a model to the best men of the next generation. In only five glorious years, Aurelian had made Rome one empire with one emperor under one God. Setting sail for the East, Aurelian engaged in one final campaign, seeking to destroy all of Rome's enemies. But just as his unrivaled accomplishments made him a hero, so did it fill others with envy and resentment. As Aurelian built a world of good and order, their evil and chaos grew more and more threatened. Through lies, they convinced themselves a perfect man could not be allowed to exist. In the darkest of nights, the Praetorians gave in to their evil and committed their worst crime. [Music] The thread of prophecy is severed. The world is doomed. You.