genyodectes
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I'm just a Ceratosaur trying to make his way in Alternate History
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Post by genyodectes on Jan 28, 2019 14:44:22 GMT
If Rome lost the battle of Lake Regillus ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Regillus ), what could theoretically happen next? Would the Latin League march on Rome and reinstate Tarquinus? Or would they destroy Rome as punishment? What would Tarquinus do? Would he punish Rome lightly or harshly? Finally, what would the Latin League do following this? |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jan 28, 2019 15:42:42 GMT
If Rome lost the battle of Lake Regillus ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Regillus ), what could theoretically happen next? Would the Latin League march on Rome and reinstate Tarquinus? Or would they destroy Rome as punishment? What would Tarquinus do? Would he punish Rome lightly or harshly? Finally, what would the Latin League do following this?
Well I'm puzzled here as while the wiki entry does mention the war as being between Rome and the Latins League what I was taught was Tarquinus was the last of the Etruscan kings and the forces that rallied to restore him were from the other Etruscan states. Most famous in English via Macaulay'a Lays of Ancient Rome but there is a Wiki entry see Horatius_Cocles, and that mentions it being a Etruscan army. Possibly its been found since that the opponents supporting the restoration of Tarquinus were part of the earliest Latin League rather than Etruscan?
The conflict is legendary, so how much actually happened I don't know. However presuming the Lake Regillus battle occurred and the victory there crushed Tarquinus's hopes of regaining the crown then a Roman defeat would depend on its scope. If it was crushing defeat then the monarchy might well be restored, although if lesser then it could still stand a siege again or fight another battle outside the city.
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raunchel
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Post by raunchel on Jan 31, 2019 13:12:32 GMT
It would certainly get interesting and a lot depends on how the battle goes. I mean, there is a difference between the Romans being driven off the field but maintaining most of their forces, being able to fight again and the other extreme of a very bloody rout where their army is thoroughly gutted. They didn't yet have the manpower reserves that would allow for a comeback after that and I guess that Tarquinius would certainly make a comeback, although parts of the citizen body might be replaced in the aftermath (the leading Republicans would certainly have to relocate to keep their heads). But in the case of a more moderate defeat, it would be as Steve says, the Republic would fight another battle to keep their homes.
And that could actually make things worse. They might be able to bring in new allies from among the Latins who had plenty of divisions. This would allow them to turn the war around. There however might also be a coup in the city because some people really don't feel like taking the risk of a siege, leading to some people being murdered and Tarquinius returning. Or, the worst case scenario for the Romans, it comes to a serious siege which they eventually lose. In that case, I don't know if Tarquinius would manage to even return to some kind of power because it would probably end with the city being sacked and him (if he manages to properly convince his allies) basically refounding the city.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Feb 1, 2019 10:32:42 GMT
It would certainly get interesting and a lot depends on how the battle goes. I mean, there is a difference between the Romans being driven off the field but maintaining most of their forces, being able to fight again and the other extreme of a very bloody rout where their army is thoroughly gutted. They didn't yet have the manpower reserves that would allow for a comeback after that and I guess that Tarquinius would certainly make a comeback, although parts of the citizen body might be replaced in the aftermath (the leading Republicans would certainly have to relocate to keep their heads). But in the case of a more moderate defeat, it would be as Steve says, the Republic would fight another battle to keep their homes. And that could actually make things worse. They might be able to bring in new allies from among the Latins who had plenty of divisions. This would allow them to turn the war around. There however might also be a coup in the city because some people really don't feel like taking the risk of a siege, leading to some people being murdered and Tarquinius returning. Or, the worst case scenario for the Romans, it comes to a serious siege which they eventually lose. In that case, I don't know if Tarquinius would manage to even return to some kind of power because it would probably end with the city being sacked and him (if he manages to properly convince his allies) basically refounding the city.
Yes this could get very nasty. The Romans had, according to legend anyway, already suffered from a bad defeat before the initial siege and they definitely don't have the reserves of later times so they could fold, or if defeated Tarqunius is likely to want revenge. If the city was largely destroyed or gravely weakened, and another factor might be that there could be continued conflict between the Romans and the dynasty, then does anyone else emerge as the dominant power in Italy, whether Latin or Etruscan or even the strong presence of Greeks in the south and if so do they become anything like as dominant in the central Med, let alone wider afield?
We could have continued domination of the eastern Med by assorted Greek successor states, although your likely to see a Persian revival at some point and possibly an Egyptian one. Carthage contesting with the Greeks in the central and western Med and possibly something more developed emerging from Iberia or Gaul. A lot of options for different cultures to survive/develop if not giant empire comes into being. Which would have both ups and downs.
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