With a PoD no earlier than 1400 A.D./C.E., make Rome the largest city on the Mediterranean (including adjacent smaller seas) by population, and let it stay that way into modern times. Bonus points for making it the largest city in Europe. Please, no responses to the effect of having Rome just massively expand its city limits, or a pan European plague.
AHC: Rome the largest city in the Med
- Thread starter Avitus
- Start date
That's a tuffy. The best bet would be to keep the aqueducts from being cut. When they were lost Rome's population went into a nosedive that took centuries to recover from. Well that and the Roman Nobles turning the city into a battleground. If those two things can be avoided then Rome could at the very least maintain a large population, if not continue to grow to be the largest city in the med.
Rome isn't in a very good location for either trade routes or in a great farming area. How are you going to make it a place desirable enough to have an exceptionally large population without it being a significant capital?
PoeFacedKilla
Banned
mayble an earlier united italy that takes spain or portugals place or out competes them?
although im not sure if its even possible to unify italy earlier since from what i've heard the italian dialects could of almost been considered separate language before unification.
Well that's true as well. Its a combination really: loss of the aqueducts, high militancy among the nobility, Rome becoming less important politically and later the fact that the papacy moved to Avignon. Hell at one point Rome's population was either 10 or 20 thousand, from a height of over One million. Its sad. But yes Rome would have to remain politically important. Perhaps the papacy is stronger in Italy or even better, the Ostrogothic Kingdom lasts longer. After all Italy flourished during their rule, and it was only after the Eastern Empire began its reconquest of the Peninsula that everything went downhill. Though the Ostrogoths capital was Ravanna so it might not end up being a major help.
Or this could happen as well. Any Italian state that unified Italy would move the capital to Rome, as proven by OTL's Kingdom of Italy, so it would depend on when Italy is unified and how long it lasts. Perhaps the Carolingian Kingdom of Italy lasts longer? IDK.
The less importantly politically is a killer. A city that is important will find some way to grow. One that isn't . . . not so much.
The Kingdom of Italy of the Carolingians (and then incorporated into what we call the HRE by Otto when he became King of Italy as well as of Germany) was not centered on Rome. And on paper at least it lasted until the HRE died, I think.
Does either Rome count? Because competing one to one against Constantinople means that Rome will lose. The City Of The Worlds Desire is just too amazingly positioned to be beaten forever. Especially since symbolically many states can and will attempt to set up governments there. I mean Rome is facing stiff competition from Naples, which doesn't really inspire confidence in them.